Pediatrics

Letter from the Director

Thank you for your interest in the Pediatrics Residency Program at John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County (formally Cook County Hospital).  Our program has a long and rich history of training generations of pediatricians.  Our graduates have pursued successful careers in both general and subspecialty pediatrics across our country and around the globe.  First accredited by the Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) in 1927, we continue to offer high-quality pediatric education to residents who come from near and far.  Our residents enjoy a rich teaching environment with a full lecture and conference schedule but learn the most by providing care for our patients under faculty supervision.  Stroger is the only public safety net hospital in the city of Chicago, IL, and the Department of Pediatrics provides general and subspecialty care to all infants, children, adolescents, and young adults without regard for the ability to pay.

– Rosibell Arcia, MD, Program Director

General Information:

The Pediatrics Residency Program conforms to the training guidelines set forth by the Pediatric RRC of the ACGME.  Our residents rotate through outpatient and inpatient settings and provide general and subspecialty care to pediatric patients under faculty supervision.  Each resident also builds a panel of patients in the continuity clinic and provides outpatient care in that setting one afternoon per week.  Each clinical rotation is  4 weeks in duration, and residents receive 28 days of paid vacation per year.  Residents are required by the American Board of Pediatrics to complete 33 months of training to be eligible to take the certifying exam.  Each resident is provided with a faculty advisor upon entering the program.  Residents also participate in scholarly activities as well as a quality improvement project.

The Department of Pediatrics maintains an active academic and clinical affiliation with University of Illinois at Chicago Medical Center (UIC).  Many attending physicians work in both locations, and our residents can participate in clinical rotations at both sites. Medical students from Rush University Medical Center, UIC and Rosalind Franklin University rotate in our department for their core Pediatrics rotation, giving our residents ample opportunity to teach.  Senior medical students may participate in sub-specialty electives or sub-I rotations.

In addition to General Academic Pediatrics, the Department of Pediatrics at Stroger offers a full range of subspecialties, including Adolescent Medicine, Allergy/Immunology, Cardiology, Child Abuse Pediatrics, Child Behavior and Development, Endocrinology, Gastroenterology, Hematology/Oncology, Infectiology, Neonatology, Nephrology, Neurology, Pediatric Emergency Medicine, and Pediatric Intensive Care.

Clinical services are also available to children through other Departments at Stroger, including Anesthesia, Audiology, Burns, Child Life, Child Psychology and Psychiatry, Dermatology, Ophthalmology, Otolaryngology, Neurosurgery, Orthopedics, Palliative Care, Pathology, Pediatric Surgery, Pharmacy, Physical and Occupational Therapy, Radiation Oncology, Radiology, Social Services, Speech Therapy, Trauma and Urology.  Adult medical and surgical services are available to support the care of adolescents and young adults admitted to our services.

Learning opportunities abound in our Program.  We have a lecture series in which core pediatric topics are taught by faculty members.  , Pediatric Grand Rounds are held jointly with the Rush Program.  During case conferences, residents present interesting cases from the inpatient service, and each case is thoroughly discussed together with attending physicians, residents, and medical students.  Residents are required to become certified in Basic Life Support, Neonatal Resuscitation Program, and Pediatric Advanced Life Support.  These courses are offered free to all residents.  Teaching takes place in many other settings, including attending rounds, morbidity and mortality conferences, journal club, Boards review, mock codes, online modules, and through both formal and informal presentations on each rotation.  Perhaps the most valuable learning activity is the direct patient care that residents provide under faculty guidance.