Pediatric

Thank you for your interest in the Pediatric Residency at Penn State Health Golisano Children’s Hospital.

Our program prides itself on helping trainees develop the lifelong skills of goal-setting and self-directed learning within a curriculum that allows significant flexibility for individualization. The ACGME required an extensive individualized curriculum for each pediatric residency program in 2025, but our residency has been implementing this educational innovation for over a decade. Our residents are the driving force not only of their own professional development, but also in the continued evaluation and improvement of the residency experience with opportunities to participate in numerous committees focused on wellness, curriculum development, program evaluation, recruitment, patient safety, quality improvement, informatics, and diversity, equity and inclusion. Trainees are also given the opportunity to further develop their educator skills through lectures, electives and retreats offered by the No matter your interest, we will work hard to find educational opportunities to support your goals.

This is an exciting time to join the Penn State Health pediatric family. In 2025, we joined the Golisano Alliance of Children's Hospitals after a landmark $50 million dollar donation from the B. Thomas Golisano Foundation. Penn State Health Golisano Children’s Hospital’s specialties have frequently been ranked by the U.S. News and World Report throughout the last 15 years. Our pediatrics department is also in the top 50 of all Children’s Hospitals in Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research funding. Further, Penn State Health was recently ranked among the top 30 for Healthcare Centers (top 250 for industries of all types) in Forbes Magazine’s “America’s Best Employers for Diversity.” Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center was honored in Healthgrades’s America’s 50 Best Hospitals Award for the second year in a row and was also named by Newsweek Magazine’s “World’s Best Hospitals as the #56 medical center in the country. Our Children’s Hospital has recently expanded, now featuring a new, 56-private-bed NICU; Labor and Delivery and postpartum area; and post-surgical acute care unit. We have also recently acquired the Pennsylvania Psychiatric Institute (PPI) in nearby Harrisburg to provide comprehensive mental health services to our patients and opened up regional pediatric medical centers in Lancaster and Harrisburg, Pa.

The town of Hershey, located 13 miles from the state capital of Harrisburg, is an easy and affordable place to live, where residents are able to rent apartments or purchase homes in safe neighborhoods with highly rated public schools all within a few miles of the hospital. Whether you want to ride one of the 15 roller coasters at Hersheypark, catch a concert at Hersheypark Stadium, laugh with your favorite comedian at the Giant Center, watch a musical at the Hershey Theater, cheer on the Hershey Bears hockey team (2023 and 2024 Back-to-Back Calder Cup Champions), kayak the Swatara Creek/Susquehanna River, hike the Appalachian Trail, bike the Capital Area Greenbelt, or relax at a local winery/brewery, there is something in this region for everyone in the Harrisburg/Hershey area. We are also located a short day’s trip to many major cities and attractions such as Baltimore (90 miles), Philadelphia (95 miles), the Poconos Mountains (110 miles), Washington, D.C. (135 miles), Shenandoah National Park (150 miles), New York City (160 miles) and Pittsburgh (215 miles). .

This is an exciting time to live and train in central Pennsylvania at Penn State Health Golisano Children’s Hospital, and we hope you consider joining us!

Aaron R. Shedlock, MD, FAAP
Program Director, Pediatric Residency

Welcome to the Department of Pediatrics! The department is proud of a 50-year tradition of excellence in clinical care, education, research and service at Penn State College of Medicine.

With more than 250 physicians and advanced practice providers throughout 20 divisions and sections, the department provides high-quality clinical care to infants, children and adolescents, as well as young adults. Faculty members are active throughout central Pennsylvania, seeing young patients at Penn State Health Golisano Children’s Hospital in Hershey, Lancaster and the West Shore Region and at Penn State Health outpatient practice sites across the state.

Faculty enthusiastically educate future leaders in pediatric medicine, from students enrolled in medical and graduate schools to the many pediatric residents and fellows. The pediatric residency program features an individualized training curriculum that provides outstanding and exciting opportunities to learn the skills needed to excel at the modern roles of the pediatrician, all in a balanced and supportive learning environment. The department is also home to seven ACGME-accredited fellowship programs to train physicians in pediatric specialties and subspecialties.

As part of a large research university, the Department of Pediatrics enthusiastically supports the many faculty who engage in basic, translational and clinical research. Students, residents and fellows often collaborate in this research and are important contributors to the department’s research mission. Their advances in research ultimately lead to better understanding and treatment of childhood diseases.

Together, everyone in the department remains committed to improving the lives of children through exceptional education, innovative research, and outstanding care.

Sarah M. Iriana, MD
Interim Department Chair - Pediatrics

The mission of the program is to recruit a varied residency cohort, support each resident’s learning needs with respect to background and experiences, and provide education and opportunities that teach residents excellence in clinical care, community health, advocacy, quality improvement and innovative medical research. Residents will graduate from this program as highly qualified pediatricians capable of navigating the health care system and providing evidence-based, personalized and culturally responsive care to a diverse group of patients.

The aims of the program are to foster an inclusive, supportive, and personalized learning environment in which each resident:

1. Acquires the skills, knowledge and confidence needed to be a general pediatrician who holistically cares for the physical and mental health of children with respect to principles of diversity, equity, inclusion, cultural humility, social determinants of health and healthcare disparities.

2. Develops the skills necessary to be a successful lifelong self-directed learner.

3. Sets and achieves their own individualized learning objectives and curricula to satisfy educational and career goals.

4. Utilizes the support of coaches, mentors and program leaders to meet their individualized objectives and goals.

5. Receives the flexibility and support, and is taught the skills necessary, to achieve and maintain their wellness needs.

6. Participates in program evaluation and has a voice in creating strategic changes.

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 age, color, disability, gender identity or expression, marital status, pregnancy status, national or ethnic origin, political affiliation, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, veteran status or family medical or genetic information.

For International Medical Graduates: The program sponsors J-1 visas only, and the highest consideration will be given to ECFMG-certified graduates within the previous three years. Current or recent experience working in the U.S. health care system is strongly preferred.

For the 2026-2027 ERAS® cycle, our program is participating in the ERAS application program signaling process and the NRMP Voluntary Program Rank Order List Lock Pilot Program. Our rank lists will be locked by Feb. 8, 2027, prior to any second look events.

Learn more about the AAMC ERAS application.

Applicants who are offered interviews, match into the Pediatric Residency Program and successfully complete the residency will be deemed board eligible for certification by the American Board of Pediatrics. Please refer to the American Board of Pediatrics website for additional information.

Application Requirements

• Personal statement

• MSPE (dean’s letter)

• Medical school transcript

• USMLE or COMLEX scores submitted to program by Feb. 1

• ECFMG Certification (if applicable)

• Three 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 or clerkship director.

Interview Process

Interviews are by invitation only, and will be conducted from late October through December.

All interviews will be conducted virtually during the 2026-2027 application cycle as recommended by the Association of Pediatric Program Directors (APPD), COMSEP and AAMC.

The virtual interview day schedule will be approximately 4 hours long and include:

• Introduction to the program (with program leadership)

• Interviews with program leadership and faculty

• “Life as a Resident” Q&A/virtual tour with Chief Residents

• Program director question-and-answer session/wrap-up

An optional virtual social hour with residents will be arranged by the recruitment committee as well as optional second look days in mid- to late February.

Coaching Program Overview

Trainees are paired with one of seven expert coaches who are specially trained and provided protected time to help facilitate and monitor clinical/academic progression, goal-setting, career planning and wellness throughout the entire residency.

At minimum, residents will formally meet with the following program leaders:

• Assigned Coach – Three Times a Year

• Chief Residents – Early in the Fall of Intern Year

• Program Director Mentor - Early in the Fall of Intern Year

• Program Director/Associate Program Directors – Twice Yearly Semi-Annual Reviews

• Director of Individualized Education – Each Winter (To Choose Electives)

Housestaff sessions are also scheduled every four weeks with the residents and program leadership (program directors, chiefs and coordinators) to provide ongoing support.

Please see below where each of our residents have pursued fellowships throughout the past five years: 

ACADEMIC GENERAL PEDIATRICS

• Boston Children’s Hospital

• Nemours Children’s Health

ALLERGY & IMMUNOLOGY PEDIATRICS

• Johns Hopkins Children's Center

• Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center

DEVELOPMENTAL-BEHAVIOURAL PEDIATRICS

• Brown University/Rhode Island Hospital

NEONATAL/PERINATAL MEDICINE

• Children’s Hospital of Michigan

• Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center

• Stony Brook Children’s Hospital

• University of Rochester

NEONATOLOGY

• MAYO Clinic (MN)

• University of Rochester Medical Center

PEDIATRIC CARDIOLOGY

• Mount Sinai Hospital 

• Penn State Health Golisano Children’s Hospital

• University of Texas Health

PEDIATRIC CRITICAL CARE MEDICINE

• Case Western/Rainbow Babies

• Case Western/University Hospital Cleveland Medical Center

• Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital

• Johns Hopkins Hospital

• Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital

• Nationwide Children’s Hospital 

• Penn State Health Golisano Children’s Hospital

• Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital

• Riley Children’s Hospital

• University of Alabama Birmingham Medical Center

• University of Miami/Jackson Health System

• University of Rochester/Strong Memorial Hospital

• University of Virginia Medical Center

PEDIATRIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE

• Baystate Medical Center

• Children’s Hospital of Michigan

• Johns Hopkins Medical Center

• Northwell Cohen Children’s Children’ Hospital of the King’s Daughters (EVMS)

• Phoenix Children’s Hospital

• University of North Carolina Hospitals

• Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine

PEDIATRIC ENDOCRINOLOGY

• Montefiore Medical Center (Einstein, NY)

PEDIATRIC GASTROENTEROLOGY

• Johns Hopkins Hospital

PEDIATRIC HEMATOLOGY/ONCOLOGY

• Children’s National Medical Center

• Nemours Children's Hospital (DE)

• Northwestern McGaw/Lurie Children’s Hospital

• Penn State Health Golisano Children’s Hospital

• Phoenix Children’s Hospital

PEDIATRIC HOSPITAL MEDICINE

• UCLA Medical Center

• University of Florida - Jacksonville

PEDIATRIC INFECTIOUS DISEASE

• University of Pittsburgh Medical Center

PEDIATRIC NEURODEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES RESIDENCY

• Johns Hopkins University

PEDIATRIC PULMONOLOGY

• University of Texas Health

PEDIATRIC RHEUMOTOLOGY

• Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta/Emory University

• Northwell Cohen Children’s Hospital

• University of Pittsburgh Medical Center

PEDIATRIC URGENT CARE

• Children’s National Medical Center

PEDIATRIC SPORTS MEDICINE

• Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia

• University of Colorado

Click on the links below to read more about Penn State Health's Children's Hospital Faculty and Clinicians:

See all Pediatric Clinical Providers

See all Department of Pediatrics Faculty

Resident Perks

• Children’s Hospital provides a personal work iPhone for each resident

• Annual book money allowance (about $600 per year)

• 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 Money” to be used at hospital cafeterias or Starbucks

• Program additionally provides lunch at least once a 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 board preparation question banks (Med Study) and teaching materials

• Free certifications and updates of BLS, PALS and NRP

• Free on-site parking

• Retreats and wellness events paid for by residency

• Up to 6 weeks of paid time off for parental leave with additional flexibility of taking more unpaid time off and/or work-from-home parental/breastfeeding electives

• PAWS (Pediatric Administrative and Wellness Sessions) at least monthly

• Biannual class wellness nights

• Biannual wellness half-days

• Biannual residency wellness events

• Yearly class retreats (three for interns)

• Monthly wellness activities/themes (Wellness Committee)

• House staff sessions at least monthly to discuss and address any resident concerns

• Resident families

• Resident coaches (assigned upon arrival for intern year)

• Periodic GME wellness events/competitions

• with yearly opt-out therapy sessions

• Partners in Medicine

• JEDI Council noon conferences

• Institutional affinity groups and Business Employee Resource Groups (BERGs)

  • Network of Under-Represented Residents and Fellows (NURF)

  • BERGs: Disabilities, interfaith, NextGen, LGBTQ+ and allies, military/veteran, multicultural, Black Physician Professional Staff Association, Hispanic Professional Association, Asian Physician and Professional Staff Association, International Workforce Inclusion

• Administrative wellness time every Thursday during clinic "Y" weeks

• Patient caps on all inpatient services

• EPIC Electronic Medical Record

• Monthly "Pastries with PD's and PC's listening sessions
  

For medical school students

Penn State Health Golisano Children’s Hospital offers four acting internships and multiple other subspecialty electives as fourth year medical student experiences. Medical students interested in an away rotation at the Children’s Hospital should view . Application are only accepted through the Visiting Student Learning Opportunities (VSLO) website. General questions about the application process and logistics should be directed to smiller29@pennstatehealth.psu.edu.

Any student applying for an away rotation because of a strong interest in completing their pediatric residency training at Penn State Health Golisano Children’s Hospital are strongly encouraged to email program directors japrile1@pennstatehealth.psu.edu or ashedlock@pennstatehealth.psu.edu.

Visiting Residents

.

Observerships, Shadowing, Internships and Externships

The pediatric residency program cannot schedule, sponsor or coordinate shadowing, externship, or observership opportunities. This is coordinated separately by Penn State College of Medicine and Penn State Health. Inquiries for shadowing and/or observerships can be directed to affiliationagreements@pennstatehealth.psu.edu. Please note, Penn State Health does not allow outside shadowing for medical students and residents including IMGs outside of the VSLO/GME applications process listed above.

The following topics are longitudinally represented throughout the residency educational experience:

• Care of deteriorating patient – monthly simulation sessions and monthly mock codes

• Career development

• Diversity, equity and inclusion

• Health systems science

• Health care disparities and advocacy – monthly topics and longitudinal three-year class project

• Current Topics and Guidelines

• Medical Ethics

• Moral distress/trauma debriefings

• Quality improvement

• Patient safety – resident-led quarterly morbidity and mortality conferences

• Primary care anticipatory guidance topics – monthly "ask the expert" and continuity clinic curriculum

• Residents as educators

• Scientific and evidence-based principles – monthly journal club

• Wellness – monthly pediatric administrative and wellness sessions (PAWS)

The Pediatric Residency Program has been planning for the new 2025 changes to the ACGME Pediatric Program Requirements for the last few years. Highlights of our 2025 changes include:

• A decrease in minimum inpatient rotations to promote balance of inpatient and outpatient experiences (see curriculum sections below) to promote wellness during training.

• The initiation of patient caps on all inpatient services to maximize education over service.

• A transition to X+Y scheduling model for rotations and continuity clinics to improve patient safety (by minimizing inpatient handoffs) and resident education (by allowing residents to focus on one educational experience at a time).

• The application of longitudinal experiences in community, advocacy, mental health, career development and scholarly activity as a thread throughout residency.

• The implementation of an optional “Scholarly Activity Project” that equates to one full day for every two weeks of outpatient rotations.

• Individualized “career road maps” to provide advising on rotation selection and procedural competency specific to each resident’s goals.

Beginning July 2025, the program implemented an X+Y approach to scheduling continuity clinics, which allows residents to focus on continuity clinic separate from all other rotations. Residents will have continuity clinic at least every eight weeks in a 6+2 model. After matching, each resident will have the choice of four different continuity site locations in urban (Harrisburg), suburban (Hershey) and rural (Elizabethtown) locations.

In addition, there is a monthly continuity clinic curriculum (Physician Education and Assessment Center - PEAC) with rotating primary care core topics to be discussed in small-group settings during clinic sessions. Residents are provided flexible administrative time every Thursday during their clinic “Y” block to work on their continuity clinic modules or any other administrative tasks.

The first-year curriculum purposefully integrates numerous outpatient and elective experiences to balance the inpatient experience.

Highlights

Adolescent medicine: The primary clinical site for this four-week rotation is the Milton Hershey School, a large, cost-free, private boarding school for children from families of low income and limited resources. The rotation also includes time in clinics for adolescent gynecology, addiction medicine and eating disorders.

Community and advocacy: This rotation occurs for two consecutive weeks as well as longitudinally and includes clinical time at two pediatric clinics in Harrisburg, Pa., committed to serving children in under-resourced areas as well as in outpatient and inpatient child abuse settings. It also features a wide-variety of non-clinical experiences that expose residents to many community resources that can assist their patients. These experiences include spending time with:

• Lawmakers and lobbyists at the state capitol

• Penn State Law, working with a children’s advocacy program

• Children and Youth Services

• Home nursing

• Lactation services

• Pediatric rehabilitation/care coordination

• Early intervention

• Opioid clinic

• Pediatric dentistry

Also offered is dedicated time and training on quality and improvement methods and how to complete a needs assessment in order to implement community-based changes benefiting the children of central Pennsylvania and beyond. This serves as the starting point for the class advocacy/health care disparity project.

First-Year Rotations

The first-year rotations are:

Inpatient (20 weeks)

• General pediatric hospitalist team – eight weeks

• Neonatal ICU – four weeks

• Newborn nursery – two weeks

• Night team – six weeks (divided into three rotations)

Outpatient (28 weeks)

• Acute clinic – four weeks

• Adolescent medicine – four weeks

• Community and advocacy – two weeks plus longitudinal experience

• Emergency medicine – four weeks

• Individualized curriculum/electives – eight weeks

• Longitudinal continuity clinic – six weeks

Vacation (4 weeks)

The second year continues to offer a balanced curriculum (along with increased time for electives as part of the individualized curriculum) while building senior resident leadership skills and increasing comfort with more severely ill patients.

Highlights

Developmental/behavioral pediatrics: This rotation includes time in a broadly focused developmental-behavioral clinic, plus time focused on:

• Sleep disorders

• Speech therapy

• Audiology

• Palliative care

• ADHD

• Feeding disorders

• PKU

• Tic disorders

• Autism

• Behavior modification

• Educational evaluation

• Brain injury

Mental health: This rotation occurs for two consecutive weeks as well as longitudinally and includes clinical time in child and adolescent psychiatry clinics as well as focused time with other mental health curricula and specialists (e.g. Child Life & Integrative Therapies, school-based psychologists) to increase resident comfort with behavioral and mental health patients. There is also an emphasis on the understanding and enhancement of resident personal wellness as well.

ED admit: This rotation is an opportunity that allows pediatric residents to be on the front lines of pediatric assessment, evaluation, treatment and care. When children in the Emergency Department need to be admitted, the ED admit resident evaluates and triages the patient, then works one-on-one with the pediatric hospitalist, pediatric intensivist and many of the pediatric subspecialists to formulate an appropriate plan of care, including:

• Admission criteria and decisions on bed placement and appropriate level of care

• Coordination with the outpatient transitional care clinic, especially for “diagnostic dilemmas” that don’t meet admission criteria but require continued workup and evaluation

• Discharge criteria and needed follow-up

Selectives: Allow residents to perfect their senior resident skills on the services of their choice, including inpatient hematology/oncology/stem-cell transplant team, inpatient pulmonology team, newborn nursery team, pediatric ICU team, or as emergency department admit resident.

Second-year rotations

The second-year rotations are:

Inpatient (22 weeks)

• Daytime ED admit - two weeks

• Inpatient hematology/oncology/stem-cell transplant team – two weeks

• Inpatient cardiology/pulmonology team – two weeks

• Neonatal ICU – four weeks

• Night team senior – four weeks (divided into two rotations)

• Pediatric ICU – four weeks

• Individualized curriculum/selectives – four weeks

Outpatient (26 weeks)

• Developmental/behavioral pediatrics – four weeks

• Emergency medicine – four weeks

• Individualized curriculum/electives – 10 weeks

• Mental Health - two weeks plus longitudinal experience

• Longitudinal continuity clinic - six weeks

Vacation (4 weeks)

The third year purposefully allows for significant flexibility for residents to structure their individualized curriculum to best suit their needs before starting a first job or fellowship. The curriculum focuses on leadership opportunities and on career development.

Highlights

School-Based Community Health and Advocacy: All residents spend two weeks at the local Milton Hershey School, which is a cost-free private boarding school started by Milton and Catherine Hershey to service children with family hardships. This rotation provides independent outpatient clinical experience with the opportunity to mentor children, teach school-wide health seminars and influence school health policies.

Longitudinal Career Development Individualized Elective: Residents are given two days every 8 weeks to focus on their career development with resources to generate strong CV’s/Cover Letters, apply to jobs, interview successfully, secure a job, understand loan repayment possibilities, review their contracts, apply for medical licenses, work on research, study for board exam, and shadow/develop clinical/procedural skills

Selectives: Allow residents to perfect their senior resident skills on the services of their choice, including inpatient hematology/oncology/stem-cell transplant team, inpatient pulmonology team, newborn nursery team, pediatric ICU team, hospitalist senior, or as emergency department admit resident.

Third-Year Rotations

The third-year rotations are:

Inpatient (16 weeks)

• Hospitalist team senior – four weeks

• Newborn nursery team senior – two weeks

• Pediatric ICU – four weeks

• Subspecialty night team senior – two weeks

• Overnight ED admit – two weeks

• Individualized curriculum/selectives – two weeks

Outpatient (32 weeks)

• Acute clinic team senior – four weeks

• Career Exploration Individualized Elective – longitudinal experience

• School-based community health and advocacy (Milton Hershey School) – two weeks

• Primary care or EM selective - two weeks

• Individualized curriculum/electives – 18 weeks

• Longitudinal continuity clinic - six weeks

Vacation (4 weeks)

Beginning in 2025, the ACGME requires pediatric residencies to provide 40 weeks of individualized education. This has been a highlight of our curriculum for decades. The Pediatric Residency at Penn State Health Golisano Children’s Hospital places the needs of residents and their interests over the needs of the hospital and offers a total of 46 weeks of individualized education, many of which can be broken up into one- or two-week experiences.

The program can individualize certain rotations to coincide with the resident’s career goals. Each specialty has developed a “career road map” to help advise an interested resident in their rotation selection and procedural competency. Note that the residency has purposely stayed away from “tracks” in the design of its curriculum. The program is large enough to offer virtually every possible rotation, but also small enough to design individualized programs without needing to rely on tracks.

Although there are a few rules to follow regarding the choice of rotations, most residents are simply able to take the desired rotations from this list or create and customize their own elective rotation to meet their individual goals:

• Abuse/neglect

• Acute clinic

• Adolescent medicine

• AHEC underserved medicine

• Allergy/immunology

• Anesthesiology

• Breastfeeding

• Cardiology

• Complex care

• Dermatology

• Eating disorders

• Emergency medicine

• Emergency medicine procedures

• Endocrinology

• Gastroenterology

• Genetics

• Hematology/oncology

• Hospitalist

• Infectious diseases

• Life Lion (Emergency Transport Services)

• Nephrology

• Neurology

• Neurosurgery

• NICU

• Ophthalmology

• Orthopaedic surgery

• Otolaryngology

• Palliative care/hospice

• Pathology

• Pediatric surgery

• PICU

• Pulmonology

• Private practice

• Procedures

• Psychiatry

• Radiology

• Research

• Rehabilitation

• Rheumatology

• Sports medicine

• Urban primary care

• Weight management (obesity) clinic

In the self-managed individualized learning elective (SMILE), residents can take up to four weeks to design their own learning goals and objectives and can even work from home (i.e., reading block).

Based on resident feedback, the program implements a night float rotation system which significantly improves wellness. There are NO 24 Hour Calls as of July 2025.

By resident request, during inpatient rotations, the program otherwise mostly utilizes a 12 days on/2 days off inpatient schedule to maximize the number of free “golden weekends.”

During outpatient rotations, the call schedule is more variable and may utilize a 6 days on/1 day off format increasing weekend days off beyond ACGME minimum requirements.

Resident-led noon conferences occur three-four days a week, covering interesting clinical cases, primary care topics, updated clinical guidelines, journal club, research topics, quality improvement, DEI topics, health care disparities, advocacy, global health, wellness topics and board review. The program also periodically invites residency alumni back to speak in the career development series to share their experiences.

An academic half-day consists of faculty-led didactics and simulation lab experiences on Thursday afternoons, with clinical coverage provided and pagers/phones held. These topics compose the core curriculum, repeating every 18 months, and are based on the board exam specification content outline of the American Board of Pediatrics.

Our educational and board review curriculum has led to first-time American Board of Pediatrics exam passage rates that frequently exceed the national averages. Our running three-year first-time board passage rate is 95% compared to a national average of 86%.

Here is an example of a block conference schedule:

Other educational opportunities include:

• lectures and courses (in partnership with the )

• Multifaceted

• , including institution-wide affiliation with Ghana

• lecture series and Inclusion Academy

• Research elective and mentorship, including the

• Free membership for all residents to Med Study (board review questions).

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.

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.

In conjunction with Penn State College of Medicine, the Pediatric Residency offers many exciting opportunities to further trainees' development as medical educators:

• educator development resources and programs, including:

  • Quarterly core lecture series

  • Two-week cross-specialty medical education elective for residents

  • Longitudinal "Clinician Educator" medical education pathway

  • Woodward Scholars Program

    • Opportunity for 100 percent tuition discount for a graduate certificate (12 credits) in adult education from Penn State Harrisburg. Credits can later be applied toward a master's degree (30 credits).

• The program highlights outstanding resident and fellow teachers at Penn State Health. Residents from each class are also honored with teaching awards each year at graduation.

Penn State Health and Penn State College of Medicine have nationally recognized investigators with numerous grants and NIH funding in the fields of basic/bench, clinical, translational and health services research. The Department of Pediatrics is ranked in the top 50 of all Children’s Hospitals in the prestigious Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research funding.

Through extensive individualized curriculum opportunities, residents have the ability to work alongside these researchers longitudinally and/or during research electives. Residents can schedule as at least 12 weeks of individualized time for research in 1-4 week blocks in addition to the longitudinal time for career development that exists during clinic “Y” weeks. Residents can also choose to apply to the Longitudinal Scholarly Project (LSP) Pathway to be granted additional time for scholarly projects in the PGY-2 and PGY-3 years that equates to one full day for every two weeks of outpatient rotations. Those highly interested in a future research career can also consider the to receive a research certificate and be matched with prolific research mentors and periodically meet with other budding clinical scientists to share ideas.

Approximately 50 percent of program residents participate in research during a given academic year. Residents have disseminated their research at the national, regional and local levels (see resident projects in the tabs below). Penn State Health’s is held yearly to showcase accomplishments. The residency program regularly funds resident posters and travel costs (up to $2,000) to present research.

Residents also have the opportunity to participate in numerous quality improvement/patient safety committees as well as complete projects with expert faculty. Lectures on quality improvement and patient safety are given throughout the year, and periodic workshops in quality improvement are offered. All residents develop a QI project under faculty leadership in their PGY-1 Community and Advocacy rotation aimed at reducing health care disparities.

Residents interested in global health have at Penn State Health and College of Medicine, including international travel electives and virtual self-directed rotations. Residents can travel and practice in countries all throughout the world, but our most popular affiliation/elective is the annual trip to Ghana (see details below).

• When: January or February

• Duration: Four weeks

• About the facility: The program takes place with Penn State Health Golisano 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 noon conference presentation.

Photos from Ghana

In 2026 our pediatric residents Dr. Lacie Taylor, Dr. Steven Nguyen, Dr. Mathew Thomas, and Dr. Haley Megarity (2026) were able to learn from and work with leaders and physicians from the Eastern Regional Hospital, in Koforidua, Ghana; and also, the University of Ghana Medical Centre, LTD in Accra, Ghana. Their time in Ghana was full of increased medical education and also helped introduce them more to the depth and value of increasing global health awareness and practice. Feel free to read below a few testimonials from their time there:

"My experience in Ghana will be a core-memory that I will never forget from my Pediatric Residency training. I learned how medicine is practiced in resource-limited environments and saw a variety of medical cases that I would not normally see here in the United States. Most importantly, I was able to learn and embrace a new culture characterized by strong community ties and a deeply ingrained sense of hospitality, which I will carry with me throughout my career in medicine."

- Dr. Steven Nguyen, DO (2026 Graduating Resident)

"I am incredibly grateful to the physicians and administrators for welcoming me so warmly and allowing me the opportunity to attend rounds and clinic during my time in Ghana. It was truly an honor to learn alongside such dedicated clinicians. I gained so much insight not only into clinical medicine, but also into the resilience, adaptability, and teamwork required to provide excellent care in an environment with limited resources and a high patient volume. Your commitment to your patients, despite these challenges, was inspiring and humbling. I loved everything about Ghana — especially the warm, welcoming spirit of the people and the breathtaking landscapes — and I will carry both the professional and personal lessons I learned there with me throughout my career."

- Dr. Haley Megarity, DO, MS (2026 Graduating Resident)

"The rotation was also vital in exposing me to a different culture steeped in traditions and norms that we do not routinely see in the US. I was able to observe firsthand the close camaraderie between the physician and the patient family in a Ghanaian and how that advanced medical treatment. I got the opportunity to learn the basics of a different language and see how relationships could change fundamentally when patients could see you taking the steps to understand them and vice-versa. It was a privilege that not many have the chance to experience."

- Dr. Mathew Thomas, MD (2027 Graduating Resident)

Pictured above is our 2025-2026 Ghana Team with our Global Health Director and also, our Ghana Elective Director, Dr. Sheila Clarke, MD.

"I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to travel to Ghana with my co-residents. Caring for patients with conditions such as malaria and severe malnutrition helped strengthen my clinical reasoning in a resource-limited setting. It reminded me that a thorough physical exam remains foundational to good medicine, even in an institution where labs and imaging are readily accessible. Observing public health initiatives and community-based care helped me understand the impact of prevention and system-level interventions. I returned with greater appreciation for our healthcare infrastructure and respect for the ingenuity required to practice with limited resources. Outside of the hospital, I immersed myself in the culture, built meaningful relationships, and formed friendships that will last well beyond this experience. This trip expanded my medical knowledge and problem-solving abilities, while reinforcing my commitment to equitable care."

- Dr. Lacie Taylor, MD, MS (2026 Graduating Resident)

Penn State Health Golisano Children's Hospital is situated just 13 miles from Pennsylvania's capital of Harrisburg and 130 miles from Washington, D.C., providing numerous opportunities for local, state and national advocacy.

• All residents are taught basic principles of social determinants of health and advocacy during their first-year Community and Advocacy four-week rotation.

• Each intern completes a "windshield survey" of the local community to later develop a community-based QI project proposal.

• Residents choose a class-based health care disparity/advocacy project and are provided protected time to work on this project longitudinally to serve the community during residency.

  • Class of 2023 Project – "Firearm Safety"

    • Presented at an APPD Mid-Atlantic regional meeting and awarded a $1,000 grant.

  • Class of 2024 Project – “Residents in Schools” Curriculum

    • Awarded a $5,000 Penn State Health Community Health Initiative Grant.

  • Class of 2025 Project – “A Shot To Live” – School-based anaphylaxis recognition and management teaching

    • Presented at the National AAP (2022) and PAS (2023) Meetings

  • Class of 2026 Project – “Teen Parenting Project”

    • $1,500 Penn State Health Community Health Initiative Grant

  • Class of 2027 Project - "Hygiene Closet for Youth in Juvenile Justice System"

    • $4,600 Penn State Health Community Health Initiative Grant

    • $2,000 AAP CATCH Grant

• All residents rotate at a boarding school for disadvantaged children and participate in school-based community health and advocacy for two weeks during the third year.

• Residents facilitate a monthly community and advocacy noon conference.

• The residency program funds all resident memberships to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).

• The program also encourages residents to participate in Advocacy Day in Harrisburg each spring. Residents connect with their peers and meet with PA state legislators to promote policy change.

• Milton Hershey “Project Fellowship” Big Sibling Mentorship Program – The residency program has “adopted” a student house at the private boarding school to engage in mentorship and social activities.

• Pediatric Residency Advocacy Interest Group – community engagement and legislative advocacy.

• One or two PGY-2 trainees are chosen each year as the pediatric residency's AAP Advocacy Delegate (including free travel and registration to the yearly AAP conference).

• PA-AHEC Scholars Program: The residency program is partnering with Pennsylvania Area Health Education Center to offer residents the opportunity to participate in the Scholars Program. This is a 2-year customizable elective where residents gain hands-on experience working with underserved, marginalized and rural populations. The program includes 80 hours of didactic training (interactive and online) and 80 hours of clinical and community-based experiences.

• Penn State Health is very engaged in community health initiatives, presenting many opportunities for residents, including:

  • Penn State PRO Wellness

  • Penn State Health Community Health Assessment Initiative