Pediatric Residency Program

The pediatric residency program at University of Louisville is home to 78 residents from thirty-six medical schools in twenty-four states and three countries. We asked our residents, faculty, ancillary and support staff their favorite things about the city and program:

Instagram: @UofLPedsResidency

Medicine-Pediatrics Combined Residency Program

This four-year special residency program, sponsored jointly by the Department of Medicine and Pediatrics, was established in the early 1980s. During the four years, residents participate in the basic services, continuity practices and electives of the two departments. Upon completion, Med-Peds physicians are eligible for board certification in both specialties.

We encourage resident involvement on a wide variety of hospital and university committees as well as national organizations. Here are a few examples of additional opportunities within our program and university.

Resident Leadership Council

Comprised of Pediatric and Med/Peds residents who are elected by their peers, the members of this council act as liaisons between the residents and the Office of Medical Education (OME). These residents meet with the chief residents monthly, where they bring feedback from their fellow residents to the attention of the chief residents and program director. They directly participate in problem solving of any issues that arise during these meetings and also help relay important information from the OME to the residents.

House Staff Council

Two residents are elected to serve as Pediatrics representatives on a university-wide graduate medical education trainee council. More information.

Infection Control Committee

The Infection Control Committee is responsible for implementing the hospital infection control program. This includes the review and analysis of nosocomial infections and infection potentials, the promotion of a preventative and corrective program designed to minimize infection hazards and the supervision of infection control in all phases of the hospitals' activities. The infection Control Program shall be designed to meet or exceed the current national standards in hospital infection control.

Antimicrobial Stewardship Committee

Optimizing the use of antibiotics is critical to effectively treat infections, protect patients from harms caused by unnecessary antibiotic use, and combat antibiotic resistance. Antibiotic Stewardship Committee can help clinicians improve clinical outcomes and minimize harms by improving antibiotic prescribing.

Asthma Task Force

The Asthma Task Force monitors adherence to asthma guidelines, implements policies and procedures aimed at improving outcomes for patients with asthma within our healthcare system and our community.

Neonatal Services Committee

The Neonatal Services Committee shall be responsible for the appraisal of the newborn services at Norton Children's Hospital and the review of policies and procedures as it relates to this service.

Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee

Serve in an advisory capacity to the Medical Staff and hospital Administration in all matters pertaining to the use of drugs, including investigational drugs. Develop the formulary of drugs accepted for use in this hospital and provide for its constant revision. Establish suitable educational programs for this hospital's professional staff on matters relating to drug use. Study problems relating to the distribution and administration of medications, including medication incidents. Review adverse drug reactions occurring in the hospital. Advise the Pharmacy in the Implementation and review of drug distribution and control procedures. Reviews the appropriateness, safety and effectiveness of the empiric, therapeutic and prophylactic use of all drugs determined by assigned members of the Medical Staff to be pertinent to the age population that the hospital services. Evaluate and approve protocols concerning the use of investigational drugs.

Rescue Committee

This committee reviews all "Code 300" events and Rapid Response Team calls. The committee determines if the action taken was appropriate. The committee assesses the circumstances surrounding the event and determines if a further Root Cause Analysis is necessary. The committee also reviews all policies, procedures and equipment involved in Code 300 or Rapid Response Team events.

Reaching for Zero Committee

This committee is composed of physicians, nurses, and administrative representatives from diverse backgrounds and specialties. The members of the Reaching for Zero team have significant responsibility in moving patient safety and outcomes initiatives forward. This committee develops an agenda and solutions to help improve service.

Bio-Ethics Committee

Offer confidential case review and non-binding recommendations for clinical situations in which family, staff or physicians are in conflict. Request for case review may be made by any member of the care team, patient or patient's guardian. Attending physician will be notified at time of such request. Provide a forum for review of hospital by-laws and policies and creation of new policy in order to rectify reoccurring conflicts, clarify current procedures and address emerging ethical concerns with the approval of the MEC. Create educational opportunities to allow discussion and review of pertinent ethical issues

Unit Specific Clinical Practice Teams (Upper Levels Only)

Multi-disciplinary inter-professional unit-specific teams that monitor quality improvement metrics, unit procedures, and unit sensitive patient safety initiatives. Clinical units include: Emergency Department, PICU, CICU, and NICU.

ULH-Nursery Advisory Committee

This committee is multi-disciplinary and is a forum used for discussing problems and investigating issues, as well as educational updates which will impact the care of the mother and newborn at University of Louisville Hospital.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee

Our vision is that this group will write our program policies on diversity and inclusion, inform our recruitment and orientation processes, and engage with the medical school and the great work already underway. We are looking for broad representation with this committee. Members do not need to identify as an under-represented person in medicine to participate. The call for participation will go out with the general committee interest above.

Student Education Committee

This committee discusses issues surrounding the Pediatric rotations for medical students. They discuss and create educational initiatives to improve the medical student experience during Pediatric Clerkship.

Morbidity & Mortality Committee

Discuss recent cases with areas for improvement in patient care and chose an appropriate case for presentation at the monthly M&M conference. Identify specific learning points and systems issues that should be addressed. Contact, in writing, residents and faculty members that will be presenting. Introduce each case and supervise the discussion.

Program Evaluation Committee

This committee meets prior to the residency recruitment season to review feedback from previous candidates and recommends changes to the recruitment process. After completion of interviews and once the preliminary rank list has been generated, the subcommittee meets to discuss and approve it. In late spring, this committee also convenes to review the results of the residents' assessments of the program (summaries of annual program reviews, ACGME survey results, and individual rotation evaluations, together with any other program evaluation results). These assessments are used to create an appropriate action plan to improve resident and faculty performance. The committee also reviews graduate performance on the certification examination to ensure compliance with local and national goals for taking the examination and passing it, modifying the action as appropriate. Activities of this committee are reported to the REC and program leadership every other month, including development, review, and follow-through on program improvement action plans.

Recruitment Sub-Committee

Our recruitment champions help plan the interview day agenda; enlist residents to participate in candidate lunches and dinners; serve as key contacts for interviewees; and help determine key characteristics of residents in our program to target during interview day.

Pediatricians Urging Safety and Health (P.U.S.H.) Executive Committee - At Large Intern Member

PUSH is a resident-led and resident-driven program that is engages in both legislative work and community outreach. We have nine resident leaders elected by their peers yearly and four faculty advisors who are very involved in facilitation the program. This executive team provides leadership for the PUSH program as a whole and represents the PUSH team in the community as well. This group is seeks five interns to be at-large members of the PUSH Executive Committee team to encourage early involvement and leadership in advocacy.

Resident Wellness Committee

The goal of this committee is to improve the health, well-being and quality of life of all Pediatric Residents at the University of Louisville, Department of Pediatrics. Our aim is to empower each resident to promote their personal health and to model positive attitudes that will further strengthen our committee to lifelong wellness. This group aims to provide residents with quarterly noon conference sessions focused on nutrition, exercise, coping with grief, stress, and other topics related to personal wellness; Organize quarterly happy hour sessions to correspond with the date of the noon conference to allow available resident the opportunity to relax and socialize; Assist residents needing assistance from the OME due to burn-out, stress, depression, or other personal issues; Organize significant other support groups, orientation events, fitness challenges, and manage the Wellness Calendar.

Resident Wellness

We're social beings and we require fun. Whether it's a resident-organized outing or a program event, our residents know how to have fun (but respectfully allow those who need to rest a pass). But we know wellness is more than fun outings; program leadership and the Resident & Faculty Wellness Committee work hard to make sure wellness is interwoven throughout curriculum and rotations.

Fun Fridays

Whenever there is a month with five Fridays, the fifth Friday is Fun Friday! Our noon conference is transformed into a social gathering for residents to have lunch, play games and relax.

Resident and Faculty Appreciation

Our trainees and faculty work hard every day, so we go out of our way to appreciate them throughout the year with encouraging notes, special treats, and giveaways.

Battle Buddies

Each year we pair our interns with their own Battle Buddy in hopes to combat anxiety, depression, and physician fatigue. We recognize intern year is difficult and many interns need help to get through the year. Through peer mentorship, our residents can help each other grow personally and professionally.

Resident Retreats

Yearly, residents get the opportunity to go off-campus for their class retreat. While these retreats give residents the chance to discuss all aspects of the program and to gain exposure to the various academic, community and rural career paths. It is also an opportunity for residents to have fun, relax and bond with their peers. PGY-1s head to Red River Gorge, PGY-2s go to Berea and PGY-3s kick back at various Kentucky distilleries.

Holiday Festivities

The winter holiday season is twice as nice with the Holiday Luncheon and Holiday Party. Food, music and fun are prescribed at these festive events.

Graduation

After three years of working hard in our program, graduates celebrate their successes both with heartfelt laughs and tears of sadness as they say goodbye to the friends they've made along the way. Family and friends are invited to join the ceremony and celebration with food, music and drinks in downtown Louisville. It's a night to remember.

The University of Louisville has a long history of engagement in Global Health, dating back to the early 1990's initially with work in Eastern Europe, Uniquely, the University of Louisville has a separate Division and Endowed Chair for Pediatric Global Health. In 2010, the Division of International Pediatrics in collaboration with the Office of Medical Education established collaborative agreements between the University of Louisville and academic medical centers in both Ecuador and Ghana for resident rotations abroad. In 2018, we launched our Distinction Track in Pediatric Global Health.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the international movement to decolonize our global health partnerships have led to significant efforts to re-evaluate our approach to global health. During the pandemic, travel was suspended, yet our global health team remained active and implemented a 2-week intensive "Domestic Global Health" elective experience. This unique elective includes a mix of discussions of health inequities and colonialism in global health, clinical tropical medicine topics, refugee health clinic sessions, a half day simulation exercise, ethics case discussions, and a practical hands on global health skills night. Now that international travel for residents has resumed, this elective has become our primary pre-departure orientation and training course for residents who wish to work abroad with our partners in Tamale Teaching Hospital in Northern Ghana. This course is open to all residents, both those hoping to work in Ghana as well as residents who wish to deepen their understanding of pediatric global health issues.

Most recently, through the efforts of our Pediatric Global Health team, the University of Louisville will join the AMPATH Global Health Consortium in the summer of 2023. AMPATH (The Academic Model Providing Access to Healthcare) is one of the best regarded academic global health collaborative groups in the world. The University of Louisville will be making significant contributions to this group as the current leader of collaborative Pediatric projects in Tamale, Ghana. Joining this group will significantly expand the scope and depth of our partnerships in Ghana and beyond.

Domestic Global Health Rotation

Please Note: this is only a sample schedule template for our Domestic Global Health elective. Specific dates, times, and topics varies with each elective based on the specific interest of residents participating in the elective and faculty availability.

Week 1 - Day 1	Week 1 - Day 2	Week 1 - Day 3	Week 1 - Day 4	Week 1 - Day 5
Orientation Global Health Overview Introduction to Refugee Health with Dr. Bichir Independent Study Time (work on presentations & reflections)	Refugee Health Clinic Sessions or Independent Study Time	GHEARD Decolonizing Global Health with Drs. Hodge & Langford Ethics Session with Dr. Brothers Global Health Movie Night	Refugee Health Clinic Sessions or Independent Study Time	Resident Presentations: Sepsis in Africa Mystery Case 1 Diarrheal Illnesses Mystery Case 2 Ebola, Marburg, & Lassa Fever review
Week 2 - Day 6	Week 2 - Day 7	Week 2 - Day 8	Week 2 - Day 9	Week 2 - Day 10
Environmental issues in Global Health with Dr. Rogers Neonatal Global Health with Dr. Stewart Healthcare in Ghana Orientation Ethics with Dr. Knapp	Refugee Health Clinic Sessions or Independent Study Time Special Presentation: Cross Cultural Experiences in Somaliland & Togo. presented by Drs. Thompson & Fraizer Hands on Skills Sessions	Resident Presentations: Malnutrition Mystery Case 3 Mosquito Borne Illnesses Mystery Case 4 Independent Study Time	Refugee Health Clinic Sessions or Independent Study Time	Global Health Simulation "Redemption Hospital" Debrief and Wrap Up

Week 1 - Day 1

Week 1 - Day 2

Week 1 - Day 3

Week 1 - Day 4

Week 1 - Day 5

Orientation

Global Health Overview

Introduction to Refugee Health with Dr. Bichir

Independent Study Time (work on presentations & reflections)

Refugee Health Clinic Sessions or Independent Study Time

GHEARD Decolonizing Global Health with
Drs. Hodge & Langford

Ethics Session with Dr. Brothers

Global Health Movie Night

Refugee Health Clinic Sessions or Independent Study Time

Resident Presentations:

Sepsis in Africa
Mystery Case 1
Diarrheal Illnesses
Mystery Case 2

Ebola, Marburg, & Lassa Fever review

Week 2 - Day 6

Week 2 - Day 7

Week 2 - Day 8

Week 2 - Day 9

Week 2 - Day 10

Environmental issues in Global Health with Dr. Rogers

Neonatal Global Health with Dr. Stewart

Healthcare in Ghana Orientation

Ethics with Dr. Knapp

Refugee Health Clinic Sessions or Independent Study Time

Special Presentation: Cross Cultural Experiences in Somaliland & Togo. presented by Drs. Thompson & Fraizer

Hands on Skills Sessions

Resident Presentations:

Malnutrition
Mystery Case 3
Mosquito Borne Illnesses
Mystery Case 4

Independent Study Time

Refugee Health Clinic Sessions or Independent Study Time

Global Health Simulation "Redemption Hospital"

Debrief and Wrap Up

International Rotation - Tamale, Ghana

The primary goal of this rotation is to develop a global perspective on child health through the practice of medicine in a less financially resourced practice setting. Below are the specific goals we aim to achieve.

To provide hands-on experience in international child health for residents;
To encourage the development of professional values and skills as global pediatricians;
To develop a global perspective on child health through the practice of medicine in a resource limited healthcare setting;
To improve history taking and physical exam skills through clinical experience in a setting where there is less availability of diagnostic testing;
To build medical knowledge through exposure to a variety of infectious, gastrointestinal, nutritional and other diseases seen more frequently in historically exploited nations;
To experience a unique and different healthcare system;
To develop professional values through exposure to different philosophies of medical ethics, patient-provider relationships, and child rights.
To acquire the attitude and skills necessary to provide initial assessments of the health care needs of children from other cultural or ethnic backgrounds;
To acquire the knowledge to provide basic pre-travel care for patients traveling to other regions of the world (i.e. vaccinations, malaria prophylaxis, counseling regarding safe food and water, etc.)

The residents participating in this rotation will serve as health care providers at a level similar to their training in the United States. Residents will be supervised by both U.S. and Ghanaian Faculty Members. Residents will partner closely with our medical officers and resident physician colleagues in Ghana.

All residents participating in international electives will have the opportunity (and expectation) that they will complete our 2-week Domestic Global Health elective which serves in part as our intensive preparatory training course for residents working abroad.

Residents will also attend post-trip debrief and reflection sessions led by our global health faculty members.

Eligibility

Pediatric or Combined Medicine-Pediatric Residents having completed their internship;
Pre-Departure "Domestic Global Health" 2 week elective course (must be completed prior to travel);
All participants must currently be a "resident in good standing" as defined by our Clinical Competency Committee;
Up-to-date on all aspects of compliance with resident requirements according to ACGME, including medical records, duty hours logging, evaluations, and conference participation.

Email Jackson Williams, MD

Global Health Distinction Track

For residents with a more defined interest in global health, the residency program has offered a Global Health Distinction Track since July 1, 2018.

Goals:

To gain a deep understanding of worldwide health and economic inequities, with an emphasis on the historic roots of these disparities.
To develop a broad knowledge of the global burden of pediatric diseases, with special attention paid to common causes of pediatric mortality, vaccine preventable diseases, mosquito borne infections, and neglected tropical diseases.
To gain an appreciation of issues related to public health, professionalism, and cultural sensitivity.
To maintain and foster a passion for partnering with populations who face limited access to health care and health care resources.

Track Components and Requirements:

1. Elective rotations

a. Domestic Global Health (2 week rotation)
b. International Elective in Tamale, Ghana (or other AMPATH sites)

2. Core Curriculum Noon Conference Topics (Rotating 18-month curriculum)

a. Social and Economic Determinants of Health
b. Global Burden of Disease (Global Health 101)
c. Vaccine Preventable Diseases
d. Malaria
e. Refugee Health Issues
f. Global Health as Public Health

3. Optional Web-based modules (available if unable to attend our in-person educational sessions)

a. Global burden of non-communicable diseases
b. Impact of global child health on the US communities
c. Environmental impact on global child health
d. Approach to internationally adopted children
e. Water-borne and vector-borne illnesses/neglected tropical diseases
f. Approach to fever in low-resource settings
g. Approach to non-infectious emergencies in low-resource settings
h. Malnutrition

4. Travel preparation and post-travel debriefing

5. Global Health Seminars
Monthly noon conference series for track residents

a. Journal Clubs
b. Ethics Case Sessions
c. Guest speaker seminars
d. Case presentations
e. Critical Reflections regarding various aspects of global child health (medical, cultural, ethical, etc.)
f. Workshops

6. Critical Reflections on Global Health Experiences
This is a requirement of the Distinction Track and for any residents participating in international electives. Reflection question suggestions will be provided by our core global health faculty.

7. Scholarly Activity
All residents participating in the Global Health Distinction Track are required to complete a scholarly project related to global child health, health inequities, or healthcare issues of marginalized populations. Scholarly activity may be related to our international programs or may pertain to local issues of health equity which affect populations here in Kentucky.

All Global Health opportunities are available to all residents, regardless of track participation. However, if there is limited space for some experiences (such as our international rotations) priority is given to our global health track participants.

For residents with a more defined interest in global health, the residency program has offered a Global Health Distinction Track since July 1, 2018.

Goals:

To gain a deep understanding of worldwide health and economic inequities, with an emphasis on the historic roots of these disparities.
To develop a broad knowledge of the global burden of pediatric diseases, with special attention paid to common causes of pediatric mortality, vaccine preventable diseases, mosquito borne infections, and neglected tropical diseases.
To gain an appreciation of issues related to public health, professionalism, and cultural sensitivity.
To maintain and foster a passion for partnering with populations who face limited access to health care and health care resources.

Track Components and Requirements:

1. Elective rotations

a. Domestic Global Health (2 week rotation)
b. International Elective in Tamale, Ghana (or other AMPATH sites)

2. Core Curriculum Noon Conference Topics (Rotating 18-month curriculum)

a. Social and Economic Determinants of Health
b. Global Burden of Disease (Global Health 101)
c. Vaccine Preventable Diseases
d. Malaria
e. Refugee Health Issues
f. Global Health as Public Health

3. Optional Web-based modules (available if unable to attend our in-person educational sessions)

4. Travel preparation and post-travel debriefing

5. Global Health Seminars
Monthly noon conference series for track residents

Program AIMS

To train critically thinking general pediatricians who, through comprehensive clinical training, leave our program: feeling prepared to enter a variety of career fields; with ownership of their life-long learning; and the skills to lead at the institutional, community, and national level.
To provide residents with the skills to advocate for their patients at all levels: the individual patient, the hospital or clinic, the community, and the population.
Create a culture with emphasis on patient safety, personal accountability, and the willingness to continuously and objectively evaluate our practices to improve our quality of care.
To promote a scholarly approach to clinical, teaching, and research activities and provide role modeling, mentoring, and basic skills that prepare our residents for a future in medicine.
To recruit, retain, and engage a diverse workforce that represents the population we serve and to foster a nurturing and supportive environment that values diverse perspectives.

Mission	Vision	Values
Our program mission is to develop well-rounded, balanced physicians with a deep commitment to their patients, their profession, their community, and life-long learning by providing a robust clinical environment, experiential curriculum, innovative teaching, opportunities for scholarly activity and attention to personal professional development	"Raise" the kind of pediatrician that makes us proud Achieve our mission by being true to the strengths of our department Allow residents the freedom to find their niche while encouraging personal accountability to their patients and themselves	Acceptance and Inclusion Professionalism and respect to everyone, always Advocacy -- community and safety Well-being Growth mindset Self-regulated learning Competence Independence Diverse workforce

Program Leadership

Sara Multerer, M.D.

Program Director
Professor of Pediatrics
Vice Chair of Pediatric Medical Education

After graduating cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Notre Dame, Dr. Multerer received her medical degree from Indiana University and then moved to Louisville for her pediatric residency training at University of Louisville. Upon completion of her residency, Sara was elected Richard S. Wolf Chief Resident and Lecturer for the program. At the end of her tenure as Chief Resident, Sara stayed on the faculty at the University of Louisville as a pediatric hospitalist with special interests in patient safety and quality improvement as well as resident education.

Dr. Multerer is beginning her ninth year as Program Director of the Pediatric residency after spending eight years in the role of Associate Program Director. She was also recently appointed Vice Chair for Medical Education for the Department of Pediatrics and promoted to Professor.

On a personal note, Sara is married to her high school sweetheart, Matt, and they are proud parents of twin girls.

Adam Patterson, M.D., M.Sc.

Associate Program Director
Associate Professor of Pediatrics
Co-Director, Medical Student Distinction in Medical Education Track

Dr. Patterson was born and raised in Louisville. He received his Bachelor of Science from Centre College in Danville, KY in 2006. He then returned home for his medical training: Medical School, Pediatric Residency, and Pediatric Emergency Medicine Fellowship. Upon completion of Fellowship in 2017, he joined the faculty at the University of Louisville in the Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine and as Associate Program Director for the Pediatric Residency.

Dr. Patterson has a background in athletics as a varsity basketball player for Centre College and an assistant coach for DuPont Manual High School in Louisville, which greatly influences his passion for coaching and mentorship in medical education. He enjoys creating innovative educational experiences for trainees and guiding residents to find their own passions by leading programs such as pediatric career exploration and the Medical Education Track.

He enjoys spending time with his wife, Marilyn, and their three sons, James, Alex, and Quentin.

Becca Hart, M.D., M.Sc.

Associate Program Director
Associate Professor of Pediatrics
Director of Scholarly Activity

Dr. Hart is an Associate Program Director for the Pediatric Residency Program at the University of Louisville. Originally from New Albany, Indiana, Dr. Hart completed her undergraduate degree at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana before attending medical school at University of Louisville. She completed her pediatric residency at University of Louisville in 2015 and her Pediatric Emergency Medicine Fellowship in 2018. She has been a member of the Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine as faculty since 2018 and also served as Director of Scholarly Activity for the Pediatric Residency since that time. Dr. Hart became an Associate Program Director in 2021.

Dr. Hart serves as the chair of the Pediatric Resident and Faculty Wellness Committee and also directs the Pediatric Emergency Medicine resident and student rotation. As Scholarly Activity Director she also leads the resident distinction track in research. In addition to her ED clinical work, Becca is also interested in medical education initiatives, public health, advocacy, and vaccinology research. with special interest in vaccination in non-traditional health settings.

Becca enjoys spending time outdoors, running, traveling, reading, gymnastics, Hoosier basketball, and most of all spending time with her husband, Daniel, and their twins, Rowan and Maren.

Jennifer Stiff, M.D.

Associate Program Director
Associate Professor of Pediatrics
Co-Course Director, Introduction to Clinical Medicine
Associate Division Chief, General Pediatrics

Dr. Stiff is originally from Owensboro, KY. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Biology from Bellarmine University, medical degree from the University of Louisville, and completed her Pediatric Residency at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. She joined the UofL faculty in the Division of General Pediatrics in 2014 and became and Associate Program Director for the Pediatric Residency in 2024 after serving for 3 years as Interim Division Chief of General Pediatrics.

Dr. Stiff is also the Co-Course Director of the Introduction to Clinical Medicine Course for first and second year medical students. Dr. Stiff's interests include parenting, injury and illness prevention, and nutrition and healthy lifestyle. She also enjoys teach medical students and residents about developing and refining communication and physical exam skills.

Jennifer and her husband, Patrick, stay busy keeping up with their three children, Henry, Caroline, and Elsie.

Kimberly Boland, M.D.

Professor and Chair of Pediatrics
Dr. Billy F. Andrews Endowed Chair of Pediatrics
Chief of Staff, Norton Children's Hospital

Dr. Boland was raised in Louisville. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame and returned home to earn her medical degree from the University of Louisville. She then moved to St. Louis where she completed her residency and chief residency in Pediatrics at St. Louis Children’s Hospital at Washington University. After finishing her chief residency, she worked as a hospitalist for two years in a community hospital in St. Louis and then went on to complete a Pediatric Critical Care fellowship at Washington University. Dr. Boland again returned home to Louisville, where she spent five and a half years as a Pediatric Intensivist and filled the roles of Director of Resident Education for the Critical Care Division and Pediatric Critical Care Fellowship Director for one year at the University of Louisville. She left to pursue a career in general pediatrics for three years but was drawn back to the academic world to be part of the excitement and energy of the educational realm. She returned to the University of Louisville as Division Chief of General Inpatient Medicine and Director of the Pediatric Hospitalist Program at Norton Children’s Hospital and quickly became involved in resident education with subsequent appointment to an Associate Program Director role and then the Program Director role which she filled for nine years.

Dr. Boland currently serves as the Billy F. Andrews, M.D. Endowed Chair of Pediatrics. She also serves the broader GME community as the Associate Dean for Resident Education. She is the Past President for the Kentucky Chapter of the AAP and enjoys working in advocacy including with the the resident driven advocacy program PUSH (Pediatricians Urging Safety and Health). She is involved with many task forces and committees within the University and hospital. Dr. Boland is focusing on growing our pediatric academic medical center to accomplish our four-pronged mission of excellence in clinical care, outstanding teaching, especially of the pediatric work force of tomorrow; research leading toward innovative and cutting-edge care; and community engagement, advocacy and promotion of equity, diversity, and inclusiveness.

Dr. Boland is married to an Irishman, and they have one red-headed daughter.

Program Curriculum and Requirements

Our program is structured to permit the physician to develop broad clinical expertise in general and primary care pediatrics as well as in-depth competence in the pediatric sub-specialties. We accomplish this by offering three progressive levels of training characterized by increasing complexity of clinical problems, increasing responsibility for patient care and increasing availability of elective time. The program mixes hands-on, bedside training, didactic sessions, one-on-one consultations, small group sessions and online learning that strives to meet all learning styles of our residents as well as getting broad exposure to specific areas that might be of interest as formal career paths.

Pediatric Level 1 (PGY-1)

This year is designed to provide a comprehensive experience in inpatient and outpatient pediatrics, a basic fund of knowledge of human growth and development and pediatrics diseases, and an opportunity to develop the basic clinical and technical skills involved in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases of infants, children and adolescents. There is an emphasis on learning the pathophysiology of diseases in children and developing clinical judgment in caring for sick children.

All rotations are located at Norton Children's Hospital except for rotations on the newborn and neonatal intensive care units at University of Louisville Hospital.

Pediatric Level 2 (PGY-2)

Physicians who have completed one year of pediatric training and have fulfilled the requirements for medical licensure in the state of Kentucky are advanced to the second year of training. This year provides an opportunity for the physicians to improve clinical skills acquired during the first year, assume increasing levels of responsibility and patient care, and develop knowledge and skills in subspecialty areas. In addition to subspecialty rotations, PGY-2s rotate through the pediatric intensive care unit and neonatal intensive care unit assuming an increasing responsibility in patient care and in PGY-1s and medical student supervision and education.

Pediatric Level 3 (PGY-3)

Physicians in their third year of training assume maximum responsibility both for patient care and the supervision of junior house officers and medical students on the inpatient and outpatient services of Norton Children's Hospital and University of Louisville Hospital.

It is a year devoted to improving clinical judgment and preparation for practice or further sub-specialty training. In addition, the senior resident is expected to review medical literature pertinent to the problems of patients under their supervision and present this material to other house officers and students on rounds.

Sample Resident Annual Schedule

Disclaimer: The following table is a general schedule only. There will be variability from resident to resident, year to year, but each resident over their three years will meet all ACGME training requirements. Our residents will have 13 x 4 week rotations in an academic year.

PGY - 1		PGY - 2		PGY - 3
Rotation	# blocks	Rotation	# blocks	Rotation	# blocks
Clinic*	1	Clinic*	1	Clinic*	1
ULH NICU	1	NCH NICU	1	NCH NICU	1
Hem/Onc	1	PICU	1	PICU	1
ED	1.5	ED	1.5	ED	1.5
Wards	3	Wards	2	Wards	2
Night Team	0.5	Night Team	1	Night Team	0.5
Core Subspecialty	1	Cardiology	1	Core Subspecialty	1
Individualized Curriculum Elective	0.5	Individualized Curriculum Elective*	1.5	Individualized Curriculum Electives*	3
Adolescent*	1	Ambulatory*	2	Ambulatory*	1
Newborn*	1	Behavior and Development*	1	-	-
Procedure	0.5	-	-	-	-
Vacation#	1	Vacation#	1	Vacation#	1
Overall Total	13	Overall Total	13	Overall Total	13

*rotations have clinic built into the schedule

#vacations are taken as 4x 1 week vacations during the year

X+Y and Block Scheduling

Our program is participating in a pilot study looking at an alternative method of resident scheduling called X+Y scheduling. As part of this study, residents will do their longitudinal clinic in multiple one to two-week rotations over the course of each year. This means that residents will not go to their longitudinal clinic on inpatient rotations such as the Wards or ICU.

The goals and anticipated advantages of this method are:

Minimizing conflict between inpatient and outpatient responsibilities
Improving resident “presence” on their rotations
Improving the predictability of clinic schedules to allow for more patient continuity

Residents will have dedicated clinic weeks where their only responsibility is going to their outpatient general pediatrics clinic. This week is generally paired with a vacation and will happen four times in an academic year. Other clinic sessions will be scheduled heavily during more outpatient focused rotations such as Newborn Nursery, Adolescent Medicine, Behavior and Development, and Ambulatory rotations. In the sample below, each Y-block is where your longitudinal clinics are scheduled. During X-blocks, residents do not go to their longitudinal clinics.

Sample Resident X/Y Schedule:

Block 1		Block 2		Block 3		Block 4		Block 5		Block 6
Wards	Wards	NB	NB	ID	ID	ED	C/V	NICU	NICU	NT	Adol
X	X	X	Y	X	X	X	Y	X	X	X	Y

C/V = Clinic/Vacation

NB = Newborn

NT = Night Team

Where do I do my Longitudinal Outpatient Clinic?

At the beginning of training, first-year residents are assigned to one of our three primary continuity sites - Norton Children's Medical Group - Novak Center , Norton Children's Medical Group - Germantown, and Norton Children's Medical Group - Stonestreet for their longitudinal clinic. Residents attend their assigned outpatient clinic for a minimum of 36 half-day clinic experiences per year. Residents are able to watch patients grow and develop over three years and have the opportunity to develop a strong bond with their patients and their families.

Our ambulatory faculty act as mentors and preceptors and conduct structured clinical observations. Residents also complete an online curriculum on common pediatric outpatient topics and discussions on these modules are facilitated by outpatient clinic faculty.

The longitudinal outpatient experience is designed to provide the house officer with a view of growth and development and disease evolution in the pediatric patient that encompasses the spectrum of birth through adolescence. Residents have the opportunity to recruit patients into their clinic throughout all three years of training. Patients may be recruited during the nursery, wards or emergency department rotations.

Our clinics serve over 50,000 of the most vulnerable patients in our community.

Individualized Curriculum

We know that all residents have their own path, and this may change during the course of training. With early exposure to career interests as an intern, mentorship to discuss career goals and needs throughout residency, and guidance from division education leaders, our residents are prepared for life after residency. No matter your desired career path, our individualized curriculum guides each resident toward their future career.

Career Exploration

At the beginning of intern year, each resident will schedule a longitudinal career exploration experience that they will choose based on their anticipated career pathway. Over the course of the first two years, residents will spend 1-2 half days during their Y (outpatient) block with the division of their choice. The activities in those exploration opportunities have been specifically tailored by divisional education leaders to provide a broad range of exposure to their fields, giving a true taste of life in that specialty. If a resident's career path changes over time, as it often does, the career exploration assignment can be modified accordingly.

During the intern year, each resident will have the opportunity for:

One month of ward service choice: One month of ward experience on a team that focuses on the subspecialty patient population of the resident's choosing
Individualized Curriculum mentor: Each intern chooses a mentor at the beginning of residency to provide them with objective career advice and guidance over the course of the three-year residency. This mentor will meet with the resident at least annually to assist in this process.

At the beginning of the second year, each resident will choose a career-focused pathway. Options include:

Primary Care
- Community Private Practice
- Academic General Pediatrics
- Rural General Pediatrics
Hospital Medicine
- Community
- Academic
Neonatology
Emergency Medicine/Critical Care
Subspecialty Fellowship
- Adolescent
- Allergy/Immunology
- Behavior/Development
- Cardiology
- Endocrinology
- Gastroenterology
- Genetics
- Hematology/Oncology
- Hospital Medicine
- Infectious Diseases
- Nephrology
- Neurology
- Pulmonary Medicine
- Rheumatology
Global Health

Each pathway contains required elements as deemed necessary by faculty in each field as well as "Menu Options" from which residents will choose. Each pathway will also have strongly recommended subspecialty core electives which are separate from the six months of Individualized Curriculum. For example, the resident above might choose electives in Infectious Diseases, Hematology/Oncology, Neurology, and Allergy, which are applicable to his or her career but are in addition to the six months of Individualized Curriculum.

Electives

Core Electives

Residents are required to complete at least four core electives as one-month blocks.

Allergy/Immunology
Cardiology (during 2nd year of residency)
Child Abuse
Dermatology
Endocrinology
Gastroenterology
Genetics
Hematology/Oncology (during 1st year of residency)
Infectious Diseases
Nephrology
Neurology
Pulmonology
Rheumatology

Other Electives

These are examples of electives may be taken in two- or four-week blocks. We are constantly adding to this list based on resident feedback.

Cardiac Critical Care (Advanced)	Hospital Medicine (Advanced)	Poverty & Social Justice
Cardiology (Advanced)	International Medicine	Private Practice
Care of the Complex Patients (HOTI)	Infectious Diseases (Advanced)	Pulmonology (Advanced)
Center for Courageous Kids	Labor and Delivery	Radiology
Child Abuse (Advanced)	Lactation	Research
Child Advocacy	Local Global Health	Surgery (Pediatric)
Critical Care (Advanced)	Medical Education (Advanced)	Ultrasound
Emergency Medicine (Advanced)	Neonatology (Advanced)
Endocrinology (Advanced)	Nephrology (Advanced)
Gastroenterology (Advanced)	Ophthalmology
General Pediatrics (Advanced)	Orthopedics/Sports Medicine
Hematology/Oncology (Advanced)	Palliative Care
Hematology/Oncology (Outpatient)	Parenting

Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion

Our residency program is committed to providing an inclusive environment for our patients, our students, our residents, and our faculty.

We are committed to UofL's Cardinal Anti-Racism agenda and excited about Norton Healthcare's $20 million commitment over 5 years to address health equity, ensure primary care for the community, hire new leadership that reflects community demographics, education and advocacy about health policy issues, and investment in the underserved areas of Louisville.

Mission
Our committee exists: to identify weaknesses and strengths within our residency program as it relates to promotion of a diverse workforce; to help foster a nurturing and supportive environment that values diverse perspectives; to create a sustainable model to strive for continuous improvements in our diversity, equity, and inclusion practices. All of these with the ultimate goal of training a diverse workforce of pediatricians who are equipped to provide culturally competent care to a diverse population of patients
Vision
We want our pediatric residency program: to be considered among the best at providing culturally competent education both within UL GME but also among regional pediatric residency programs; to have a workforce (both trainees and faculty) that better reflects the population we serve; to retain a diverse group of students, residents, and faculty; and to be a model of engagement of different perspectives so that all can thrive
Values
Celebration of diverse backgrounds Learning from the experiences of others Work as an inclusive team Systems of support and mentorship Safe, open environment Student engagement Equality Belonging Compromise Cultural humility Integrity Recruitment and retention education Overcome challenges and discrimination

University and School of Medicine Resources:

The University of Louisville School of Medicine has received national attention for its implementation of eQuality and is the first medical school in the nation to implement the AAMC competencies to care for individuals who are LGBTQ, gender non-conforming, and born with differences in sexual development (DSD). Our LGBT center is a great resource for everyone.

The Health Sciences Center(HSC) Office of Diversity and Inclusion at the University of Louisville offers a number of resources to embrace our SOM community
Multicultural Association of Graduate Students (M.A.G.S) advocates for and supports graduate students of color as well as other under-represented groups
University of Louisville Cultural Center
University of Louisville Office of Diversity and International Affairs
Color of Health, Healthcare for a Diverse Population: This website provides health care resources for a number of diverse groups of people in various languages as well as for healthcare providers.

Resident Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee

Our vision is that this group will write our program policies on diversity, equity, and inclusion, inform our recruitment and orientation processes, and engage with the medical school and the great work already underway. We seek for a broad representation with this committee. However, members do not need to identify as an under-represented person in medicine to participate. The call for participation will go out with the general committee interest above.

DEI Book Club - Each year, our residents sign-up to participate in this book club to read literature and discuss topics related to DEI with each other and the UofL Dept. of Peds DEI committee.

Health Disparities Research in Pediatrics:

Kaquanta Barlow, DO: Difficult Conversations: Addressing Microaggressions
Ryan Conard, MD: Assessment of Family Planning Readiness in Transgender Youth in an Urban Multi-Disciplinary Gender Clinic
Stephanie Battistini, MD: Improving Awareness and Education of Elopement Risks in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder by Pediatricians
Amber Pendleton, MD: LGBTQ Adolescent Health in Louisville: An approach to identify and assess local priorities
The Pediatric Primary Care Project: Breaking the Cycle of Toxic Stress (along with the Division of General Pediatrics)
Kasi Eastep, DO: Opioid Prescriptions Among Children Enrolled in Kentucky Medicaid: A Review of a Recent Cohort
Jenny Smith, MD: Impact of Refugee Status on Mental Health in Latino Children
Courtney Sumner, MD: Improving a Residency Program’s Training and Confidence in Caring for Children Presenting with Gender Dysphoria in a Primary Care Setting
Kirsten Drucker, PsyD; Christopher Poitevien, PhD & Chelsea VanderWoude, PhD: Assessing Resiliency Resources: Identifying and Reducing Barriers to Minority Adolescent Referral and Completion to a Manualized Intervention for Chronic Illness Coping
Katie Burgener: Quality of life and psychologic comorbidities in youth with gender dysphoria

Community Resources:

Benefits/Perks

Take a look at the benefits package you'll get as a pediatric resident at UofL - 2024 UofL Benefits Guide

Basics

Vacation
Four weeks of vacation is given at all levels.

Bookstore
A 10% discount is available on books and supplies with a valid University of Louisville Identification Card.

Licensure
Initial resident licensure fees are paid by the university and renewal resident licensure fees are paid by the department.

Beepers
Beepers are provided to all house staff, including the batteries to keep them going (we'll recycle your old ones, too!).

Stipends
We love the altruism shown by our residents, but even so, we provide annual stipends for their hard work. Stipends for House Staff for the 2024-2025 academic year are as follows:

PGY Level	Annual	Monthly
1	$61,867.64	$5,155.64
2	$64,179.69	$5,348.31
3	$66,251.94	$5,521.00
4	$69,244.93	$5,770.41

Stipend rates based on 4% increase for all PG levels

Perks

Parking Permits
Free parking in the attached, covered Norton Children's Hospital garage and all other Norton garages downtown.

Book Allowance
All first-year residents in good standing in the program receive a generous book allowance as well as MedStudy.

Board Review
All second-year residents in good standing in the program are provided with MedStudy, and third-years in good standing in the program earn a stipend for a board review course to be attended following graduation.

Meals
On call meals are provided at both Norton Children's Hospital and UofL Hospital.

Ward Support
Nurse Clinicians: In response to resident feedback, Norton Children's Hospital provides a nurse clinician for each ward team to aid in completing work involving communication and patient care. This team of nurses also provides month-to-month continuity.

AAP Membership
Resident memberships are provided to the American Academy of Pediatrics including subscriptions to PREP and Pediatrics in Review.

Athletics
Residents are eligible to purchase student athletic tickets, which are offered at reduced rates through the Athletics Department.

Insurance

Insurance Plans
The University offers a complete package of insurance coverage for our residents and their families, including health, dental, vision, prescription, Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA), Life, Accidental Death and Dismemberment (AD&D), Supplemental Life, Short Term Disability and Long Term Care. Detailed plan information can be found on the University of Louisville Human Resources site.

Retirement
Residents are considered "eligible employees" and may contribute monies to any of UofL's retirement plans.

Worker's Compensation
All house staff are covered under the Kentucky Worker's Compensation statutes for injuries incurred while engaged in regularly assigned duties.

Professional Liability Insurance (Malpractice)
Professional liability insurance is provided by the University of Louisville or by affiliated hospitals through contract agreement.

Preventive Health Program
Hepatitis B immunization, an annual TB skin test, and flu shots are required and furnished free of charge to all residents. Additionally, COVID-19 testing and monitoring is also provided free of charge.

For more information, please visit the UofL Employee Benefits page

Online Learning Opportunities

Anytime, anywhere learning comes to the residency program by way of an array of tools and websites for residents. All resident and departmental educational conferences are offered through virtual platforms. Further examples of online educational resources include streaming presentations developed in-house by the Pediatric Emergency Medicine Division, Cardiology talks created by current residents, Mount Sinai Keystones of Development curriculum modules, Quality Improvement modules from the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, online nutrition seminars from Abbott, and the Johns Hopkins Pediatric Ambulatory Care Curriculum online. From entry into the program to graduation, residents are given resources to help prepare for each stage of their program.

Blackboard

Our Learning Management System (LMS), Blackboard, is home to online lectures and quizzes; interactive patient care modules such as SoftChalk; and serves as a repository for important articles, documents, links, and presentations for resident education. It can be accessed anywhere as long as you have an internet connection. We also stream our live noon conference didactics using Blackboard Collaborate for residents who are working remotely or rotating at off site locations.

Amion

Our chief residents manage the resident schedules online using the web-based tool, Amion. Residents can view the entire house staff schedule as well as create custom views of their own schedule for all rotations by day, month or year.

MedHub

Residents can logon anytime, anywhere to MedHub and enter their work hours and procedure logs, download needed forms and review up-to-date announcements. The management software is also home to rotation goals and objectives and resident evaluations. A one-stop shop!

Microsoft Office 365

Residents are granted access to a full complement of tools through the Microsoft Office 365 Suite including Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Resident groups are able to work remotely through Microsoft Teams.

Adobe Creative Suite

University trainees, faculty, and staff have subscription access to more than 20 Adobe programs, including desktop and mobile apps as well as hundreds of online tutorials.

Board Review Support

Each resident receives a generous Board Review support package including:

Text book stipend during intern year
Free MedStudy during their first and second year
Free PediaLink access to PREP The Curriculum® all three years
Stipend for board review materials at the end of training
Our noon conference curriculum is created directly from ACGME guidelines and ABP suggested materials

Pediatric Resident Survival Guide

All incoming residents are given access to a booklet titled “Pediatric Resident Survival Guide”, a handy reference guide includes charts, guidelines, contact lists and tips useful for everyday patient encounters. This resource was created by a former resident and is maintained through the Office of Medical Education.

Transition Checklist, Your Final Year of Residency Training

Created by our Office of Medical Education for our graduating residents, this resource will aid your transition to a clinical practice setting, academic position or fellowship training.

Medical Education Conference Curriculum

We have created a diverse, well-rounded learning environment to prepare our residents for superior patient care and impart the knowledge to manage their profession as pediatricians.

Core Conference
Daily noon conferences provide the residents with a rolling, 18-month comprehensive core curriculum of pediatric topics as determined by the chief residents and program director. These are chosen from the ABP, PREP and ACGME core medical knowledge themes. Lectures are given by UofL faculty in the Department of Pediatrics.

Business Side of Medicine
These monthly lectures cover topics such as contract negotiation, what to do if you’ve been subpoenaed, malpractice coverage, and creating your CV.

Child Advocacy (P.U.S.H.)
Each month, residents meet to discuss issues related to child advocacy within the framework of the resident-led child advocacy program, P.U.S.H. These meetings are a combination of project planning sessions as well as didactic sessions focusing on topics pertinent to child advocacy.

Communication
Delivering difficult news is never easy, but our communication curriculum gives residents the skills necessary to handle this challenging responsibility as well as more routine tasks such as phone consults and patient handoffs. On a monthly basis, residents meet to focus on communication as it relates to patients and their families as well as other healthcare professionals. With a goal of exceeding the ACGME's core competencies of Interpersonal and Communication Skills and Professionalism, the communication curriculum is delivered in a variety of formats through a combination of workshops, video sessions and standardized patient encounters over 18 months.

Grand Rounds
This is a weekly, one-hour conference that is available to all pediatric faculty and residents. A wide variety of topics pertinent to general pediatrics are covered. These sessions are given by a combination of invited speakers and faculty within the department.

Med Ed Business Meetings
During these monthly meetings, resident issues and ideas for program improvement are discussed openly among the residents, chief residents, program director, associate program directors and office staff.

Mentoring program
Each resident chooses a mentor during their intern year. Interns chose faculty who have similar interests both in and out of medicine. Once chosen, residents and mentors meet independently. Topics covered during these meetings include: clinical performance, program engagement and time management, personal wellness, lifelong learning, and planning for the future.

Morbidity and Mortality (M&M)
Each month, faculty, residents, and students participate in this resident-led, multidisciplinary conference aimed at improving patient safety and quality of care. Cases are chosen by the Pediatric M&M Committee, consisting of pediatric residents, chief residents, and faculty.

Morning Report
We kick off each morning with a board-style "question-of-the-day" which is answered in a team environment with learning points discussed by the chief residents. This is followed by morning report, a daily session that offers a format for residents to learn about latest clinical practice in the hospital and relevant pediatric topics, hosted by several speakers from multidisciplinary teams such as subspecialist fellows and attendings, chief residents, pharmacists, respiratory therapists, psychologists, and more.

PREP Party
Based on resident feedback, we implemented a new approach to board study where the residents work through board review questions related to a "specialty of the month." The conference is led by a Chief Resident and guest faculty member from the selected specialty who helps facilitate discussion and expand on the questions/explanations. PREP Party occurs during noon conference once a month.

Resident Grand Rounds
All pediatric faculty, residents and students are invited to attend this weekly conference where interesting case-based presentations are made by Pediatric and Med-Peds residents.

Quality Improvement and Patient Safety
Our Quality Improvement (QI) and Patient Safety curriculum consists of monthly sessions with brief didactics on common QI methods/topics. These didactics are followed by working meetings in which residents participate in team-based QI and safety projects both in the hospital and in our clinics. Residents work with faculty and nursing mentors on process evaluation, root cause analysis, and designing and implementing Plan-Do-Study-Act(PDSA) cycles. Residents take turns acting as the "Champion" for their team, moving their projects forward between these noon meetings.

Wellness Curriculum
The wellness curriculum includes quarterly noon sessions focused on topics like nutrition, exercise, coping with grief and stress and other topics related to personal wellness; Fun Friday "free lunch hours" on the fifth Friday of the month; assistance from the OME regarding burnout, stress, depression or other concerns; formation of a spouse/significant other support group; and monthly community events. Additionally, “Resilience Rounds” gives residents the opportunity to debrief and process difficult events in either written or discussion format. These sessions are moderated by our clinical psychology staff who can also provide tips for coping with stress and building resilience.

Additional Conferences & Workshops

Crisis Management Program with Simulation
Pediatric residents participate in 2-4 simulated crisis management scenarios per academic year as part of our Crisis Management Program. We created numerous emergent scenarios that require residents to demonstrate skills in airway management and intubation, cardiac arrest and CPR, arrhythmia management and defibrillation, shock management, seizure management, needle thoracostomy, and more. These sessions include an orientation, the session itself, and a debriefing period. Assessment of knowledge, patient care, systems based practice, communication and team dynamics are completed by the team about themselves and the experience. The faculty preceptors and nurses involved also complete evaluations that are available to the resident for review.

Residents as Teachers
Residents as Teachers (RATs), first offered in 2007, is a full day workshop for residents in all specialties to teach, discuss, and practice the principles of adult education that will help them in teaching medical students, patients, other residents, and of course faculty and staff. Offered four times during intern year, this interactive curriculum includes small group work supported by clinicians and medical educators as facilitators and standardized patients to help residents practice new instructional skills.

Medical Education Distinction Track

The University of Louisville Pediatric Medical Education distinction track is a two and a half year longitudinal curriculum that weaves robust medical education, scholarly activity, elective rotations, mentoring, and focused educational experiences together to explore the role of pediatricians as educators. Residents interested in improving their skills and professional identity as clinician educators are encouraged to apply during the 2^nd half of their intern year. Cohorts of 4-6 residents progress through the curriculum, collaborating in their learning and teaching.

Highlights of the Curriculum:

Robust, mentored scholarly activity in self-identified Medical Education project.

Tracks are opt-in: Because residents are not required to complete a distinction track in residency, members of each cohort will be motivated and passionate about medical education!

We have set high expectations for our team to create great projects ready for conference and journal submission, while knowing that many residents have never performed a curriculum development project or studied educational outcomes. To reach out goals, quarterly meetings with medical education experts are held to share ideas, promote project movement, and introduce/teach principles of Med Ed scholarly activity. To show off their hard work, each resident will present a capstone presentation to the Department of Pediatrics in the Spring of their graduation year.

Didactics:

Track conference is held on the 2^nd Wednesday of each month. Topics rotate throughout the year according to the interests or needs of the current group. Additionally, there are quarterly "All Track Conferences" on these days, where the Advocacy, Global Health, Medical Education, and Research Distinction Tracks get together for topics that span all areas of interest.

Asynchronous learning consists of a guided walkthrough of a Medical Education textbook (~1 chapter/article per month). These will be reviewed and discussed during the Spring Elective in a flipped classroom - style session.

Goals:

To create a robust experience in medical education across multiple disciplines and platforms.
To educate future academic physicians in adult learning theory through innovative curricula, committee involvement, and strong mentorship.
To compose and disseminate meaningful scholarly activity in the area of medical education.
To advance the University of Louisville residency program’s culture of learning and growth by developing leaders in education.
To provide opportunities to apply developing knowledge and skills in medical student and resident educational programs.

Track Components and Requirements:

1. Mentorship
Medical Education mentor(s) will be assigned/chosen based upon area of interest.

2. Scholarly Activity
Participants will complete a scholarly activity project on a medical education topic. For project completion, the resident will be required to participate in Medical Education Scholarly Oversight Committee Meetings and submit this work to a local, regional or national platform, with expected presentation.

3. Didactics
a. Monthly, Medical Education Focused Workshops
b. Asynchronous Didactics (Podcasts, interesting medical education articles)
c. Medical Education Textbook Walkthrough

2021-2022 - "Kern's Curriculum Development" edited by Dr. David E. Kern, Dr. Patricia A. Thomas, and Dr. Mark T. Hughes
2022-2023 - "Researching Medical Education" edited by Dr. Jennifer Cleland and Dr. Steven J. Durning
2023-2024 - "Curriculum Development for Medical Education" edited by Dr. Patricia A. Thomas, Dr. David E. Kern, and Dr. Belinda Y. Chen
2024-2025 - "Researching Medical Education" edited by Dr. Jennifer Cleland and Dr. Steven J. Durning

4. Elective Rotations
Participants will have the opportunity to participate in an annual medical education elective (Medical Education Elective, Research in Medical Education Elective).

5. Medical Education Leadership, Presentation and Committee Involvement:
Track participants are expected to complete a medical education focused presentation at the department level during their final year of training. Additionally, they should have a significant contribution and/or leadership to a resident medical education committee or educational opportunity. These experiences could include the medical student education committee, teaching PBL to medical students, simulation education, oversight of 4^th year medical student peer assisted learning program, among others.

6. Medical Education Portfolio
In the Spring of PGY-3, each participant will give a presentation which includes a summary of the following:

a. Scholarly project(s)
b. Educational presentations
c. Leadership activities and productivity in educational programs/initiatives.
d. Experience and outcomes of the Med Ed Elective
e. SMART goals

Residents who successfully complete the required elements will graduate with a certificate and letter of distinction from the track coordinator.

Scholarly Activity

Throughout our program, our residents work with their faculty mentors on scholarly activity in a planned progression, building on ideas formulated during their intern year and culminating in a presentation for the entire Department of Pediatrics during their senior year. Prizes are awarded to the top projects in several categories. Winners are announced during the graduation ceremony among peers, faculty, family and friends.

The learning objectives of the scholarly project are to:

Improve understanding of a particular subject area related to child health;
Improve skills in critical review of the medical literature and understanding of research methods;
Develop personal experience in the advancement of medical knowledge; and
Develop improved foundations in one or more of the following:

1) advocacy or public health policy for children;
2) preparation for research requirements for subspecialty fellowships;
3) patient care quality improvement, and/or;
4) practice-based continuing medical education.

Throughout their training, residents develop these skills through various avenues, such as lectures, small-group sessions, and individual work with their mentors. Additionally, residents receive assistance identifying a mentor and project via a series of three Research Oversight Committee (ROC) meetings. At ROCs, residents initially give a brief overview of their career goals and potential scholarly interests, and peers and faculty are available to provide feedback, generate ideas, and build connections or network. As residents progress, ROCs provide a chance to give updates, seek guidance, and troubleshoot projects in an informal, non-threatening environment.

Additionally, a Research Track is available for residents interested in research-focused careers or accelerated exposure to research and scholarship.

2024 Scholarly Activity Booklet

Our graduating residents and fellows presented scholarly activity projects to an esteemed panel of judges as well as University of Louisville and Norton Healthcare faculty, staff and trainees.

Scholarly Activity Award winners

Resident Poster Sessions:

Category - Original Research

1^st Place: Dr. Victoria Thompson - "Are We Missing Disordered Eating Behaviors in the Pediatric Type 1 Diabetes Population?"
2^nd Place: Dr. Emily Allen - "The Utility of Laboratory Workup for Pediatric Patients who present to the Emergency Department with Chief Complaint of Seizure."

Category - QI/Case Report/Curriculum Design or Other

1^st Place: Dr. Ally Howard - "Navigating Preschool Enrollment Program: CATCH Grant 2023-2024."
2^nd Place: Dr. Molly Stinnett - "Are We Feeding Our Future Pediatric Residents Enough Information Regarding Eating Disorders?"

Fellow Research Presentations:

Category - Original Research

1^st Place: Dr. Victoria Magloire - "Impact of Insurance Discontinuity on Access to Care in U.S. Children in the Peri-Pandemic Period."
2^nd Place: Dr. Emily Montgomery - "Patterns of Incidence and Characteristics of Youth with New-Onset Diabetes Mellitus in the COVID Era."

2024 Graduation Award Winners

On June 21^st, we celebrated graduation with 24 Peds residents, 5 Med/Peds residents, 3 child neurology residents, 9 fellows, 3 child psychology interns, 1 child psychiatry fellow, and 1 post-doctoral fellows. During the ceremony we announced the following awards:

Ancillary Staff Award: Sarah Head, RN
Clinical Professor of the Year: Brittany Badal, MD
Division of the Year: General Pediatrics (for the 1st time!)
Dr. J. Scott Robinson Memorial Award: Brit Anderson, MD
David H. Adamkin Award in Neonatology: Allison Marks, MD
Dr. Joshua Sparks Award in Cardiology: Molly Stinnett, MD
Rookie of the Year: Katie Isch, DO
Kentucky Chapter of the AAP Award: Victoria Thompson, DO
Pediatric Academic Achievement Awards: Macy Howard, MD [PGY-1], Kyle McQuaide, MD [PGY-2], and Dylan Vish, MD [PGY-3]
Compassionate Pediatrician Award: Victoria Thompson, DO
Robert G. Spurling Memorial Award: Victoria Thompson, DO
Dr. Sofia Franco Award: Ally Howard, MD
Graduating Fellow Award for Teaching Excellence: Gus Wilson, MD

2024 Division Award Winners

Each year, our divisions reward a select few of our residents for their exemplary work and dedication to patient care.

Excellence in Pediatric Critical Care Medicine: Dylan Vish, MD
Pediatric Emergency Medicine Senior Resident Award: Victoria Thompson, DO
Continuity Practice Award (Germantown): Ashley Klein, DO
Continuity Practice Award (Novak): Kristin Schutzman, MD
Continuity Practice Award (Stonestreet): Kaitlyn West, DO
Excellence in Pediatric Hospital Medicine: Molly Stinnett, MD
Pediatric Neurology Award: Dylan Vish, MD and Victoria Thompson, DO
Pediatric Endocrinology Award: Victoria Thompson, DO and Jerry Julian, DO

Resident Research Track

The goal of the resident research distinction track is to foster meaningful, collaborative scholarly activity in the area of original research for resident trainees interested in an academic career or fellowship.

Goals:

Guide development of a robust original research, quality improvement, or curriculum based project.
Foster mentorship with research-oriented faculty.
Educate residents on advanced research design and education topics, including evidence-based medicine.
Prepare residents to submit an abstract to a local, regional, or national meeting and/or to submit a manuscript for publication.

Track Components and Requirements:

1. Mentorship
Research mentor(s) will be assigned or chosen based on the resident's area of interest.

2. Scholarly Activity
All residents will complete a scholarly project during their training. Required components of this project include:

a. IRB application

b. Meaningful participation in project design, data collection, analysis, and write-up.

c. Submission of scholarly work or to a local, regional, or national meeting or publication by the end of residency program.

3. Monthly Conferences and Workshops

a. Rotating 2-year curriculum, topics include: IRB application process, literature search, citation management software, advanced biostatistics, abstract and manuscript preparation, etc.

b. Quarterly group conferences and workshops with other distinction tracks.

Must attend at least 50% of these conferences or workshops

4. Semi-annual Scholarly Oversight Committee (SOC) Presentations

a. PGY-1 (Med/Peds PGY-1 or 2): potential project ideas; early design planning and feedback.

b. PGY-2 (Med/Peds PGY-2 or 3):

Fall - refining research idea and design

Spring - department-wide presentation of research concept (and any data collection)

c. PGY-3 (Med/Peds PGY-3 or 4): Data collection updates and final abstract/poster/manuscript preparation and presentation.

5. Research Elective
All residents may participate in a 2-4 week research elective during their training. Research track members are able to participate in additional elective time or may split their elective time into multiple blocks on their schedule to focus on research design vs. data collection.

Residents who successfully complete the required elements will graduate with a certificate and letter of distinction from the track coordinator.

P.U.S.H. (Pediatricians Urging Safety and Health)

Pediatricians Urging Safety and Health (PUSH) is a resident-led, resident-driven advocacy group that promotes child health at the local, state, and national level through legislative and community outreach. We collaborate with the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), State of Kentucky, local schools, and community partners. PUSH leaders host the program’s monthly advocacy conference and help curate the advocacy curriculum and facilitate discussion of relevant topics in children’s health alongside our faculty advisors. Residents with a particular interest in advocacy can join PUSH for more robust advocacy training and experience.

PUSH’s involvement spans from managing a garden for the local food bank to talking to our senators in Washington, DC about issues impacting the health of our children. Every year, we send a large group of residents to Children’s Day at the Capitol and 3-4 residents to the AAP Legislative Conference in Washington, DC. We also host a friendly resident competition called the “Tri-Resident Cup” each year. Our 2021 Tri-Resident Cup resulted in nearly 1700 canned goods donated to our resident clinic food pantries as well as Dare to Care, 4,400 books donated to our clinics, 200 emails/calls to our legislators, and $1050 for community safety equipment as an excellent turn out and participation from our residents! We were the proud recipients of the Leonard P. Rome CATCH Visiting Professorship Grant for 2019-2020 and had the pleasure of working with Dr. Ben Hoffman to strengthen our advocacy training, increase the sustainability of our projects, and enhance collaboration within our community.

PUSH celebrated a year full of advocacy in 2022-2023!

Smoketown Community Garden
Lexi Memorial - 5K for Prevent Child Abuse Kentucky
Tri-Resident Cup
Mask for Kids Campaign (see photo)
Family Scholar House Pack-A-Backpack
Increasing awareness for online reading and book options to families in resident clinics.
Children's Advocacy Day at the Capitol
University of Louisville School of Medicine Gun Violence Prevention Week
Norton Children's & Hospital Week: Building Healthy Superheroes

Though the Covid-19 Pandemic created barriers to being out in the community, we are hopeful to continue many of our other advocacy events this year, including:

Southwest Kindergarten ReadyFest
Norton's Splash 'n Dash
Family Resource & Youth Service Centers Back to School Fest
Smoketown Family Wellness Neighborhood Celebration
Smoketown Trunk or Treat

We are looking forward to another great year of advocacy!

To see more PUSH activity, follow us on Instagram

Meet Our Team

Title	Current Member(s)	Position Description
Co-Presidents	Sagorika Bera Sagorika.Bera@louisville.edu Ashley Dean Ashley.Dean@louisville.edu	Presidents will work together to help create the framework for PUSH. Tasks Include: Setting up the monthly PUSH noon conferences, including choosing topics and inviting speakers Collaborating with the community to plan and organize monthly volunteer events Working with medical students in the Pediatrics Student Interest Group and Student National Medical Association (SNMA) to increase community presence and collaborative initiatives Facilitating the legislative and community branches of PUSH to ensure projects are executed as scheduled Act as delegates to AAP on behalf of the department
Co-Presidents Elect	Miranda Bencomo Miranda.Mason@louisville.edu Emily Current Emily.Current@louisville.edu	Presidents elect utilize the elect year to learn how the organization runs, get to know community partners, and act as additional support to the executive committee.
Executive Committee	Mehma Singh Mehma.Singh@louisville.edu Jessica Mutters-Morales Jessica.Mutters@louisville.edu Abby Gellert Abigail.Gellert@louisville.edu Alex Voelker-Dunbar Alexandra.Voelker@louisville.edu Andrew Dunbar Andrew.Dunbar@louisville.edu Yanio Hernandez Yanio.Hernandez@louisville.edu	The executive committee works together to engage various local and community partners to facilitate outreach events and projects. This committee also works as a liaison between our advocacy group and our Kentucky state legislators. Tasks Include: Acting as a liaison between our group and Smoketown Wellness Center, a local downtown neighborhood multipurpose health center that has created opportunities for advocacy through medical care, food security, and summer programs/events Facilitating sexual health advocacy by coordinating educational sessions with local middle and high schools, creation of educational materials, and advocacy for comprehensive sexual health education at the school board level Collaboration with local food pantries and farmers to provide access to health foods for all members of our community Organizing our participation in Children’s Day at the Capitol by setting up meetings with state legislators Following legislative updates from the AAP Department of Federal Affairs and facilitating discussion and engagement within our group when relevant Coordinating letter writing and social media campaigns on topics related to children’s health Navigating our group’s social media presence and digital advocacy efforts Acting as event leaders for various community outreach events by serving as a point contact for community partners and facilitating resident participation.
Faculty Advisors	Brit Anderson brit.anderson@louisville.edu Allie Black allison.black@louisville.edu

Child Advocacy Track

The University of Louisville Child Advocacy Distinction Track is a longitudinal experience that weaves an advocacy scholarly project, elective rotations, and focused workshop experiences together to explore the role of pediatricians as advocacy and child health leaders.

Goals

To create a robust experience in advocating for children on multiple population levels (individual, hospital/clinic, local, state, and national).
To educate future leaders in child advocacy through innovative curricula, committee involvement and strong mentorship.
To foster and disseminate meaningful scholarly activity in child advocacy.
To improve the health and well-being of children in our community through physician development and leadership.
To provide an avenue to grow as a resident through advocacy, while still allowing broad focus on all aspects of resident education.

Distinction Track Components

1. Mentorship

a. Drafting an AAP-CATCH grant (Due January of PGY-2)
b. Completion of an advocacy/community health scholarly activity in a topic of the resident's choosing during training.
c. Presentation of scholarly activity at a local, regional, or national platform in the spring of PGY-3.

Advocacy mentor(s) will be assigned/chosen based upon area of interest.

2. Topic Focused Workshops

a. Fundamentals of Working with a Community (including needs assessment and asset mapping)
b. Literature Review
c. Grant writing
d. Leadership
e. Health Policy
f. Media and Writing
g. Advocacy Journal Club
h. Advocacy beyond residency - SMART goals

(participation in at least six is required)

3. Electives

a. Participants in child advocacy track can elect Poverty and Social Justice, Global Health, Forensics, or Advanced Advocacy as an elective rotation (dependent upon career goals).
b. Can apply for national conferences including AAP legislative conference.

4. Leadership

a. Track participants are expected to have a leadership role in the resident-led advocacy program PUSH (Pediatricians Urging Safety and Health). This can include:

President or other officer
Committee member (community or legislative)
Children's Day organizer
Project leader or event organizer

b. Opportunity to create an advocacy learning module (podcast, blackboard module, etc.) on a topic of their choice.
c. Establish or continue a relationship with a community partner. This can be individualized to the resident's career goals and should demonstrate how a pediatrician (either general or subspecialty) can be a lifelong advocate. Examples include: a group home, school, Medicaid, AAP chapter, etc. This relationship can be part of the scholarly project but not have to be.

5. Advocacy Portfolio

In the spring of the resident's PGY-3, each participant will give a 20-minute presentation which includes a summary of the following:

a. Scholarly project
b. Advocacy writing/Advocacy policy background and strategy
c. Community partner report
d. SMART goal

Residents who successfully complete the required elements will graduate with a certificate and letter of distinction from the track coordinator.

Leadership Opportunities

Resident Leadership Council

House Staff Council

Two residents are elected to serve as Pediatrics representatives on a university-wide graduate medical education trainee council. More information.

Infection Control Committee

Antimicrobial Stewardship Committee

Asthma Task Force

The Asthma Task Force monitors adherence to asthma guidelines, implements policies and procedures aimed at improving outcomes for patients with asthma within our healthcare system and our community.

Neonatal Services Committee

The Neonatal Services Committee shall be responsible for the appraisal of the newborn services at Norton Children's Hospital and the review of policies and procedures as it relates to this service.

Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee

Rescue Committee

Reaching for Zero Committee

Bio-Ethics Committee

Unit Specific Clinical Practice Teams (Upper Levels Only)

ULH-Nursery Advisory Committee

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee

Student Education Committee

Morbidity & Mortality Committee

Program Evaluation Committee

Recruitment Sub-Committee

Pediatricians Urging Safety and Health (P.U.S.H.) Executive Committee - At Large Intern Member

Resident Wellness Committee

Resident Wellness

Fun Fridays

Whenever there is a month with five Fridays, the fifth Friday is Fun Friday! Our noon conference is transformed into a social gathering for residents to have lunch, play games and relax.

Resident and Faculty Appreciation

Our trainees and faculty work hard every day, so we go out of our way to appreciate them throughout the year with encouraging notes, special treats, and giveaways.

Battle Buddies

Resident Retreats

Holiday Festivities

The winter holiday season is twice as nice with the Holiday Luncheon and Holiday Party. Food, music and fun are prescribed at these festive events.

Graduation

Global Health Program

Domestic Global Health Rotation

Week 1 - Day 1	Week 1 - Day 2	Week 1 - Day 3	Week 1 - Day 4	Week 1 - Day 5
Orientation Global Health Overview Introduction to Refugee Health with Dr. Bichir Independent Study Time (work on presentations & reflections)	Refugee Health Clinic Sessions or Independent Study Time	GHEARD Decolonizing Global Health with Drs. Hodge & Langford Ethics Session with Dr. Brothers Global Health Movie Night	Refugee Health Clinic Sessions or Independent Study Time	Resident Presentations: Sepsis in Africa Mystery Case 1 Diarrheal Illnesses Mystery Case 2 Ebola, Marburg, & Lassa Fever review
Week 2 - Day 6	Week 2 - Day 7	Week 2 - Day 8	Week 2 - Day 9	Week 2 - Day 10
Environmental issues in Global Health with Dr. Rogers Neonatal Global Health with Dr. Stewart Healthcare in Ghana Orientation Ethics with Dr. Knapp	Refugee Health Clinic Sessions or Independent Study Time Special Presentation: Cross Cultural Experiences in Somaliland & Togo. presented by Drs. Thompson & Fraizer Hands on Skills Sessions	Resident Presentations: Malnutrition Mystery Case 3 Mosquito Borne Illnesses Mystery Case 4 Independent Study Time	Refugee Health Clinic Sessions or Independent Study Time	Global Health Simulation "Redemption Hospital" Debrief and Wrap Up

Week 1 - Day 1

Week 1 - Day 2

Week 1 - Day 3

Week 1 - Day 4

Week 1 - Day 5

Orientation

Global Health Overview

Introduction to Refugee Health with Dr. Bichir

Independent Study Time (work on presentations & reflections)

Refugee Health Clinic Sessions or Independent Study Time

GHEARD Decolonizing Global Health with
Drs. Hodge & Langford

Ethics Session with Dr. Brothers

Global Health Movie Night

Refugee Health Clinic Sessions or Independent Study Time

Resident Presentations:

Sepsis in Africa
Mystery Case 1
Diarrheal Illnesses
Mystery Case 2

Ebola, Marburg, & Lassa Fever review

Week 2 - Day 6

Week 2 - Day 7

Week 2 - Day 8

Week 2 - Day 9

Week 2 - Day 10

Environmental issues in Global Health with Dr. Rogers

Neonatal Global Health with Dr. Stewart

Healthcare in Ghana Orientation

Ethics with Dr. Knapp

Refugee Health Clinic Sessions or Independent Study Time

Special Presentation: Cross Cultural Experiences in Somaliland & Togo. presented by Drs. Thompson & Fraizer

Hands on Skills Sessions

Resident Presentations:

Malnutrition
Mystery Case 3
Mosquito Borne Illnesses
Mystery Case 4

Independent Study Time

Refugee Health Clinic Sessions or Independent Study Time

Global Health Simulation "Redemption Hospital"

Debrief and Wrap Up

International Rotation - Tamale, Ghana

To provide hands-on experience in international child health for residents;
To encourage the development of professional values and skills as global pediatricians;
To develop a global perspective on child health through the practice of medicine in a resource limited healthcare setting;
To improve history taking and physical exam skills through clinical experience in a setting where there is less availability of diagnostic testing;
To build medical knowledge through exposure to a variety of infectious, gastrointestinal, nutritional and other diseases seen more frequently in historically exploited nations;
To experience a unique and different healthcare system;
To develop professional values through exposure to different philosophies of medical ethics, patient-provider relationships, and child rights.
To acquire the attitude and skills necessary to provide initial assessments of the health care needs of children from other cultural or ethnic backgrounds;
To acquire the knowledge to provide basic pre-travel care for patients traveling to other regions of the world (i.e. vaccinations, malaria prophylaxis, counseling regarding safe food and water, etc.)

Residents will also attend post-trip debrief and reflection sessions led by our global health faculty members.

Eligibility

Pediatric or Combined Medicine-Pediatric Residents having completed their internship;
Pre-Departure "Domestic Global Health" 2 week elective course (must be completed prior to travel);
All participants must currently be a "resident in good standing" as defined by our Clinical Competency Committee;
Up-to-date on all aspects of compliance with resident requirements according to ACGME, including medical records, duty hours logging, evaluations, and conference participation.

(502) 852-3782
Email Jackson Williams, MD with questions

Global Health Distinction Track

For residents with a more defined interest in global health, the residency program has offered a Global Health Distinction Track since July 1, 2018.

Goals:

To gain a deep understanding of worldwide health and economic inequities, with an emphasis on the historic roots of these disparities.
To develop a broad knowledge of the global burden of pediatric diseases, with special attention paid to common causes of pediatric mortality, vaccine preventable diseases, mosquito borne infections, and neglected tropical diseases.
To gain an appreciation of issues related to public health, professionalism, and cultural sensitivity.
To maintain and foster a passion for partnering with populations who face limited access to health care and health care resources.

Track Components and Requirements:

1. Elective rotations

a. Domestic Global Health (2 week rotation)
b. International Elective in Tamale, Ghana (or other AMPATH sites)

2. Core Curriculum Noon Conference Topics (Rotating 18-month curriculum)

a. Social and Economic Determinants of Health
b. Global Burden of Disease (Global Health 101)
c. Vaccine Preventable Diseases
d. Malaria
e. Refugee Health Issues
f. Global Health as Public Health

3. Optional Web-based modules (available if unable to attend our in-person educational sessions)

4. Travel preparation and post-travel debriefing

5. Global Health Seminars
Monthly noon conference series for track residents

Pediatric Residents:

First Year Residents | Second Year Residents | Third Year Residents

Internal Medicine Pediatric Residents

2024-2025 Doctor Richard. S. Wolf Chief Residents

Emily Allen, DO (she/her/hers)
Hometown: Columbus, NE
Undergrad: Rockhurst University | Kansas City, MO
Medical School: Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences | Kansas City, MO
Personal Interests: I love spending time with my family and friends, trying new restaurants and coffee shops, reading and finding new books. I have two dogs who I go exploring with. I enjoy cooking and baking, and in what free time I have left, I like to crochet, craft, and take care of my many plants.

Ally Howard, MD (she/her/hers)
Hometown: Louisville, KY
Undergrad: University of Kentucky | Lexington, KY
Medical School: University of Kentucky College of Medicine | Lexington, KY
Personal Interests: I love hiking, kayaking, and lake days, spending time with my family including our dog Onyx, and trying all the local food Louisville has to offer.

Dylan Vish, MD (he/him/his)
Hometown: Louisville, KY
Undergrad: University of Louisville | Louisville, KY
Medical School: University of Louisville School of Medicine | Louisville, KY
Personal Interests: Science (particularly space, physics, and chemistry), biking, and Nintendo games.

Graduate Job Placement

We’re proud of having 100% placement for our graduates – from prestigious fellowships to private practice, our residents graduate from our program with a successful start in their careers as pediatricians.

2024 Pediatric Residency Alumni

Resident	Post-Residency Position	Location
Sarah Alexander, M.D.	Fellowship, Pediatric Pulmonology	Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital Cleveland, Ohio
Emily Allen, D.O.	2024-2025 Dr. Richard S. Wolf Chief Resident & Lecturer	University of Louisville Louisville, Kentucky
Alexandra Anderson, D.O.	Faculty, Pediatric Hospitalist	Indiana University Indianapolis, Indiana
Kristen Belford, M.D.	Faculty, Newborn Hospitalist	University of Louisville Louisville, Kentucky
Leticia Dirks, M.D.	Private Practice, General Pediatrician	Pediatric and Adolescent Associates Lexington, Kentucky
Madison Farley, M.D.	Fellowship, Developmental Behavioral Pediatrics	Medical University of South Carolina Charleston, South Carolina
Ally Howard, M.D.	2024-2025 Dr. Richard S. Wolf Chief Resident & Lecturer	University of Louisville Louisville, Kentucky
Jerry Julian, D.O.	Fellowship, Pediatric Endocrinology	University of Louisville Louisville, Kentucky
Ashley Klein, D.O.	Group Practice, General Pediatrician	Children's Medical Center Palm Harbor, Florida
Josh Lee, M.D.	Fellowship, Pediatric Pulmonology	Emory University Atlanta, Georgia
Allison Marks, M.D.	Fellowship, Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine	University of Louisville Louisville, Kentucky
Kaitlyn Middaugh, M.D.	Group Practice, General Pediatrician	Norton Children's Medical Group - Middletown Louisville, Kentucky
Jessica Nelms, M.D.	Group Practice, General Pediatrician	Norton Children's Medical Group - Broadway Louisville, Kentucky
Anna Nelson, D.O.	Fellowship, Pediatric Hospital Medicine	University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Bill Ngha, M.D.	Fellowship, Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine	Nationwide Children's Hospital Columbus, Ohio
Libby Nields, M.D.	Group Practice, General Pediatrician	Primary Pediatrics Florence, Kentucky
Chandni Patel, M.D.	Pediatric Urgent Care Emergency Department Clinician	Sanford Children's Hospital - Fargo, South Dakota M Health Fairview Masonic Children's Hospital - Minneapolis, Minnesota
Jessika Purcell, D.O.	Private Practice, General Pediatrician	Leitchfield Pediatrics Leitchfield, Kentucky
Kristin Schutzman, M.D.	Faculty, General Pediatrician	Norton Children's Medical Group - Stonestreet Louisville, Kentucky
Molly Stinnett, M.D.	Group Practice, General Pediatrician	Norton Children's Medical Associates - Okolona Louisville, Kentucky
Victoria Thompson, D.O.	Fellowship, Pediatric Endocrinology	University of Louisville Louisville, Kentucky
Dylan Vish, M.D.	2024-2025 Dr. Richard S. Wolf Chief Resident & Lecturer	University of Louisville Louisville, Kentucky
Becky Von Handorf, M.D.	Fellowship, Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine	University of Kentucky Lexington, Kentucky
Kaitlyn West, D.O.	Group Practice, General Pediatrician	Owensboro Health Children's Center Owensboro, Kentucky
Paris Yamek, M.D.	Private Practice, General Pediatrician	VIP Children's Clinic Hendersonville, Tennessee

2023 Pediatric Residency Alumni

Resident	Post-Residency Position	Location
Lucy Aldridge, D.O.	2023-2024 Dr. Richard S. Wolf Chief Resident & Lecturer	University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky
Colleen Allen, D.O.	Private Practice Group	Monument Avenue Pediatrics Richmond, Virginia
Amelia Balderston, D.O.	Private Practice Group	Children's Clinic Ltd. Newport News, Virginia
Kaquanta Barlow, M.D.	Neonatal-Perinatal Fellowship	University of California, Davis Davis, California
Clare Batty, M.D.	Neonatal-Perinatal Fellowship	University of Louisville Louisville, Kentucky
Maggie Chang, M.D.	Private Practice Group	Norton Children's Hospital Louisville, Kentucky
Noell Conley-Hamlin, D.O.	Hospital Medicine Fellowship	University of Louisville Louisville, Kentucky
Juan Gallegos, D.O.	Neonatal-Perinatal Fellowship	University of Texas Austin, Texas
Rose Hawkins, M.D.	Pulmonology Fellowship	University of Louisville Louisville, Kentucky
Kelley Hillman, M.D.	Neonatal-Perinatal Fellowship	University of Oklahoma Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Valarie Hummel, M.D.	Hospitalist	Palm Beach Children's Hospital - Kidz Medical Services West Palm Beach, Florida
Amber Hussain, M.D.	Child Abuse Fellowship	Nationwide Children's Hospital Columbus, Ohio
Renuka Jain, M.D.	Private Practice Group	Anderson Hills Pediatrics Cincinnati, Ohio
Veronica Lee, D.O.	Gastroenterology Fellowship	University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Megan Lloyd, M.D.	Group Practice	All IN Pediatrics New Albany, Indiana
Ben Lyvers, M.D.	Emergency Medicine Fellowship	University of Louisville Louisville, Kentucky
Laura Mims, D.O.	Hematology/Oncology Fellowship	Primary Children's Hospital Salt Lake City, Utah
Kaitlyn Newton, M.D.	Neonatal-Perinatal Fellowship	University of Louisville Louisville, Kentucky
Andrea Nicholson, D.O.	Palliative Care Fellowship	Nationwide Children's Hospital Columbus, Ohio
Patrick O'Donnell, M.D.	Private Practice Group	Texas Children's Pediatrics - Capitol Pediatric Group Austin, Texas
Kyndall Smith, M.D.	Pulmonology Fellowship	Nationwide Children's Hospital Columbus, Ohio
Colin Stone, M.D.	Critical Care Fellowship	Medical College of Georgia Augusta, Georgia
Andrew Van Hersh, D.O.	Allergy/Immunology Fellowship	Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, Virginia
Ethan Wall Varner, M.D.	Private Practice Group	Coastal Pediatric Associates Charleston, South Carolina

2022 Pediatric Residency Alumni

Resident	Post-Residency Position	Location
Nichole Artz, M.D.	Hematology/Oncology Fellowship	University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Stephanie Bland, D.O.	Private Practice Group	Nationwide Children's Hospital - The Ohio State University Columbus, Ohio
Atalee Cummings, D.O.	Private Practice Group	Cumberland Family Medical Center Burkesville, Kentucky
Meagan Doyle, M.D.	2022-2023 Dr. Richard S. Wolf Chief Resident & Lecturer	University of Louisville Louisville, Kentucky
Asope Elder, M.D.	Private Practice Group	Versailles Pediatrics - Cumberland Family Medical Centers Versailles, Kentucky
Jenny Gray, M.D.	Cardiology Fellowship	Washington University St. Louis, Missouri
Lauren Hernandez, D.O.	Hematology/Oncology Fellowship	University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Caroline Jackson, M.D.	Neonatal-Perinatal Fellowship	University of Louisville Louisville, Kentucky
Josh Kim, D.O.	Emergency Medicine Fellowship	Children's Hospital of Michigan Detroit, Michigan
Chrissy McKinney, M.D.	Hospital Medicine Fellowship	Children's Wisconsin Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Ben McMillion, D.O.	Infectious Diseases Fellowship	University of Utah Salt Lake City, Utah
Ali Mientus, M.D.	Faculty	University of Louisville Louisville, Kentucky
Anh Nguyen, D.O.	Critical Care Fellowship	Seattle Children's Hospital Seattle, Washington
Sabryna Robbin, D.O.	Private Practice Group	Norton Children's Medical Group Jeffersontown, Kentucky
Sara Santiaguel, M.D.	Cardiology Fellowship	St. Louis University St. Louis, Michigan
Shelbye Schweinhart, M.D.	Neonatal-Perinatal Fellowship	University of Louisville Louisville, Kentucky
Mike Scott, D.O.	Cardiology Fellowship	Riley Children's Hospital Indianapolis, Indiana
Elisa Spindel, D.O.	Private Practice Group	Mercer Pediatrics Harrodsburg, Kentucky
Kyle Stewart, M.D.	Private Practice Group	Oldham County Pediatrics LaGrange, Kentucky
Beau Swisher, M.D.	Private Practice Group	Pediatrics of Bullitt County Mt. Washington, Kentucky
Jenny Timmons, D.O.	Neonatal-Perinatal Fellowship	West Virginia University Morgantown, West Virginia
Devin VanWanzeele, D.O.	Hospital Medicine Fellowship	University of Nebraska Omaha, Nebraska
Naomi Warnick, M.D., J.D.	Emergency Medicine Fellowship	University of Louisville Louisville, Kentucky
Sam Wirkowski, D.O.	Critical Care Fellowship	University of Louisville Louisville, Kentucky

Louisville is a great place to live!

Living

CNBC top city with happiest workers
Top 40 US city to watch for overall real estate prospects
Learn all about the different neighborhoods in the greater Louisville area and what makes them unique
Nationally accredited park system, includes parks designed by Frederick Olmstead, the designer of Central Park in NYC. We have the Largest urban park extension on the continent and a 100 mile bike loop.
Nation's largest municipal forest
Ranked #1 as best drivers in America's largest cities, according to this study

Culture and Entertainment

Muhammad Ali Center, a non-profit museum and cultural center dedicated to boxer Muhammad Ali
The Louisville Zoo currently exhibits more than 1,100 animals on 130 acres of natural settings representing zoogeographical areas, specific habitat types or special education areas
Seek to inspire your curiosity, build visual literacy, and foster a greater awareness at the Speed Art Museum
North America's largest annual pyrotechnics show, Thunder Over Louisville
Home to the Kentucky Center, which hosts nationally-touring Broadway shows
KFC Yum! Center hosts major musical and entertainment concerts
Largest collection of Victorian homes in the U.S. and the third largest historically preserved district in the U.S. (Old Louisville)
GQ's 2012 Manliest City in America

Sports

Churchill Downs and the fastest two minutes in sports, the Kentucky Derby
Lou City FC, part of the United Soccer League
University of Louisville Cardinals
2017 football Governor's Cup winners
2018 NCAA final four, ACC conference champions, women's basketball
2017 ACC conference champions, NCAA regional champions, men's baseball
2020-2021 Louisville Cardinals Year in Review
Louisville Bats - a triple A team affiliated with the Cincinnati Reds

How to Apply

Thank you for your interest in the University of Louisville Pediatric Residency Program. Each year, we accept 24 categorical pediatric residents, 2-3 pediatric neurology residents and 5 med/peds residents. We accept residency applications at the PGY-1 level only. Applicants must receive their medical degree and successfully pass USMLE/COMLEX Step I and II before the start of residency.

For Internal Medicine/Pediatrics application information, click here.

Fellowship application information can be found on each fellowship’s webpage. See a list of available fellowship programs .

Application Packet

We accept applications only via the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) . The following information must be included in your application to be considered complete. Applications that do not include this information will not be considered.

ERAS Common Application Form
CV
Personal Statement
Dean’s Letter
3 letters of recommendation (minimum)
Medical School Transcript
USMLE/COMLEX Step I Score Report
USMLE/COMLEX Step 2 Score Report (when available)
Recent Photograph (requested, not required)

International Medical Graduates and International Applicants

Foreign nationals must meet visa and medical licensure requirements for residency training.

Either a permanent resident card or a J1 visa sponsored through the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) is required. The University of Louisville School of Medicine does not utilize the H1B visa for residency training in its ACGME accredited programs.

The Commonwealth of Kentucky requires medical licensure for residents at PG-2 or higher level. Graduates of international schools, both U.S. and foreign nationals, should contact the Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure for current requirements. The PG-1 year is exempt from licensure. The application process can be accessed on the Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure's web site at https://kbml.ky.gov/physician/Pages/Apply-For-License.aspx

Additional questions about medical licensure can be directed to Kathy Sandman.

For additional information about either visa requirements or medical licensure, please contact the program director or residency coordinator in the department where you intend to apply.

Application Deadline

Applications are accepted September 29 - December 1 this year. All materials must be received by December 1 to be considered complete.

Additional Application Information

We do not have minimum board score requirements.
Applicants must have graduated from medical school within the past 2 years.

Visiting Student Rotation

We are seeking fourth year medical students from diverse backgrounds for a visiting student rotation opportunity at the University of Louisville, Department of Pediatrics.

Mentorship/Meetings: Students will be paired with a resident mentor who will meet with them weekly. Additionally, students will be paired with a factor mentor who will meet with the student twice during their visiting rotation. Finally, students will have an introductory meeting with the Pediatric Residency Program Director during their rotation.

Rotation: The rotation will be four weeks in duration. Students can complete a rotation in the Norton Children's Medical Group Novak Center outpatient general pediatrics clinic, clinical service with the Just for Kids Pediatric Hospitalist group, or an available pediatric subspecialty.

Stipend: The two applicants chosen will each receive a $2500 stipend which can be spent as applicants deem appropriate to cover housing, travel, or other expenses related to the rotation. Students will be required to complete a 1099 form and submit their name, address, and social security number to receive their stipend.

Criteria for Eligible Applicants

Must be pursuing a medical degree at an LCME or COCA-accredited medical school.
Maintains good academic standing at their current medical school.
Have successfully completed a core clerkship in pediatrics.
Planning to apply for a residency program in Pediatrics, Child Neurology, or Internal Medicine-Pediatrics
Live outside the Louisville metro area.

This visiting student rotation is open to all eligible students regardless of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, or age.

Application Process

Students may apply through the Visiting Student Learning Opportunity (VSLO).

Departments begin reviewing applications on July 1.

For questions or more information, contact us.

Contact Us

Office Location
Office of Medical Education
Children's Hospital Foundation Building
601 S. Floyd St., Ste 200 (2nd floor)
Email: pedmeded@louisville.edu
Phone: (502) 629-8828

Mailing Address
Office of Medical Education
Department of Pediatrics
School of Medicine
University of Louisville
571 S. Floyd, Suite 412
Louisville, Kentucky 40202

Department of Pediatrics

Pediatric Residency Program

Follow us

Resident Wellness

Fun Fridays

Resident and Faculty Appreciation

Battle Buddies

Resident Retreats

Holiday Festivities

Graduation

Domestic Global Health Rotation

International Rotation - Tamale, Ghana

Eligibility

Global Health Distinction Track

Goals:

Track Components and Requirements:

Goals:

Track Components and Requirements:

Program AIMS

Mission

Vision

Values

Program Leadership

Sara Multerer, M.D.

Adam Patterson, M.D., M.Sc.

Becca Hart, M.D., M.Sc.

Jennifer Stiff, M.D.

Kimberly Boland, M.D.

Program Curriculum and Requirements

Pediatric Level 1 (PGY-1)

Pediatric Level 2 (PGY-2)

Pediatric Level 3 (PGY-3)

Sample Resident Annual Schedule

X+Y and Block Scheduling

Where do I do my Longitudinal Outpatient Clinic?

Individualized Curriculum

Career Exploration

Electives

Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion

Benefits/Perks

Online Learning Opportunities

Blackboard

Amion

MedHub

Microsoft Office 365

Adobe Creative Suite

Board Review Support

Pediatric Resident Survival Guide

Transition Checklist, Your Final Year of Residency Training

Medical Education Conference Curriculum

Additional Conferences & Workshops

Medical Education Distinction Track

Highlights of the Curriculum:

Didactics:

Goals:

Track Components and Requirements:

Scholarly Activity

Resident Research Track

Goals:

Track Components and Requirements:

P.U.S.H. (Pediatricians Urging Safety and Health)

Meet Our Team

Child Advocacy Track

Goals

Distinction Track Components

Leadership Opportunities

Resident Wellness

Fun Fridays

Resident and Faculty Appreciation

Battle Buddies

Resident Retreats

Holiday Festivities

Graduation

Global Health Program

Domestic Global Health Rotation

International Rotation - Tamale, Ghana

Eligibility

Global Health Distinction Track

Goals:

Track Components and Requirements: