Internal Medicine/Pediatrics Residency

Welcome to the combined Medicine/Pediatrics Residency training program! Penn State’s Med/Peds Residency offers diverse training in both adult and pediatric medicine.

Knowing that some residents will pursue diverse career paths, the goal of the curriculum is to provide training that is rich in opportunity and experience. Our university, community and VA hospital rotations complement our combined Med/Peds continuity clinic in inner city Harrisburg.

You will spend the majority of your time at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. You’ll attend continuity clinic at the Rose Garden Building in downtown Harrisburg, where we care for the underserved as well as adults and children with complex medical problems. To provide a broader experience in community hospital settings, you will also have duties at:

• Lebanon VA Medical Center in Lebanon
• Penn Medicine Lancaster General Hospital in Lancaster (adult community inpatient experience)
• Penn State Lancaster Outpatient Center

You will have the opportunity to seek out and participate in an away elective, nationally or internationally, in an area of interest.

Joint electives in a medicine and pediatrics subspecialty are also possible. Rotations in allergy, dermatology, endocrinology and rheumatology are common. For those residents going into fellowship, we offer an intermittent second continuity clinic in that specialty to gain further experience in that area and to build relationships with their faculty.

Our residents are the key to our success. Our diverse group of trainees come from far and wide and are dedicated, enthusiastic and hard-working. They excel in patient care, leadership and education.

We seek candidates with strong academic records, exceptional interpersonal skills and a sincere desire to work with and for adults and children.

I encourage you to explore more about our program and contact me at rwilliams@pennstatehealth.psu.edu if you have any questions about our program or the interview process.

Ronald J. Williams, MD
Program Director

The mission of this program is to provide innovative and diverse individualized education in a caring culture to achieve excellence in patient care and become leaders in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics who are prepared to pursue their chosen career path.

Aims

The program aims to foster a supportive and personalized learning environment in which each resident:

1. Graduates from the program as a well-balanced and well-trained internist and pediatrician prepared for the next step in his or her chosen career path
2. Can pursue all career interests with individualized faculty and peer support
3. Is provided the opportunity to excel in a transition of care curriculum
4. Has the opportunity to develop skills to excel in medical education and quality improvement
5. Fosters excellent relationships with the pediatric and medicine residencies while still maintaining his or her own Med-Peds identity
6. Feels a sense of ownership in shaping and improving the residency program

General Application Information

All applicants must apply through the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) by Dec. 1 and must register for a PL-1 position through the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP).

Applications are considered without regard to race, religion, gender, sexual orientation or national origin. Only J-1 visas are sponsored.

Applicants who are offered interviews, match into the Med-Peds residency program, and successfully complete the residency, will be able to apply for admission to the certification process of both the American Board of Pediatrics and the American Board of Internal Medicine. Please refer to the American Board of Pediatrics and the American Board of Internal Medicine websites for additional information.

Application Requirements

• Personal statement
• MSPE (dean’s letter)
• Medical school transcript
• USMLE or COMLEX scores
• Three to four letters of recommendation from faculty members with whom the applicant has worked

The program does not require a letter from the applicant’s department chair.

Interview Process

Interviews are by invitation only, and will be conducted from late-October through January. Those who are invited for an interview will be notified by email and are asked to respond within 72 business hours so the program can best accommodate scheduling needs.

PGY-4

Natalie Balfe

Hometown: Chicago, IL

Undergrad: Seton Hill University

Med School: Chicago Medical School

Hobbies: Learning to play guitar, rock climbing, cooking and running

Fun Fact: I’ve had two pets run away on me, my pet hamster and my pet fish

Jackie Chan

Hometown: Elk Grove Village, IL

Undergrad: University of California

Med School: Eastern Virginia Medical School

Hobbies: Bullet journaling, creating art-related content on YouTube, and singing

Fun Fact: I was involved with the production of my medical school’s music video parody, including singing for the music video

Elizabeth Koester

Hometown: Fort Wayne, IN

Undergrad: Indiana University

Med School: Marian University

Hobbies: Running and college basketball

Fun Fact: I’ve climbed a volcano

Bobby Mullin

Hometown: Jamison, PA

Undergrad: Penn State

Med School: West Virginia

Hobbies: Long-distance running, traveling, Penn State football, Downhill skiing, and Binge watching TLC

Fun Fact: I got stung by a swarm of bees and was stung over 100 times

PGY-3

Miles McGovney

Hometown: Albuquerque, NM

Undergrad: Chatham University

Med School: University of Michigan

Hobbies: Playing Dungeons and Dragons and other tabletop RPGs with friends, reading fantasy/science fiction books, and generally doing very nerdy things.

Fun Fact: I make my own chainmail armor

Pankhuri Mohan

Hometown: Birmingham, UK; Zionsville, IN; Pleasanton, CA; Princeton, NJ

Undergrad: New York University

Med School: Rutgers University

Hobbies: Cooking, eating, fine dining, exploring new cuisines, dancing, reading, meditating/yoga, the scenic outdoors

Fun Fact: I am born on New Years and when I was little, my parents convinced me that the world was celebrating for my birthday.

Shane Stone

Hometown: Chesterfield, VA

Undergrad: Liberty University

Med School: Edward Via COM

Hobbies: Hiking, fishing, playing basketball, disc golf, and exploring new restaurants and breweries

Fun Fact: I am a new father!

Kelsey Yamada

Hometown: Waipahu, HI

Undergrad: Creighton University

Med School: University of Nebraska

Hobbies: trail riding

Fun Fact: Growing up in Hawaii, I was the only person I knew who cheered for Penn State football

PGY-2

Kurestin Miller

Hometown: Rock Hill, SC

Undergrad: Furman University

Med School: University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville

Hobbies: Playing piano, watching Broadway shows, dancing, going to OrangeTheory, baking and cooking

Fun Fact: I was a music major in undergrad

Vineet Mohanty

Hometown: Chicago, IL

Undergrad: Vanderbilt University

Med School: NY Institute of Technology

Hobbies: Running, weightlifting, playing/watching soccer and football, reading articles/books on world history

Fun Fact: While saltwater fishing I’ve caught (and released) an adult bull shark

Andrew Nevin

Hometown: Shrewsbury, MA

Undergrad: Wellesley College

Med School: University of Massachusetts

Hobbies: Painting, sewing, baking

Fun Fact: I’ve driven on every single continent (except Antarctica)

Filia Van Dessel

Hometown: Baltimore, MD

Undergrad: Messiah University

Med School: Penn State University

Hobbies: Hanging out at the beach, hiking, biking, backpacking, kayaking, fishing, reading, gaming

Fun Fact: I used to do research on hummingbirds

PGY-1

Jacob Colello

Hometown: Camp Hill, PA

Undergrad: Liberty University

Med School: Penn State

Hobbies: Spending time with family, fishing, hunting, playing Zelda, coaching wrestling, learning about nutrition, NFL football

Fun Fact: I have 4 siblings

Matthew Darok

Hometown: Annville, PA

Undergrad: Messiah College

Med School: Penn State

Hobbies: “Reading” audiobooks, playing board games, coaching middle and high school wrestling, serving on my church’s worship team, spending time with friends and family

Fun Fact: I recently started jiujitsu classes with my wife and love it!

Sarah Janczewski

Hometown: North Huntingdon, PA

Undergrad: Washington & Jefferson College

Med School: West Virginia University

Hobbies: Reading, watching movies, traveling, board games

Fun Fact: I traveled to the Middle East this year

Nadia Obaed

Hometown: Jacksonville, FL

Undergrad: University of North Florida

Med School: Nova Southeastern University

Hobbies: Kayaking, paddle boarding, creating art, soccer, billiards, listening to wildlife/conservation/wellness podcasts!

Fun Fact: I saw snow for the first time this year, and this will be the first time I am living outside of Florida

Virtual Tour

Penn State Health

Penn State Health is an integrated academic health system serving patients and communities across 15 counties in central Pennsylvania. It employs more than 20,900 people systemwide.

The system includes Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Penn State Health Children’s Hospital and Penn State Cancer Institute based in Hershey, Pa.; Penn State Health Hampden Medical Center in Enola, Pa.; Penn State Health Holy Spirit Medical Center in Camp Hill, Pa.; Penn State Health Lancaster Medical Center in Lancaster, Pa.; Penn State Health St. Joseph Medical Center in Reading, Pa.; Pennsylvania Psychiatric Institute, a specialty provider of inpatient and outpatient behavioral health services, in Harrisburg, Pa.; and 2,417 physicians and direct care providers at 225 outpatient practices. Additionally, the system jointly operates various healthcare providers, including Penn State Health Rehabilitation Hospital, Hershey Outpatient Surgery Center and Hershey Endoscopy Center.

In 2017, Penn State Health partnered with Highmark Health to facilitate creation of a value-based, community care network in the region.

Penn State Health shares an integrated strategic plan and operations with Penn State College of Medicine, the University’s medical school. With campuses in State College and Hershey, Pa., the College of Medicine boasts a portfolio of more than $150 million in funded research and more than 1,700 students and trainees in medicine, nursing, other health professions and biomedical research.

Learn more about Penn State Health

Penn State Health Children’s Hospital (left), Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center (center) and Penn State Cancer Institute (right)

Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center

500 University Dr., Hershey, Pa., 17033 (Derry Township, Dauphin County)

• The health system’s 611-bed flagship teaching and research hospital
• The only medical facility in Pennsylvania accredited as both an adult and a pediatric Level I (highest-level) trauma center
• Dedicated surgical, neuroscience, cardiovascular, trauma and medical intensive care units
• Accredited Life Lion critical-care transport providing more than 1,100 helicopter and approximately 750 ground ambulance transports per year
• More than 1,300 faculty members and more than 650 residents and fellows
• Approximately 29,000 admissions, 73,000 emergency department visits, 1.1 million outpatient visits and 33,000 surgical procedures annually
• Designated as a Magnet hospital since 2007

Learn more about Milton S. Hershey Medical Center

Penn State Health Children’s Hospital

600 University Dr., Hershey, Pa. 17033 (Derry Township, Dauphin County)

• An eight-story, 263,000-square-foot-facility built in 2013 and expanded in 2020
• 160 licensed pediatric beds, 26-bed pediatric intensive care unit and a 56-bed neonatal intensive care unit
• Level IV (highest-level) neonatal intensive care unit
• Level I quaternary (highest-level) pediatric intensive care unit
• Level I (highest-level) pediatric trauma center designation
• Intermediate care unit
• Dedicated pediatric operating rooms
• More than 150,000 pediatric outpatient visits, 20,000 pediatric emergency room visits, and approximately 5,000 pediatric patient discharges annually

Learn more about Penn State Health Children’s Hospital

Welcome to Hershey

More About Hershey

Interested in learning more about living and working in Hershey, Pa.? See details here:

• Benefit and stipend information
• Virtual tour
• GME policies
• Wellness resources
• More about Penn State Health and its locations
• Application and visa requirements

Wellness, including emotional, spiritual, social and physical health, is a crucial component to training and to becoming a professional, compassionate and resilient physician. Self-care is a skill which must be continually practiced and reinforced. Penn State College of Medicine and Penn State Health are committed to addressing wellness among residents and fellows, with multiple resources readily available.

Institutional resources

• Visit BeWell – a health program designed to support Penn State Health employees
• See Penn State College of Medicine wellness resources here
• Employee Health Care Concierge and Case Management Service
• Partners in Medicine
  Moving to a new city with your family does not have to be stressful. Residency programs have assisted many significant others with finding employment. There is also a GME-Wide Partners in Medicine (PIM) group that offers networking opportunities as well as various social and community oriented activities.
• The Doctors Kienle Center for Humanistic Medicine
• Active and easily accessed Office of Professional Mental Health

Graduate medical education resources

• See resident and fellow wellness resources here

Graphic source: University of Maryland

Program-Level Resources

There are many factors that contribute to a person’s happiness, and the active pursuit of balance leading to happiness has become the buzzword everyone loves – “wellness.” Wellness attempts to guide individuals to ultimately live each day as the best versions of themselves. There are eight primary elements to wellness, and the Internal Medicine/Pediatrics Residency provides extraordinary support to each of its residents for every component.

What is great about wellness, and also what makes it challenging, is every person has unique wellness needs. Each resident in the program is provided with:

• formal education on identifying gaps or deficits in overall well-being to allow for self-stewardship of wellness;
• resources to support building and repairing any identified or potential deficits;
• group practicums for commonly encountered challenges with wellness; and
• support from a wellness evaluation and improvement committee, comprising both residents and attending physicians, which meets to develop a multidisciplinary wellness curriculum.

Environmental wellness: Occupying a pleasant, stimulating, supportive environment that supports well-being

• Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center and Penn State Health Children’s Hospital connected, allowing for stable commute times, frequent visits to friends “on the other side,” access to a variety of food options
• Shuttle service
• Well-lit, safe walking paths through campus and throughout the region of Hershey, Harrisburg and Lancaster
• 24/7 access to a meditation room and garden, “Zen Den”
• Multiple outdoor seating venues, able to be used as desired for didactics and “sunshine rounds”
• Opportunities for indoor and outdoor activities, including a program-provided wellness activities document with sections for:
  • Mental health
  • Fitness
  • Arts and music
  • Zoos, aquariums and theme parks
  • Cooking and baking
  • Books and audiobooks

Emotional wellness: Understanding and respecting feelings, values and attitudes and the impact every experience has on these attributes

• Debriefing sessions after significant events
• Formal education in trauma psychology and recognition of burnout in self and others during didactics
• Schwartz Rounds, a forum for health care professionals from various disciplines to discuss and examine the emotional and social challenges that arise in caring for patients
• An engaging, dedicated Office for Professional Mental Health that offers direct clinical care to resident trainees

Vocational wellness: Participating in work that provides personal satisfaction and life enrichment that is consistent with values, goals and lifestyle

• Individualized curriculum with customizable electives
• Medicine/Pediatrics noon conferences
• Professional coaches assigned during intern year to guide professional development
• Formal goal-setting curriculum to identify areas for professional growth and improvement
• Multitude of formal education programs to aid in career development for research, medical education, humanitarianism, global health, public health, health systems science and quality improvement
• Regular resident roundtables, house staff lunches and program business meetings to address program improvement initiatives
• PAWS UP program to recognize and celebrate the incredible work force at Penn State Health

Physical wellness: Caring for and nurturing the body for optimal health and function

• On-campus fitness center
• Bike share program
• Fitness Your Way pass providing access to more than 10,000 gyms nationwide
• 30-day activity challenges
• Susquehanna Area Mountain Bike Association (SAMBA) bike trails, with three close by campus
• Appalachian Trail access
• Discounted meal plans for both national and local meal prep
• Multiple year-round farmers’ markets with local, affordable organic produce
• Employee Health Care Concierge

Financial wellness: Managing resources to live within means and developing skills to make informed financial decisions and investments

• Regular meetings with financial adviser
• Low cost of living
• Personal finance lectures
• Student loan management advice
• Stipend for medical education and reimbursement for conference travel

Spiritual wellness: Finding purpose, value and meaning in life with or without organized religion

• Opportunities for spiritual education with hospital chaplains
• On-site multi-faith worship area
• Weekly religious services held on site
• Biweekly guided meditation sessions

Intellectual wellness: Developing and maintaining curiosity about all learning opportunities and responding positively to intellectual challenges

• Research coaches and mentors with a formal research curriculum and track for those interested
• Literature search services through Harrell Health Sciences Library
• Physician Writers’ Group workshops
• Dedicated Learning and Leadership Development team

Social wellness: Establishing skills to encourage communication, trust and conflict management while engaging and supporting one other

• Quarterly class wellness nights with coverage of clinical duties
• Program-coordinated residency wellness events and retreats
• “Big/Little” program
• Pediatric administrative and wellness sessions (PAWS) twice monthly
• Volunteer opportunities to help underserved patients at Bethesda Mission
• Volunteer opportunities with THON (Penn State IFC/Panhellenic Dance Marathon) for childhood cancer
• Volunteer opportunities at Camp Kydnie, Camp Spifida, Camp STAR, PA Vent Camp and Camp Lionheart for children with chronic illness

Department of Pediatrics Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Council

Dr. Ashutosh Kumar

The Department of Pediatrics Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) council is led by the vice chair of DEI, Ashutosh Kumar, MD, and is composed of physicians (including residents) and nurses from across the Department of Pediatrics. The council’s mission is to continually improve the inclusivity and equity with which the Penn State College of Medicine Department of Pediatrics provides healthcare, medical training, and advances medical science by:

• Providing pediatric patients and their families with excellent, compassionate, culturally responsive and equitable care.
• Supporting the department in recruiting, hiring and retaining a group of diverse faculty, trainees and staff, while equipping Department members to provide culturally responsive and equitable care.
• Ensuring that scholarly pursuits account for, evaluate and address potential social determinants of health beyond race and ethnicity, and that our research reflects a diverse and representative population.
• Striving to ensure our educational experiences foster and value equity, inclusivity, cultural competency and the needs of a diverse population.

Institutional Resources

Penn State Health and Penn State College of Medicine celebrate, embrace and support the diversity of all patients, faculty, staff, students and trainees.

Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

In keeping with this, Penn State Health has an active Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion with various programs, networks and resource groups, including:

• Talks and lectures on diversity, equity and inclusion through the Inclusion Academy
• Regular events on topics such as eradicating racism and creating a culture of inclusiveness
• Many Business Employee Resource Groups (BERGs), including:
  • Disability Business Employee Resource Group
  • Interfaith Business Employee Resource Group
  • LGBTQ+ Business Employee Resource Group
  • Military and Veterans Business Employee Resource Group
  • Multicultural Business Employee Resource Group
  • NextGen Business Employee Resource Group
• Black Physician Professional Staff Association – Resource Group
• Hispanic Professional Association
• Asian Physician and Professional Staff Association
• International Workforce Inclusion
• Inclusion Academy

Learn more about the Penn State Health Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Learn more about the College of Medicine’s Office for Diversity, Equity and Belonging

Office for Culturally Responsive Health Care Education

The vision at Penn State College of Medicine and Penn State Health is to equip learners with the knowledge, skills and attitudes they will need to provide culturally excellent health care and research for an increasingly diverse U.S. population. The Office for Culturally Responsive Health Care Education was formed to help meet that goal.

Learn more about the Office for Culturally Responsive Health Care Education

Office for a Respectful Learning Environment

In addition, the institution does not tolerate discrimination, biases, microaggression, harassment or learner mistreatment of any kind, and any concerns are immediately addressed by the Office for a Respectful Learning Environment.

Learn more about the Office for a Respectful Learning Environment

Network of Under-represented Residents and Fellows
The Network of Under-represented Residents and Fellows (NURF) is a group of diverse residents and fellows representing all specialties. NURF’s goal is to promote cultural diversity in the residency programs through community involvement, mentorship with diverse faculty, professional networking and support for the recruitment of diverse medical students into the residency programs.

NURF is sponsored by the Penn State College of Medicine Graduate Medical Education Office and the Penn State Health Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

Learn more information about NURF

Anti-Bias Policy

Penn State Health and Penn State College of Medicine celebrate, embrace and support the diversity of all patients, faculty, staff, students and trainees. Beginning in May 2017, Penn State Health’s Patient’s Rights and Responsibility Policy was updated to include a section stating that patients cannot decline the care of a provider based on the provider’s race, religion, gender, age or sexual orientation. Penn State Health became one of the first health care systems nationwide to establish an official anti-bias policy that protects providers when such cases arise.

RESIDENT SPOTLIGHT
“A highlight for me as a resident physician is the opportunity to work directly with Penn State College of Medicine’s local Student National Medical Association (SNMA) chapter. (SNMA is) an organization that was founded in 1964 at my alma mater, Howard University College of Medicine, as a subdivision of the National Medical Association (NMA), to support current and future underrepresented medical students, addressing the needs of underserved communities, and increasing the number of clinically excellent, culturally competent and socially conscious physicians.”

– Monica Adedeji, MD
Resident

Resident Perks

• Annual book money allowance
• Residency pays for copies of Harriet Lane and Bright Futures Pocket Guide
• Departmental travel grants up to $2,000 for presenting research at conferences (including free poster production)
• “Meal Allowance” to be used at hospital cafeterias or Starbucks
• Program additionally provides lunch twice per week
• Stocked resident fridge (free meals, snacks and drinks at night)
• Free American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) membership providing monthly print journals (Pediatrics and Pediatrics in Review) as well as Board Review Questions (PREP)
• Free American College of Physicians (ACP) membership
• Free board preparation question banks and teaching materials
• Free certifications and updates of BLS, PALS, NRP and ATLS
• Free on-site parking
• Retreats and wellness events paid for by residency

Mailing Address

Medicine/Pediatrics Residency
Penn State Health Children’s Hospital
600 University Dr.
Mailcode H085
Hershey, PA 17033

General Contact Information

Phone: 717-531-5685

Highlights

• Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center is a large, academic tertiary and quaternary referral center, with Penn State Health Children’s Hospital right next door (attached)
• Offers experience in the highest-level NICU, PICU and medical ICU, in one place
• Balanced Medicine/Pediatrics residency program
• Global Health opportunities including institution-wide affiliation with Ghana
• Diversity and inclusion lecture series
• Residents as educators curriculum
• Medical education elective
• Woodward Center sessions and teaching champion retreats
• Medicine/Pediatrics resident-created simulation sessions to practice rapid responses/code situations offered monthly
• Combined Medicine/Pediatrics continuity clinic
• Health System Science, QI and Transition education

Overview

Since its inception in 1988, the Internal Medicine/Pediatrics Residency has trained well-balanced medicine/pediatrics physicians who excel in patient care, leadership and education. The success of the program begins with the dedicated residents who are integral in the formulation of the diverse experiences that are offered. Due to the varied experiences, residents can explore their interests during training and are well-equipped to pursue any medical specialty career path they wish.

The program allows residents to participate in a variety of rotations to help shape their future medical careers. Interns rotate for 16 months – eight months in medicine and eight months in pediatrics. This rotation helps build a strong foundation of knowledge and confidence prior to starting the senior resident-level rotations. Residents rotate every two to four weeks, alternating between medicine and pediatrics approximately every four months.

Additional rotations are available to help residents tailor their education to fit with their interests, including, but not limited to, the following:

• Caring for the underserved population (various locations)
• Milton Hershey School (cost-free private residential school for children from low-income families)
• Emergency medicine; residents participate as first responders with Penn State Life Lion critical care and emergency medicine services.
• Global health
• Hospitalist (for both adult and pediatric care)
• Education elective
• Create your own!

Standing Med/Peds Weekly Conferences – Tuesdays at noon

Each week, a member of the Med/Peds resident team presents a topic typically related to care in the outpatient setting. These conferences are an hour long and allow residents to polish their presentation skills and provide useful medical updates and clinical information. The Med/Peds faculty team members frequently attend and offer valuable information on how the topic relates to their respective specialty. Additionally, residents commit to an “academic half-day” on Thursdays, to dedicate a block of time to focus on core internal medicine and pediatric topics.

Med/Peds Continuity Clinic

The continuity clinic, located in downtown Harrisburg, allows residents the opportunity to work closely with an underserved patient population. The clinic serves adults and children with varying medical and health-related needs, from “bread and butter” to complex chronic medical conditions, gender identity, HIV, social concerns and substance abuse. Residents work exclusively with Med/Peds faculty to see a variety of patients for both annual physical exam and acute visits. They serve as the primary care providers for these patients.

The continuity clinic is part of the Reach Out and Read Program that provides books for infants and children during well-child visits, as a way to encourage literacy. The clinic also provides access to a Penn State Health social worker to help patients with a wide array of social concerns that may impact their care and well-being. A substance abuse clinic is also available on-site to help reduce barriers to medical care for those with addictions.

Quality Improvement Projects

Quality improvement (QI) is an important aspect of the Medicine/Pediatrics residency, with residents often involved in medicine and pediatrics QI projects and as resident representatives on unit-based quality committees. A detailed QI curriculum provides resources, education and experiences to help each resident create their own project prior to graduation or participate in our Med/Peds QI projects in the clinic. There are also opportunities for more education in this area with Penn State College of Medicine’s Health Systems Science Academy.

Transitional Care Curriculum

The Medicine/Pediatrics residents have created a transitional care program to educate adolescents and their parents on the process of transitioning medical care from pediatricians and pediatric specialty providers to adult providers and specialists. Residents help integrate the transitional care concepts into the pediatric specialty clinics and the well-child checkups in the pediatric clinics. The program has incorporated these concepts into the pediatric and internal medicine residency academic half-day curriculum to help teach these concepts to the categorical residents.

Supportive Learning Environment with Professional Coaching

There are 23 Medicine/Pediatrics Residency faculty members, all of whom have been trained in both medicine and pediatrics, and are actively involved in various aspects of the residency. Each member of the faculty is approachable and willing to provide advice and guidance to the residents. In addition, each resident is assigned a physician coach for professional development advice and encouragement throughout the four years of residency. The program also encourages you to find several mentors to help you reach your career goals.

Educational Resources

To support individual learning, residents are provided with memberships in the American College of Physicians (ACP), American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the National Med-Peds Residents’ Association (NMPRA), as well as $600 for books and educational expenses per year.

The AAP membership also provides access to Pedialink online learning center, Pediatrics and Peds in Review. The ACP membership includes a subscription to the Annals of Internal Medicine. In addition, subscriptions to the Yale Pediatric and Internal Medicine Outpatient Curriculum are provided.

Ongoing board review occurs throughout the four years of residency, with residents attending a board review course at the end of training.

Residents as Educators

The Woodward Center for Excellence in Health Sciences Education is designed to cultivate excellence in health sciences education. Longitudinal didactics on multiple aspects of teaching, evaluation and feedback and goal-setting are offered. The Woodward Center provides programs such as Stanford Clinical Teaching Skills workshops and the Woodward Scholars program.

There are extra opportunities for education such as the Medical Education quarterly retreats, the Medical Education two-week elective, the Medical Education Track and many others. The program also offers a Health Systems Scholar position each year. You also have the opportunity to become an Area Health Education Center (AHEC) Scholar.

(Starting on internal medicine)

• Adult cardiology inpatient – four weeks
• Adult hematology/oncology inpatient – four weeks
• Vacation – two weeks
• Medicine elective – two weeks
• General medicine inpatient (Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center) – four weeks
• General medicine inpatient (Lebanon VA Hospital) – four weeks
• Pediatric acute care clinic – four weeks
• General pediatric inpatient – four weeks
• Pulmonary pediatric inpatient – two weeks
• Pediatric gastroenterology/cardiology/nephrology inpatient – two weeks
• Pediatric night float – two weeks
• Vacation – two weeks
• Newborn nursery – two weeks
• Pediatric elective – two weeks
• Medicine night float – two weeks
• Medicine elective – two weeks
• Medical intensive care unit – four weeks
• Adult emergency medicine – four weeks

• Pediatric elective – two weeks
• Vacation – two weeks
• Development – four weeks
• Underserved rotation – four weeks
• Neonatal intensive care unit – four weeks
• Adult ambulatory – four weeks
• Adult nephrology – four weeks
• General medicine inpatient senior – four weeks
• Medicine elective – two weeks
• Vacation – two weeks
• Medicine elective – four weeks
• Pediatric critical care unit – four weeks
• Adolescent – four weeks
• Pediatric emergency medicine – two weeks
• Neonatal intensive care unit – four weeks

• Medicine elective – four weeks
• Vacation – two weeks
• Hepatology – two weeks
• Medicine elective – four weeks
• General medicine inpatient senior (Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center or Lebanon VA Hospital) – four weeks
• Pediatric elective – four weeks
• Pediatric hematology/oncology inpatient – four weeks
• Vacation – two weeks
• Pediatric night float senior – two weeks
• Pediatric emergency department consult – two weeks
• Pediatric elective – two weeks
• Pediatric emergency medicine – four weeks
• Geriatrics – four weeks
• Adult cardiology inpatient senior – four weeks
• Medicine elective – four weeks
• Medical intensive care unit senior – four weeks

• Pediatric pulmonary inpatient senior – two weeks
• Pediatric gastroenterology/cardiology/nephrology inpatient senior – two weeks
• Newborn nursery senior – two weeks
• General pediatric inpatient senior – four weeks
• Pediatric elective (individualized curriculum) – four weeks
• Vacation – two weeks
• Medicine elective (individualized curriculum) – four weeks
• General medicine inpatient senior (Lebanon VA Hospital) – four weeks
• General medicine inpatient consult senior – two weeks
• Vacation – two weeks
• Medicine night house officer (senior) – two weeks
• Medicine elective – two weeks
• Medicine elective – four weeks
• Pediatric elective – four weeks
• Pediatric acute care clinic senior – four weeks
• Pediatric emergency medicine – two weeks
• Pediatric elective – four weeks
• Pediatric elective – two weeks

The multifaceted Clinical Simulation Center is a 9,500-square-foot space including some small encounter rooms, three larger bays, skills training areas and rooms for debriefing purposes.

Many educational opportunities are provided here, including a simulation instructor course (resulting in a certificate in simulation education), the Resuscitation Sciences Training Center and a standardized patient program. Along with full-bodied manikins of all ages, there are many types of clinical equipment in order to practice clinical diagnosis and treatment, as well as simulation scenarios such as procedures, surgery and trauma.

The Clinical Simulation Center is staffed for a majority of the day each weekday. The Pediatric Residency incorporates simulation lab didactics during one academic half-day each quarter.

Learn more about the Simulation Center

Pediatrics SIM Curriculum

Situ simulation sessions are focused on improving resident self-efficacy in assessment and stabilization of critically ill children. Sessions are run by chief residents solely for pediatric residents to provide protected educational space for targeted teaching of knowledge and skills.

Residents interested in global health have multiple opportunities at Penn State Health and Penn State College of Medicine, including international travel electives and virtual self-directed rotations.

The most popular affiliation/elective is to Ghana.

When: January or February

Duration: Four weeks

About the facility: The program takes place with Penn State Health Children’s Hospital’s clinical partner, Eastern Regional Hospital, a 429-bed hospital that serves as the primary care center for the local community and is the referral hospital for 16 district hospitals in the region. It includes a six-bed intensive care unit, lab, CT scan and X-ray. Many specialties are housed here.

Rotation details: Experiences in NICU, pediatrics floors and pediatric outpatient clinics. The department funds a significant portion of the trip for multiple residents each year, and upon their return, participant experiences are shared during a Grand Rounds presentation.

Pediatric residents join staff at the Community Base Health Planning & Services in Ghana.

Pediatric residents exploring the Kakum National Forest.

The Med/Peds residency program is partnering with Penn State Health’s Global Health Center hosting a series of global health lectures taking place during the weekly noon conference. Lecture topics include:

• GH Scholars Program Overview and GH Scholars’ Perspectives on HIV Around the Globe
• Adaptations to Care and Evidence Based Care in LMIC Settings
• Poverty and Health
• Pediatrics and Ped Surgery in Rural Malawi
• Vulnerable Populations and HealthCare Systems Around the Globe
• Healthcare in War Times: War Related Injuries
• Global Mental Health
• Vulnerable Populations: The Rural Health Crisis

Penn State College of Medicine and Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center accept ongoing nominations for the Exceptional Moments in Teaching award.

The award, given monthly by the Office for a Respectful Learning Environment, accepts nominations from College of Medicine students who are invited to submit narratives about faculty members, residents, fellows, nurses or any other educators who challenge them and provide an exceptional learning experience. See more about the award here.

Previous nominees from the Medicine/Pediatrics Residency are listed here. Click the + next to a nominee name to read their nominator’s comments.

The annual Resident/Fellow Research Day is held each year (with exception of during the COVID-19 pandemic) on and around the Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center campus.

The intent of the event is to provide an opportunity for residents and fellows to showcase their research accomplishments to their peers in other clinical departments, as well as their colleagues in the basic sciences.

Learn more about Resident/Fellow Research Day here.

Previous presentations from the Medicine/Pediatrics Residency are listed here.