First year residents focus on building foundational pediatric medical knowledge and patient care skills. As interns, they are supervised by senior residents, fellows and faculty. They become acquainted with the medical health care system within Albany Medical Center and the surrounding community.

Second year residents graduate into more autonomous roles while continuing to build their medical knowledge and patient care skills. They develop their leadership skills and enjoy numerous opportunities for teaching residents and medical students.  Significantly, second year residents begin utilizing their 6 individualized block rotations as outlined by the ACGME. These rotations allow a resident to tailor their educational experience to meet their own career goals.

Third year residents hone their teaching and supervisory skills as they take on more responsibility for decision making and leading their patient care teams.  We emphasize independent and critical thinking skills as they approach graduation.

Our program will help you develop elective experiences above and beyond the required experiences that best prepare you for your career goals.

Example Conference Schedule

Every Spring, we excuse all of our PGY-1s from their typical clinical duties and to participate in our Pediatric Scholarly Track for Advocacy and Research (PedSTAR).& This is a four-week experience during which all interns receive:

• One week of intensive advocacy training drawing on the expertise of several pediatric faculty while leveraging advocacy opportunities that exist in the state capital of New York.
• One week of hands-on instruction in developing clinical research skills. This week is comprised of multiple mini didactic sessions including but not limited to how to write an IRB proposal, grant proposals, consents, and data analytics.
• One week dedicated to training in Quality Improvement, leadership and teaching skills, and simulation.

The block concludes with each resident committing to designing either a research or advocacy project to complete in the following 2 years of their training.& The 0nal week of the block is used to draft an IRB proposal or a roadmap for their advocacy project in a series of small group workshops.

Each resident will present their project at our annual internal residency research day, a national or regional conference, and during our annual PedSTAR Grand Rounds in the spring of their third year.

Every resident in our Pediatrics residency program participates in and presents data on a quality improvement project.  We have always emphasized hands-on Quality Improvement experiences for our trainees.  Generous philanthropy from the Capital Region community supports our Quality Improvement & Patient Safety (QIPS) Resident training program. With the Class of 2023, we now offer a special opportunity for one resident per class to develop their QIPS skills even further.  Those interested in this specialized QIPS training apply for the position during their first year and use individualized elective blocks to participate in the myriad QIPS opportunities both nationally and within Albany Med. These opportunities include department funded trips to national and regional QIPS meetings, attending and contributing to our monthly Safety Intelligence Reporting Group meetings, leading Root Cause Analyses, and receiving LEAN training. The QIPS resident will accomplish all of this while meeting or exceeding the requirements necessary to complete and graduate residency at the end of three years in Albany.

Under Construction

Mock Codes
We are fortunate to have access to a state of the art Patient Safety & Clinical Competency Center in the medical college. We use the Sim Center to routinely deliver the primary component of our pediatric mock code curriculum. Our pediatric mock code committee, led by our intensivist, Dr. Shahi Ambati, delivers approximately six pediatric “mega codes” to each resident throughout their three year training experience. Four residents are chosen on a bi monthly basis, and are excused from clinical duties to attend. They arrive at the PSCCC, complete a pre-survey, proceed through an ABP validated code scenario, debrief with Dr. Ambati, and then run through the code a second time. These sessions are designed to expose residents to emergent code scenarios while also allowing them to practice hands on skills and communication skills. The session concludes with a post-survey to evaluate the resident experience and knowledge retention. 

To augment the mega codes in the PSCCC, the Learning to Teach Blue Team Senior is tasked with administering one to two mini mock codes during their respective rotation. These scenarios emphasize recognition of common, acute crises scenarios as well as clinical decision making, and communication skills. Additional mock codes are performed in the NICU for common NICU code scenarios. 

Ultrasound Curriculum

Diagnostic ultrasound is the future of clinical practice.  As part of our simulation curriculum, along with mock codes, the giving bad news program and procedure workshops, we developed one of the first courses in bedside ultrasound skills in General Pediatrics.  Since 2017 all of our residents undergo 24 hours of structured teaching in how to use ultrasound diagnostically and to place PIVs beginning in Intern year.  Our trainees have the chance to use their skills in the NICU and PICU to address clinical problems and support bedside procedures.

NICU Bootcamp

Vent Workshop

Masters in Bioethics

The Alden March Bioethics Institute’s online Master of Science degree in bioethics provides mid-career professionals in public health, pastoral care, patient advocacy, medical social work, medical research and the life sciences with innovative and challenging training in bioethics.

The program at Albany Medical College can be completed entirely online, giving students the flexibility to work on courses according to their schedule. Each online term is 10 weeks and the program features rolling admissions with four terms per year. Admission slots are still available for the winter term, which begins on Nov. 30.

Qualified Albany Med employees are eligible to receive a Trustee Scholarship to offset 50% of tuition cost. A bachelor’s degree is required for admission into the program. Visit www.amc.edu/Academic/bioethics or contact Alex Busch at buscha@amc.edu or (518) 262-9396 for more information.