Residency Program

Med-Peds

The Departments of Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at UAMS have jointly offered a combined residency in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics since the early 1980's. The program consists of four years of graduated responsibility providing care to patients of all ages. Currently the departments offer five positions annually at the PGY-1 level. The education of the 'Med-Peds' resident is fully integrated into the Internal Medicine and Pediatrics programs.

Residents begin with a 1.5 year term as an intern with direct, patient care responsibility and the supervision of senior, residents and staff physicians. This is followed by 2.5 years as a senior resident where patient care responsibilities are combined with supervision of interns and medical students. Although the prospect of more than 1 year as an intern may seem to be somewhat arduous, the vast majority of residents have found the second year [transition from intern to resident responsibilities] to be helpful in their educational development.

Residents typically switch from Medicine to Pediatrics [or vice-versa] every 3 months. Current call schedules and float systems are in place to maintain compliance with work hour limits on all clinical services.

Electives on both Internal Medicine and Pediatrics are chosen from the electives available to categorical residents in each specialty; integrated adult and pediatric experiences on certain electives are also available.

The Medicine-Pediatrics residents are not expected to be the same as categorical Pediatrics or Internal Medicine residents. They are expected to be as knowledgeable and able to provide excellent care; but in addition they are expected to be able to add some additional breadth to patient care discussions, as a by-product of their training in the complementary specialty area.

At the completion of the four-year program, Medicine-Pediatrics trained physicians are eligible to sit for both the American Board of Internal Medicine and the American Board of Pediatrics certifying examinations.

The graduates of this program are filling many roles in the provision of health care in Arkansas and across the nation. Med-Peds physicians graduating from this program have pursued careers in academics, as hospitalists, with family physicians/internists/pediatricians and with other Med-Peds physicians. Most are in primary care, but some have pursued subspecialty training in Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, and combined fellowships. There are currently six Med-Peds trained and certified faculty at UAMS/ACH. There are close to 20 Medicine-Pediatrics graduates in private practice in the central Arkansas area and "private practice" rotations are available with these individuals.

The flexibility of Medicine-Pediatrics specialists makes them attractive in many practice settings. This brief summary is only an overview of the combined Internal Medicine/Pediatrics residency program at UAMS. To get a true feel for this challenging, but also very rewarding program, we welcome you to come for a visit.

*Pediatric Call: Every 4th night call [maximum]

** UAMS Ward Call:  2 - 3 weekend 24 hr. calls and 5-6 weekday short-calls to 8 p.m. each month - VA Ward call averages every 6th night

***1 Weekend 24 hr./ weekday short call

****May be done as an elective earlier in training program

UAMS Internal Medicine Residency Office

      4301 West Markham, Slot 634

           Little Rock, AR 72205