Continuity Clinics

Average one half-day of clinic per week

Vacation/Time Off

Three weeks total taken during Elective, NICU/Community Pediatrics and Primary Care/ Injury Prevention-Child Advocacy Months.

Holiday Comp Week- 1 week unscheduled per year during Thanksgiving, Christmas or New Year’s & 1 week unscheduled at end of year.

For more information about nights and call click below for a PDF of the sample block schedule.

PGY-1 Sample Block Schedule

Continuity Clinics

Average one half-day of clinic per week

Vacation/Time Off

Three weeks total taken during Pediatric Emergency Medicine, Elective, and Subspecialty Clinics Months.

Holiday Comp Week- 1 week unscheduled per year during Thanksgiving, Christmas or New Year’s.

For more information about nights and call click below for a PDF of the sample block schedule.

PGY-2 Sample Block Schedule

Continuity Clinics

Average one half-day of clinic per week

Vacation/Time Off

Three weeks total taken during Elective Months and Health Department.

Holiday Comp Week- 1 week unscheduled per year during Thanksgiving, Christmas or New Year’s.

For more information about nights and call click below for a PDF of the sample block schedule.

PGY-3 Sample Block Schedule

Inpatient teams are resident-led teams, even when rounding with a fellow. Residents lead family-centered rounds and develop and implement plans for patient care. Attending physicians are present each day on rounds for supervision, guidance, and education. On inpatient services with fellows, fellows assist in the supervision and teaching of residents and students.

Pediatric Hospital Medicine (PHM) teams provide care for about 1/3 of the inpatient admissions at Children's of Alabama. Because Children's of Alabama is both the local children's hospital for the greater Birmingham area and the referral center for all of Alabama and parts of neighboring states, the PHM service cares for a diverse patient population with a wide range of diagnoses.

• Attendings are members of the Division of Pediatric Hospital Medicine and are leaders in education, quality improvement, and advocacy at UAB and nationally.

• Each PHM team consists of an attending, three pediatric residents and one to three medical students.

• Each team is also assigned a social worker, case manager, and pharmacist to assist with follow-up appointments, patient teaching, working with DHR, coordinating prescriptions, along with many other services.

• Each team has a cap of 15 patients (intern cap of eight patients), with a max of eight patients admitted on a call day.

• Patients are admitted to PHM teams using a “drip system” until 3 p.m. during the week and 12 p.m. on holidays and weekends. After this time, the call team (short call every fourth day) admits all patients until 5p.m. This allows each team to get new patients daily. Overflow patients are admitted by a separate attending hospitalist team.

• A separate night float team is in house at 5 p.m. to perform cross-cover and admissions.

• Ward teams participate in monthly simulation cases to enhance their learning. 

• Our complex care service (“Teal Team”) is staffed by 1-2 residents, nurse practitioners, and our complex care attendings. Junior residents will cross-cover these patients while on night float with assistance from their senior residents.

Residents in their first year of training spend one month caring for infants in the Mother-Baby Unit of UAB's Women and Infants Center. Goals of this rotation include developing skills in the evaluation and care of healthy newborns. Residents gain expertise in newborn physical exam and circumcision skills and learn about a variety of topics including neonatal jaundice, sepsis, feeding difficulty, breastfeeding, evaluation of heart murmurs, and anticipatory guidance.

A total of three and a half months during residency is spent in the 120 bed, level III+ Regional Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (RNICU), also located at UAB’s Women and Infants Center. As one of the largest and busiest NICU’s in the nation, residents can expect to see a wide range of patients ranging from extremely low birth weight premature infants to critically ill full-term neonates. Residents attend all high risk or otherwise complicated deliveries and thus become proficient at resuscitating newborns on this rotation. Additionally, residents have the opportunity to perform numerous procedures including intubations, umbilical line placement, and lumbar punctures. Residents are also exposed to the management and care of neonates with cardiac lesions while in the NICU. 

While in the NICU, interns work on a night float system with an average of five to seven overnight shifts during the rotation and the remainder of shifts occurring during the day. Upper level residents work on a hybrid scheduling system with night float coverage Monday through Thursday and 24-hour calls Friday through Sunday.

Second-year pediatric residents spend two months in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) at Children’s of Alabama. This 24-bed unit provides state-of-the-art, critical care for the sickest children in the state and region. Residents gain in-depth experience in the identification and management of respiratory and cardiac failure, treatment of sepsis, management of severe trauma, post-operative complications, and a wide range of other disorders. This experience provides confidence to manage sick patients for the remainder of our residents' careers. Residents also hone their procedural skills with intubations, line placement, and other diagnostic procedures during these rotations. 

While in the PICU, care is supervised by pediatric critical care trained faculty and fellows. Residents work on a night float system with one week of nights during their month and the remaining shifts occurring during the daytime.

Like most urban children’s hospitals, the Children’s of Alabama emergency department (ED) cares for a wide array of problems ranging from routine pediatric concerns to acute, life-threatening trauma, and illnesses. With an average 70,000 annual patient visits and 400 traumas (of which >25% are Level I) managed in 54 single patient rooms and four state-of-the-art trauma bays, the Children’s of Alabama ED allows our residents significant hands-on experience managing every level of acuity. During the Pediatric Emergency Medicine rotation, residents provide initial contact and care with supervision from fellowship-trained Pediatric Emergency Medicine specialists. Resident shifts range from 8-10 hours and vary between daytime, afternoon/evening, and an average five to seven overnight shifts throughout each month of service.

The UAB Pediatric Residency Program offers subspecialty exposure to the full array of pediatric experiences. Subspecialty rotations include allergy/immunology, cardiology, endocrinology, gastroenterology, genetics, hematology-oncology, infectious disease, nephrology, neurology, pulmonology, rheumatology. In each subspecialty, residents have the opportunity to work with fellowship trained faculty, many of whom are renowned in their respective field. Subspecialty rotations are spread throughout the three years of training and include a mix of inpatient service, consult, and outpatient care experiences for residents.

Residents spend an average of one ½ day per week in our continuity clinic at the Pediatric Primary Care Clinic (PCC). The PCC is located in the Park Place building directly adjacent to the hospital. Residents serve as the general pediatricians for children from the surrounding community and are each assigned a patient panel of approximately 100 patients, ranging from newborns to 18-year-olds with a variety of medical conditions and complexities. Residents also enjoy working with the same PCC pediatrician as their attending throughout the three years of residency to establish further continuity and mentorship.

As part of the outpatient pediatric education, residents also rotate through various outpatient clinics including Adolescent Medicine, Sparks Center at UAB, subspecialty clinics at Children’s of Alabama, Jefferson County Health Department community care clinics, and a number of community private pediatric offices. Residents also practice taking after-hours calls for the resident PCC during two weeks of their second year.

All residents complete a one month experience in adolescent medicine. This rotation provides the basis for evaluation and care of this special pediatric population. Training locations include the inpatient and outpatient facilities of the Children’s of Alabama as well as focused instruction in eating disorders clinic, juvenile detention centers, weight management clinics, adolescent HIV clinics, adolescent gynecology clinics, and a teen transition clinic.

An understanding of typical and atypical behavior and development are key foundations of training in pediatrics, as such every resident experiences one month of developmental and behavioral pediatrics (DBP). Working alongside fellowship trained DBP-faculty, residents will enjoy experiences in DBP Clinic, Autism Clinic, Trisomy 21 Clinic, Muscular Dystrophy Clinic, Newborn Follow-up Clinic for former premature infants, Spina Bifida Clinic and sessions with occupational and physical therapy.

Individualized curriculum is important for career development. In addition to rotating on services relevant to desired career paths, residents also receive four electives during which they can craft their own learning experiences ranging from inpatient or consult services to outpatient, general to subspecialty exposure, personal development or research, and everything in between. Program directors and chief residents support residents in developing electives in line with their goals. Use the Elective Catalog link below to view some of the historically popular elective rotation experiences.

Elective Catalog

Pediatric Residents Interested in Medical Education (PRIME) Scholars is a longitudinal learning experience designed to provide pediatric residents with skills and knowledge to become excellent medical educators. Components of the program include: 1) monthly group discussions, 2) observation and evaluation of resident teaching, and 3) scholarly projects.

Pediatrics PGY-2 and PGY-3 residents and Med-Peds PGY-2 through PGY-4 residents are eligible for the program. The application and selection process takes place in the Spring.

Current Participants

PGY-2: Ryan Boykin, Matthew Harberg, Meredith Goldenberg, Sam McCartney, Maggie McCartney, Lauren Oliver, Daniel Cooper, Owen Chandler, Jessica Corners

PGY-3: Janie Hampton, Mandy Nelson, Kirby Anne Plessala, Sarah Prickett, Rilee Racine, Kevin Roby, Anna Seidenburg, Kevin Varghese, Giavanna Verdi, Megan Weber, Stacy Young

PGY-4 (Med-Peds): Shannon Snellgrove

Chief Residents: Susmita Murthy, David Taylor

Goals

PRIME Scholars will become proficient clinical teachers in a variety of settings, including at the bedside, in small groups, and large group settings. Scholars will gain skills to effectively lead clinical teams in a manner that promotes learning, including establishing expectations and providing individual feedback. They will gain an appreciation for processes through which high-quality medical education scholarship is conducted. Through implementation of teaching strategies gained in the PRIME Scholars program, participants will enhance the education of UAB medical trainees, including medical students and co-residents, as well as fellows and faculty.

Scholarly Projects in Progress or Development Stage

• Chalk Talk Templates to Promote Teaching on Pediatric-Hospital Medicine and Hematology/Oncology Rotations

• Improving Handoff Through Use of I-PASS

• Noon Conference Workshop to Improve Peer-Peer Feedback

• Exploring Strategies to Increase Morning Report Attendance

• PGY-1 Procedure Day/Transition to Upper-Level Talk

• Peer Mentor Program

Faculty Leaders

Will Sasser, M.D.
Associate Professor, Division of Pediatric Critical Care
Associate Program Director, Pediatric Residency Program

Michele Nichols, M.D.
Professor, Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine
Program Director, Pediatric Residency Program

Brian May, M.D.
Assistant Professor, Division of Pediatric Hospital Medicine
Assistant Program Director, Combined Medicine-Pediatrics Residency Program

Christina Cochran, M.D.
Associate Professor, Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine
Assistant Program Director, Pediatric Emergency Medicine Fellowship Program

Annalise Sorrentino, M.D.
Professor, Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine
Career Development Director, Pediatric Emergency Medicine

Carlie Stein, M.D.
Assistant Professor, Division of General Internal Medicine
Program Director, Combined Medicine-Pediatrics Residency Program

Erinn Schmit, M.D. M.Ed.
Assistant Professor, Division of Pediatric Hospital Medicine
Assistant Program Director, Pediatric Hospital Medicine Fellowship Program

Andrew Watson, M.D.
Assistant Professor, Division of Pediatric Hospital Medicine

The Health Equity Scholars Program aims to equip pediatric and combined pediatric residents, as well as pediatric subspecialty fellows, with the skills to lead improvements in child health equity. This is achieved through a comprehensive learning experience that includes both instructional sessions and hands-on community engagement.

Any pediatric or combined pediatric (child neurology, pediatric medical genetics, medicine-pediatrics) resident or pediatric subspecialty resident (fellow) interested in advancing health equity in pediatrics is encouraged to apply.

PGY-1: Erin Carriker (Internal Medicine-Pediatrics, Amelia Hartje (Categorical Pediatrics), Virginia Quinlan (Child Neurology), Jessica Robinson (Categorical Pediatrics)

PGY-2: Jessica Corners (Categorical Pediatrics), Carson Huynh (Categorical Pediatrics), Harshadayani Jagadish Kumar (Child Neurology), Stephanie Smith (Categorical Pediatrics)

PGY-3: Renita Daniels (Internal Medicine-Pediatrics), Kevin Roby (Categorical Pediatrics), Stacy Young (Categorical Pediatrics)

PGY-4: Austin Oslock (Internal Medicine Pediatrics)

Pediatric Chief Resident: Justin Bailey (Categorical Pediatrics)

Goals

By the conclusion of the Health Equity Scholars Program, participants will:

• Become pediatricians with outstanding clinical skills who also understand the full range of determinants of health and barriers to health care.

• Develop a foundational knowledge of resources available to overcome barriers in health care to promote exceptional care is provided to vulnerable and populations from disadvantaged backgrounds

• Develop leadership, communication, scholarship and advocacy skills to advance health equity.

• Learn to design, implement, and evaluate interventions through quality improvement initiatives to improve child health equity.

• Develop a framework for educating others on barriers to health equity for vulnerable and populations from disadvantaged backgrounds

Curriculum Overview

• Monthly didactic and experiential learning sessions

• Group QI Project

• Two weekend long immersive experiences in regions of Alabama per year (Fall and Spring)

Faculty Leaders

Morissa Ladinsky, M.D.
Associate Professor, Division of Academic General Pediatrics

Chrystal Rutledge, M.D.
Associate Professor, Division of Pediatric Critical Care

Madura Hallman, M.D.
Assistant Professor, Division of Pediatric Critical Care

The Pediatric Underserved and Global Health (PUGH) Scholars Program is a unique opportunity for pediatric residents to gain experience and focused education in global health during the 3 years of residency training. We are looking for residents with a passion for practicing medicine in underserved communities to reduce healthcare disparities and a desire to experience global health both here in the U.S. and abroad. Residents will gain an understanding of the general principles related to health in developing countries and providing culturally sensitive and competent care in a limited resource setting.

The program will give priority to Pediatrics and MedPeds PGY-1 residents but is open to upper level residents if there are spots available. The application and selection process takes place in the Spring. Three residents will be selected for the program each application cycle.

PGY-1: Kymberlee Evans, Rafaella Navarro Hoyos, Jemma Thompson

PGY-2: Maya Ahmadieh, Shaun Kuo, Elizabeth Proenza, Joshua Self

PGY-3: Lauren Brewer, Katie Fogle, Nancy Claire Smith

Goals

• To provide structured education for pediatric residents surrounding global health principles

• To prepare residents to address healthcare delivery and work to eliminate healthcare disparities in the global underserved population

• To provide mentorship for a career in global heath as well as pre-departure planning and scholarship oversigh

• To recruit strong resident applicants interested in global health

• To foster longitudinal partnerships with global sites for bidirectional mentorship, education, and research

Curriculum

• Attend at least 2/3 of the global health meetings

  1. Quarterly Global Health Noon Conference

  2. Quarterly Global Health Morning Report

  3. Global Health Interest Group Meetings

• Spend your non-call elective during 3rd year in an underserved setting (either here in the U.S. or overseas)

  1. Target overseas sites: Kijabe, Kenya; Santiago, Chile (2021-2022 academic year); Lusaka, Zambia

  2. US sites: Indian Health Services; Black Belt, Alabama; Health Department; other rural Alabama location

  3. Other sites may be acceptable on case by case basis

• Complete a scholarly project (anything from a reflective essay to an advocacy, QI, or research project)

Faculty Leaders

Meghan Hofto, M.D.
Assistant Professor, Division of Pediatric Hospital Medicine

Mary Orr, M.D.
Assistant Professor, Division of Pediatric Hospital Medicine

Priya Prabhakaran, M.D.
Professor, Division of Pediatric Critical Care

The McDonald Scholars Program provides the opportunity for interested residents to enhance their general pediatric learning with a two week immersion experience in a rural or underserved community. Residents selected as McDonald Scholars will be paired with an established pediatric practice for a two week clinical experience as a way to further learn and truly encompass what being a pediatrician in a rural or underserved area entails.

The program is open to rising PGY-2 and PGY-3 Pediatric or PGY-2 through PGY-4 Med-Peds residents and accepts applications in the spring. Four to eight residents will be selected each year to participate in the program.

PGY-2: Lauren Dunavant, Maggie Kearney, Jameson Ragsdale, and Christopher Turley

PGY-3: Jameson Ragsdale and Rachel Roark

Goals

• To give residents an “immersion” type experience in a rural practice in Alabama

• To provide and engage our residents in a different underserved population

• To strengthen the General Pediatric experience of our residents

• To inspire and possibly peak interest in a rural type practice

• To honor the generous giving of Dr. and Mrs. Jack McDonald.

Faculty Leaders

Michele Nichols, M.D.
Professor, Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine
Program Director, Pediatric Residency Program

Candice Dye, M.D.
Associate Professor, Division of Academic General Pediatric
Associate Program Director, Pediatric Residency Program

The Primary Care Scholars Program was launched in 2024 in order to increase primary care exposure for residents through three separate arms: clinical exposure, mentoring, and focused didactic education. All residents interested in learning more about primary care careers are welcome to attend the didactic and networking activities below, even if they have not formally joined the Scholars Program.

The clinical experience portion of the scholars program is open to PGY-2 and PGY-3 Pediatric or PGY-2 through PGY-4 Med-Peds residents and accepts applications in the Spring. Two residents are selected each year to receive funding for the clinical experience.

Clinical Experiences

Residents selected to participate in the scholars program are paired with a community pediatrician for a 1 month elective during their PGY-2/3 year where they will have the opportunity to shadow and provide direct patient care to pediatric patients in the ambulatory setting.

In the PGY-3/4 year they will have the opportunity to participate in a transition to independent pediatric practice (TIPP) elective where they will have the opportunity to build skills that will benefit them in serving as a practicing pediatrician in the community.

Didactic Education

Throughout the year, all residents interested in primary care are invited to attend monthly didactic teaching sessions on primary care specific topics during the lunch hour.

Topics to be covered include: nutrition counseling, behavioral challenges in pediatric patients, pediatric mental health topics, academic underachievement and navigating school accommodations, breastfeeding, motivational interviewing, transition to adult care, complex care management.

Mentoring/Networking

Quarterly All scholars and residents interested in primary care are invited to attend General Pediatric Society aka “GPS” socials which are hosted by general pediatric faculty at their homes in the evening to allow residents and community pediatricians an opportunity to meet outside of the clinical setting and facilitate networking and mentorship for residents interested in careers in primary care.

2024-2025 Scholars

PGY-2: Daniel Cooper

PGY-3: Kristen Hall

Goals

• To give residents exposure to high volume community general pediatric clinical practice.

• To increase resident mentorship with community pediatrician faculty.

• To strengthen the General Pediatric didactic educational opportunities for our residents

Faculty Leaders

Channing Brown, M.D.
Assistant Professor, Division of Academic General Pediatrics
Assistant Program Director, Internal Medicine-Pediatrics Residency Program

Caroline Densmore, M.D.
Assistant Professor, Division of Academic General Pediatrics

On June 18, 2014, the UAB Pediatrics Residency Program renamed Morning Report to Stagno Report in honor of Dr. Sergio Stagno for his dedication to the residency program and the education of residents. The Stagno Report takes place every morning at 7:55 in the Bradley Lecture Center. Cases are generally presented by upper level residents and led by the chief residents. Residents on PHM, subspecialty rotations, PICU, NICU, and emergency medicine present on a rotating basis, discussing a wide variety of cases. In addition we have longitudinal general outpatient pediatrics, social determinants of health, ethics, and global health discussions as well. The Stagno Report is always well attended by residents, medical students, fellows, and attendings alike. It is interactive with resident and attending participation concerning the history, physical exam, differential diagnosis, and management of the day’s case presentation. Because of these aspects, an engaging discussion takes place every morning, with multiple learning points.

Journal Club occurs on a monthly basis and rotates monthly between morning discussion during Stagno Report and evening discussion at a local restaurant or brewery. Residents are provided an article as well as relevant questions ahead of each meeting to facilitate engaging conversation. Articles are chosen by our faculty leaders and cover a wide variety of topics relevant to pediatric residency training.

Noon conference takes place every Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday in the Bradley Lecture Center. Residents are provided with a free, hot meal on a daily basis during these lectures. In addition, all residents’ pagers are held and answered by the chief residents so that the residents will be able to spend the hour focused on the lecture. Noon conferences are given by faculty and staff. The material covered includes an expansive review of pediatric medicine topics relevant to both clinical practice and board preparation.

In July of each year, there is a special series presented that covers basic patient care and emergency situations among the Pediatric subspecialties, to provide a foundation of knowledge for residents and interns.

Senior Talks are given once per month, and take place during the noon conference hour. Two of the senior residents (third-year categorical pediatrics and fourth-year med-peds residents) present a 30 minute evidence-based medicine talk on a topic of their choice. 

Every Thursday, residents are offered opportunities during their noon hour to attend Pediatrics Grand Rounds or interest group meetings to further advance their education and explore their career goals.

Starting in January, we have weekly lectures hosted by attending and fellows from every department to review pearls and tips for the Boards. Many of the presenters write questions for the Boards so are equipped to offer insight into the test itself. After the lecture, the presentations and recorded lectures are made available to residents for review as needed.

The UAB Pediatric Residency Department pays for every residents’ annual AAP membership throughout residency. This provides residents with access to at least three years of board content-based “PREP questions”. Residents are required to complete one year’s worth of these questions during each year of training (approximately 250 questions per year).

As part of the residents’ funded AAP memberships, the Pediatrics and Pediatrics in Review journals are both delivered on a monthly basis to all of our residents, which is a great source of review for basic pediatrics topics.

Every morning, before Stagno report, residents answer a Board-style question. Each month, the intern or resident with the most correct answers is awarded a "Golden Pen".