Resident Life
We at the UTHSC Pediatrics Residency Program believe in creating a culture that supports and encourages residents to take care of themselves and each other! We truly are a family here and work hard to create the culture where our residents feel encouraged and supported during the challenging time that residency can be. Resident wellbeing is very important to us, and we want our residents to thrive! We try to achieve that through various modalities working on different aspects of wellbeing. Some of the things that are unique to us include:
Our wellbeing morning report culture gives the residents time for structured or unstructured activity or debrief once every month while on inpatient months over breakfast. PICU and NICU debriefs during each block give the residents the space to debrief with peers. Program director and chiefs are present and available for facilitated discussion for these as needed.
Counselor is available to all residents and easily accessible (see Resident Wellness page).
Our resident led wellness committee organizes social events for our residents giving them opportunities for building peer connections. Activities include book clubs, walking groups, happy hours, and bracelet making.
We love to feed you: Lunch is provided 3 days per week, on both Thursdays and Fridays before AHD, and for Wellness Wednesday, in which residents are provided lunch and time to get away from the hospital to spend with each other. These provided lunches are in addition to badge money that can be used in the hospital cafeteria and coffee shops! Not to mention the additional fun food-oriented things that happen- ice cream rounds, boba tea rounds, Chick-fil-A breakfasts and many more traditions that our residents start, and our faculty join in on!
We celebrate your being here! PD welcome party, chief welcome party, intern retreat, second year retreat, third year retreat, holiday party, Halloween dress up competition, Resident Appreciation Week in the spring, and more- we are always celebrating an event!
Time to catch up: Time to catch up: Wellness sometimes means time to catch up, and with that in mind, we have weekly wellness lunches, with no lectures or other activities during the lunch hour. Our residents also have wellness half days in outpatient rotation which they can use how they see fit.
We promote a culture of transparency, mutual respect, and clear communication- which leads to a strong residency family! Our residents make our program the amazing program it is, and we do our best to take good care of them!! The ease of accessibility, friendliness and approachability of leadership makes it easy to reach out to them for anything you may need! There is an open-door policy.
