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Letter from program director
Welcome to the Virginia Commonwealth University Health System’s
Pediatric Residency Program, located on the Medical College of
Virginia Campus. Within these pages you will find a wealth of
information about our program and our philosophy of education.
After you have read about our program, I would encourage you to
contact either me, one of the program coordinators or one of the
residents for additional information.
The Pediatric Residency Program at the VCU Health System’s
MCV Hospitals has a long and storied history of providing quality
education for pediatricians. Over 80 percent of the practicing
pediatricians in Richmond received their medical education and/or
training at MCV Hospitals. At the heart of our program is a busy
inner-city hospital. We have a very active inpatient service with
nearly 100 percent occupancy of the available beds. Patient problems
encountered are almost equally split between primary care pediatric
issues and subspecialty or tertiary care issues. We encounter
a wide array of illnesses while focusing on clinical pediatrics
and outstanding patient care.
Over the past several years we have updated and reviewed our core schedule of lectures in order to provide our residents with a comprehensive review of pediatrics; developed a web-based resident education and resource program that provides residents with 24-hour access to our educational programs as well as updated and evidence-based research on clinical questions encountered; strengthened our board review process; implemented an evidence-based medicine rotation and the development of critically appraised topic list; and updated our morning report conference to include multi-media access to patient data, radiology and pathology.
Training here, you will join an outstanding and enthusiastic
group of house officers in a program designed with the educational
needs of our residents in mind. We listen very carefully to the
insights of our house staff and both categorical pediatric and
combined med-ped residents are involved in all of the major committees
of the department including the Residency Steering Committee (reviews
and approves all changes in residency curriculum) and the Intern
Selection Committee. Every month we have a town meeting forum
for residents to raise any issues or problems that are seen. We
listen very closely at these meetings and have made a number of
changes directly related to issues raised in this forum.
Our chair, Dr. Joseph H. Laver, is an excellent clinician, teacher
and mentor. He is present at morning report and conducts “chairman’s”
rounds with the interns on the inpatient service twice a month.
He has a strong commitment to ensuring the growth and advancement
of the residency program. Our faculty is diverse and includes
specialists in all of the pediatric subspecialties. One of the
most frequently quoted assets of our program is the amount and
type of access that the residents have to the faculty. The residents
work hand-in-hand with the faculty members to provide excellent
care to the patients and have the opportunity to discuss patient
care issues in both formal and informal settings. Pediatric radiology,
pediatric surgery, pediatric neurosurgery, pediatric ophthalmology,
pediatric ENT, pediatric neurology and child psychiatry all have
active programs on campus as well.
As program director, my goal is to provide the residents with
quality educational conferences, offer exposure to a wide variety
of patient problems and foster a collegial environment that allows
our residents to develop techniques that will make them lifelong
learners. Whatever your goal, primary care or subspecialty fellowship,
the foundation you develop here is a solid one.
We are very proud of our residents and the residency program and welcome your interest.
Suzanne Lavoie, M.D.
Professor of Pediatrics and Internal Medicine
Director, Pediatric Residency Program
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