While each Meds-Peds resident will be fully integrated into the categorical program experience, there are a number of Med-Peds opportunities to enhance your education and exposure to Med-Peds careers.

Continuity Clinic Experience 

A vital component of any Med-Peds training program is the continuity clinic experience. Med-Peds residents practice within the internal medicine and pediatric continuity clinics alongside their categorical co-residents. This continuity clinic structure ensures an integrated and equal exposure to ambulatory internal medicine and pediatrics. On outpatient rotations, Med-Peds residents attend full days of clinic alternating between medicine and pediatric clinic. By the end of residency, Med-Peds residents will have completed the same amount of continuity clinic as their categorical counterparts. The Med-Peds curriculum also provides ample opportunities for Med-Peds residents to work in a combined clinic experience alongside Med-Peds faculty at the UAB Leeds or Gardendale Internal Medicine-Pediatrics clinics. The variety of ambulatory clinic opportunities gives our residents exposure to various practice models and a greater exposure and understanding of primary care in an academic versus private practice setting.

STEP (Staging Transition for Every Patient) Program

In September 2020, our first Combined Med-Peds Transition Clinic opened doors as a collaboration of Children's of Alabama and the University of Alabama at Birmingham. The two initiatives of STEP are:

1. individualized transition planning for adolescent patients (beginning around age 14) with complex and chronic healthcare needs currently treated at Children’s of Alabama to prepare them for adult healthcare, and

2. a primary care clinic that will serve as an adult medical home to facilitate referrals to specialists, ensuring timely uninterrupted transition and access to other support services including physical therapy, social work, nutrition and emergency planning. 

Our residents have the opportunity to rotate in this multidisciplinary clinic, enhance their knowledge of transition-related topics and to grow this clinical initiative through collaboration, advocacy, QI, and curriculum development. In 2024, we are launching a lifespan clinic for patients with Down Syndrome.

Med Peds Immersion Month

At least three months during residency, including once during intern year, our residents will rotate through a multitude of unique, Med-Peds ambulatory clinical experiences with time spent at UAB Leeds, UAB Gardendale, STEP Clinic, Adult Sickle Cell Clinic, Lifespan care of patients with HIV clinics (Family Clinic, 1917). This allows our residents to see the breadth of Med-Peds career opportunities and get to know the Med-Peds faculty who practice at each of these sites.

This month will also provide time for professional development and coaching allowing for more specific 1-on-1 growth opportunities with Med-Peds mentors.