Choosing a Medicine-Pediatrics Residency Program

William Blymire and Meghan Bohince.

“One of the most appealing aspects of UB’s residency program is the rich outpatient experience. We go to clinic for an afternoon every week and follow up with our own patients. We also get to work one-on-one with attendings, who love to teach and care about making us the best physicians possible,” says resident Meghan Bohince, MD, shown with William Blymire Jr., MD.

Choosing the right residency for you is one of the most important decisions you will make. We recommend seeking a program that offers you choice, support, academic rigor, a comprehensive experience and contains the five specific attributes listed below.

Top Characteristics of Superior Residencies

Strong institutional support

Our residency training has the advantages of a well-established primary care curriculum and recognition of quality in the community.

We feature an indepedent, yet fully integrated, med-peds division and faculty.

Our med-peds faculty members are dual-board trained and our program meets all the guidelines of both the American Board of Internal Medicine and the American Board of Pediatrics.

Upon the successful completion of the four-year program, our residents are eligible to sit for the board examinations in both internal medicine and pediatrics leading to board certification in both fields.

Quality of mentorship

Select a residency with a low student-to-faculty ratio. Although being accepted to smaller programs is often difficult and competitive, enrolling in a program that has fewer residents can mean you’ll receive more personal attention from attending physicians. Structured, individualized mentorship is a key element of a valuable residency.

Our faculty welcomes residents’ input and encourages individual strengths and weaknesses.

Our resident-to-faculty ratio allows for strong individualized attention and you will be supported through our friendly, open-door culture, whether you’re looking for advice on research or help building your clinical career.

Breadth of clinical exposure

A residency affiliated with numerous health care facilities enables you to develop flexible diagnostic strategies and adapt to a wide variety of professional settings.

In our program, training occurs in a variety of settings — including private hospitals, public hospitals, veterans care facilities and tertiary care hospitals with large referral bases.

In this training environment, program administrators select from specialty services across the region to give you the best training opportunities available.

Varied training opportunities

Seek a program that provides an abundance of diverse training sites beyond the hospital setting.

Our training opportunities occur at a variety of outpatient sites from private offices to university-based practices.

The training you receive from us reflects “real world” practices.  

Customized conferences and lectures

Look for a residency that provides you with a comprehensive didactic curriculum to supplement the bedside experience you gain during rotations.

Our core curriculum lecture series is designed specifically for med-peds training and is provided by med-peds faculty, residents and specialists.

Your program should also enable you to participate in grand rounds and journal club sessions that generate discussion and keep you informed about current research.