Harbor-UCLA Pediatrics

During the PL1 year, the intern is exposed to a broad spectrum of general pediatric conditions in a well-supervised, supportive environment. Each intern works closely with a second or third year pediatric resident on the primary care services under the guidance of a full-time faculty member.

Pediatric Ward Service

The pediatric ward service is a 32-bed unit for infants, children and adolescents. Both general pediatric and subspecialty patients are cared for by one of two ward teams, which consist of two interns and one second or third year pediatric resident working under the supervision of a full-time faculty attending. Teams also include third year medical students from the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA as well as fourth year students completing subinternships. Both medical and surgical patients are followed by the pediatric ward team.

Pediatric Emergency Department

The Pediatric Emergency Department rotation allows the intern to evaluate and treat acutely ill infants, children, and adolescents. In addition, since we are a designated Trauma Center for the County of Los Angeles, paramedic transports provide the intern with an opportunity for the assessment of trauma victims and other critically ill patients. Both medical and surgical patients are seen in the Pediatric Emergency Department and admitted to the Pediatric Ward.

Nursery

The nursery rotation occurs in several settings: the normal newborn nursery, the intermediate nursery, and the delivery room. The intern is given the opportunity to resuscitate term and preterm infants under the guidance of a pediatric resident, fellow, or faculty member. Outpatient follow up of the preterm infant also occurs during this rotation.

Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) rotation exposes the intern to the evaluation and management of critically ill neonates with medical and surgical conditions. The intern is one of two on the NICU team and is supervised by a second or third year pediatric resident, neonatal fellow and a full-time faculty member in the Division of Neonatology. Admissions to the NICU are augmented by transports from the greater Los Angeles area.

Behavior and Development

The behavior and development block rotation provides the intern with the opportunity to review the process of normal growth and development in infants, children and adolescents through a variety of ambulatory experiences. These include visits to day care centers, preschools, parenting classes and other community resources. Individual didactic sessions and attendance in specific multidisciplinary clinics also occurs.

Subspecialty Clinics

The subspecialty clinics rotation occurs primarily in the outpatient clinic at Harbor-UCLA and is designed to expose interns to a wide variety of subspecialty services, including cardiology, neurology, nephrology, allergy and immunology, and endocrinology.

Anesthesia

The anesthesia rotation is augmented by a dedicated airway skills curriculum and allows interns to master their intubation skills in order to function effectively as a senior resident on call on the pediatric ward and intensive care unit.

Advocacy

The child advocacy rotation is designed to introduce the residents to the concept of advocacy and the community resources that the pediatrician can utilize to improve the health of children. Ambulatory clinical experiences occur in the context of elementary school communities, adult learning centers and special education environments. For more information, visit our Advocacy page.