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Med-Peds
The Combined Medicine/Pediatrics program in existence since 1988
was developed to provide training and education for physicians
interested in caring for both adults and children. Successful
completion of this four-year program leads to board eligibility
in both specialties. Residents who complete this program are highly
qualified to pursue subspecialty training, academic medicine,
or primary care careers. For more information about the program
visit http://views.vcu.edu/~medpeds/.
Curriculum:
The combined program consists of 48 months that are equally
divided between the departments of medicine and pediatrics. Residents
rotate between departments on an every four-month basis. This
length of time allows them to fully immerse themselves within
each department and yet provides for exposure to seasonal variations
in disease frequency during their residency. Graded advancement
in training and care responsibilities occurs when a resident has
completed eight months within a specialty.
Residents spend the first 16 months with ‘intern’ responsibilities.
These include direct care of inpatients during general, specialty,
and intensive care rotations; and outpatients during block rotations
and continuity clinics. Interns learn from senior residents (categorical
and medicine/pediatrics), university faculty and community clinicians.
Thereafter, the resident spends an additional 16 months each at
levels that correspond to the second and third year levels in
the categorical programs. Residents are considered integral members
of both departments and are expected to participate in all service
and educational components of the residency program.
The resident alternates between medicine and pediatrics continuity
clinics on a single half day per week during the first 16 months. On subspecialty medicine and pediatric rotations the
residents rotate for a full day in either medicine or pediatric
continuity clinic. This allows the resident to have fewer disruptions
in the learning opportunities of the subspecialty rotation. The
residents on outpatient rotations also may spend a day per week
at the private practice site of one of three community med-peds
practitioners. Primary care practitioners within both departments
conduct in-depth training in outpatient management.
Special experiences, including combined experiences are available
including: substance abuse, dermatology, rheumatology, allergy,
sports medicine, adolescent medicine, family HIV/AIDS care and
research.
Besides the individual didactic and patient-oriented education
sessions, combined residents are active participants in a monthly
Med/Peds conference and the monthly, hospital-sponsored Graduate
Medical Education Conference‚ which covers topics which include
practice management, systems-based practice and other topics which
are important to all residents regardless of program.
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