A completed scholarly project is a graduation requirement and a valuable opportunity to engage in the process of creating new knowledge. Each resident’s project is tailored to their unique skills, interests, and career goals, with flexibility in topic and approach.

During intern year, you’ll meet with your faculty advisor to explore your interests, identify potential mentors, and begin developing your project. Final projects are showcased each spring at our annual Pediatric Research Day as a poster presentation. Many of our residents have also shared their work at regional and national conferences, including the American Academy of Pediatrics National Conference and Exhibition, the Pediatric Academic Societies meeting, and a wide range of pediatric subspecialty forums.

As frontline providers, residents are uniquely positioned to recognize opportunities to enhance patient safety and care quality. All residents receive training in the core principles of quality improvement (QI) and have the chance to apply these skills in real-world settings—through QI-focused morning reports, interdisciplinary hospital-wide initiatives, and access to dedicated grant funding.

Each resident class completes a QI project under the guidance of Drs. Allison Bartlett, Brett Palama, and the Pediatric Chief Residents, gaining hands-on experience in driving meaningful change within the healthcare system.

The Physician Scientist Development Program (PSDP) in the Department of Pediatrics is a post-graduate training program intended to produce clinically-trained scientists with interests ranging from basic to translational and clinically oriented research.

The program accepts qualified applicants who have completed combined MD-PhD degrees or an MD with equivalent research experience into a pathway that includes both pediatric clinical training and post-doctoral research training. (See more on application opportunities in the Clinical Experience tab)