We attract outstanding students from around the U.S. and international schools. Our current residents come from medical schools across the country. IU School of Medicine is the largest medical school in the United States, and we have strong core of our top IU School of Medicine students who go into pediatrics. In addition we select outstanding osteopathic medical students, MD/PhDs, and international medical graduates, many of whom have gone on to become chief residents and top fellows.
As with most pediatric programs, about 75% of our residents are women. Those who are married represent 30-50%, and some have families. We have several couples in the program and work hard to coordinate scheduling for them. Our diversity reflects most pediatric numbers with a growing number of African-American, Latinx and under-represented in medicine residents in the program. We have many faculty and residents who are part of the LGBTQ+ community and actively support making our program welcoming to all.
Most inpatient rotations for interns are q4-5 ‘short calls’, assisting with admissions in the late afternoon/evening. Our X+Y Scheduling allows for weeks without call and set “golden weekends”. We do expose interns to some night call experiences as well — PGY1s have a total of four weeks of night float, divided into two blocks. Interns also have some night calls while covering rotations like Heme-Onc and NICU.
We strike a good balance in support for time off and rest, while preparing interns for admissions, deliveries, and events that are unique to nights and call. Our overall call schedule is comparable to most large academic centers; call is an important time to learn, to develop independent decision-making, and to participate in deliveries and procedures. We have resident teams on call who work together and 24/7 in-house faculty support for teaching and assistance.
Every resident joins one of our clinical tracks, where you will have your individualized curriculum blocks and individualized curriculum-subspecialty blocks picked to give you the maximum opportunities for your chosen career path. There are a total of 40 weeks of this individualized curriculum throughout your residency program.
Approximately 90 percent of core rotations are at Riley Hospital for Children, which is the main central campus base for the residency program. To add experience with the underserved and other unique populations, residents spend one to two months at Eskenazi Hospital. These hospitals are both downtown Indianapolis on the same central campus. Finally, we believe in individualizing the curriculum by resident’s goals, so those interested in primary care have some additional selective opportunities in community clinics, the suburban IU Health North Hospital, and Bloomington outpatient experience. Others may choose more specialty care sites, research, global health settings, or community experiences.
We appreciate the hard work done by our residents and therefore provide ample opportunities for time off. Residents have four weeks of paid time off across each program year. Additionally, all residents have a five-day block of time off over holiday of choice.
The IU School of Medicine Pediatric Residency program has excellent ABP Board pass rates that are well above the national average. The three-year average is over 90 percent.
Acceptance at Indiana University School of Medicine for residency is highly competitive because of our excellent programs, location and benefits. Applicants should be a good fit for a large program. Attributes include independence, confidence and energized by many different opportunities. We look for:
- Commitment to patients and serving others
- Hard-working with a sense of duty/responsibility
- Active learners who thrive by doing and getting involved
- High personal expectations with a drive to improve
- Caring and respectful of others
- Team players
The intern class size, with 25 categorical residents, is a large program but has a personalized feel with individualized experiences, personal connections and meaningful mentorships. Among the many benefits of a large program include scheduling, call trades, leave switches, vacations and more. The IU School of Medicine residency programs in pediatrics also provides a diverse social network with frequent resident outings.
Because Riley Hospital is the only children’s comprehensive care hospital in Indiana, residents receive training in a wide range of pediatric problems. For most residents, this is the ideal way to learn and thrive. Our residents are independent self-starters, are adaptive to different settings, and agree that they develop and master skills faster in a system of active learning and diverse experiences.
IU School of Medicine pediatric residents are exposed to a very diverse patient population in Indianapolis. We have one of the largest urban African-American populations in the U.S. The growing Latino population is a major part of most Eskenazi clinics, and one continuity clinic is housed at a fully bilingual office. Referral patients from around Indiana include rural patients and a large Amish population. There are several immigrant groups from Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, and a large Burmese population as well. Our patients vary from those that are well-educated and well-informed to uninsured low-income patients. Residents here see all types of patients — from the common to the rare and from a variety of cultures and backgrounds.