Distinction Tracks
Applicants interested in our distinction tracks are eligible to apply to one of them in the spring of their first year of residency.
Breastfeeding Medicine
The Breastfeeding Medicine Distinction Track is designed to expose residents to breastfeeding medicine and help them acquire a CLC certification and begin the path towards acquiring an IBCLC certification.
Goals
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Gain exposure to breastfeeding medicine.
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Achieve required components necessary for a Certification in Lactation Counseling (CLC).
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Accrue needed shadowing hours and Continuing Education Recognition Points (CERPs) needed to sit for the international Board of Certified Lactation Consultants (IBCLC) exam within 1-2 years of graduation via Pathway 1 eligibility.
Track Components
Electives
2-week Breastfeeding Medicine elective
2-week Advanced Breastfeeding elective
Scholarly Activity
Residents will work with the track director to identify a scholarly project related to breastfeeding medicine, quality improvement, education, research or an other approved topic.
Certification
Certified Lactation Counselor (CLC) - 95 Hours of CERPs.
International Board of Certified Lactation Consultants Pathway 1 (IBCLC) - 1000 Hours of Lactation shadowing or experience.
Topic Focused Workshops
Quarterly Breastfeeding Medicine Journal Clubs
Residents who successfully complete the required elements will graduate with a certificate and letter of distinction. Residents who complete the CLC certification process will also receive recognition.
Child Advocacy
The Child Advocacy Distinction Track is a longitudinal experience that weaves an advocacy scholarly project, elective rotations and focused workshop experiences together to explore the role of pediatricians as advocates and child health leaders.
Goals
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Create a robust experience in advocating for children on multiple population levels (individual, hospital/clinic, local, state, and national).
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Educate future leaders in child advocacy through innovative curricula, committee involvement and strong mentorship.
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Foster and disseminate meaningful scholarly activity in child advocacy.
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Improve the health and well-being of children in our community through physician development and leadership.
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Provide an avenue to grow as a resident through advocacy, while still allowing broad focus on all aspects of resident education.
Track Components
Mentorship
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Drafting an AAP-CATCH grant (Due January of PGY-2).
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Completion of an advocacy or community health scholarly activity in a topic of the resident's choosing during training.
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Presentation of scholarly activity at a local, regional, or national platform in the spring of PGY-3.
Electives
Residents in the child advocacy track can choose Poverty and Social Justice, Global Health, Forensics, or Advanced Advocacy as an elective rotation depending upon their career goals.
Leadership
Residents are expected to have a leadership role in the resident-led advocacy program PUSH (Pediatricians Urging Safety and Health). This can include President or other officer, committee member (community or legislative), Children's Day organizer, project leader, or event organizer. Residents will have the opportunity to create an advocacy learning module (podcast, blackboard module, etc.) on a topic of their choice. They must establish or continue a relationship with a community partner. This can be individualized to the resident's career goals and should demonstrate how a pediatrician (either general or subspecialty) can be a lifelong advocate. Examples include: a group home, school, Medicaid, AAP chapter, etc. This relationship can be part of the scholarly project, but does not have to be.
Topic Focused Workshops
(Participation in at least six is required)
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Fundamentals of Working with a Community (including needs assessment and asset mapping).
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Literature review
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Grant writing
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Leadership
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Health Policy
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Media and writing
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Advocacy Journal Club
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Advocacy beyond residency - SMART goals
Advocacy Portfolio
In the spring of the resident's PGY-3, each participant will give a 20-minute presentation that includes a summary of their scholarly project, advocacy writing/advocacy policy background and strategy, community partner report, and SMART goal.
Residents who successfully complete the required elements will graduate with a certificate and letter of distinction.
Global Health
For residents with a more defined interest in global health, our residency program has offers a Global Health Distinction Track.
Goals
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Gain a deep understanding of worldwide health and economic inequities, with an emphasis on the historic roots of these disparities.
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Develop a broad knowledge of the global burden of pediatric diseases, with special attention paid to common causes of pediatric mortality, vaccine preventable diseases, mosquito-borne infections and neglected tropical diseases.
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Gain an appreciation of issues related to public health, professionalism, and cultural sensitivity.
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Maintain and foster a passion for partnering with populations who face limited access to health care and health care resources.
All Global Health opportunities are available to all residents, regardless of track participation. However, if there is limited space for some experiences (such as our international rotations), priority will be given to our Global Health Track participants.
Track Components
Elective rotations
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Domestic Global Health (2 week rotation)
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International Elective in Tamale, Ghana (or other AMPATH sites)
Core Curriculum Noon Conference Topics
(Rotating 18-month curriculum)
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Social and Economic Determinants of Health
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Global Burden of Disease (Global Health 101)
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Vaccine Preventable Diseases
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Malaria
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Refugee Health Issues
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Global Health as Public Health
Optional Online Modules
(available if the residents are unable to attend our in-person educational sessions)
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Global burden of non-communicable diseases
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Impact of global child health on the US communities
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Environmental impact on global child health
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Approach to internationally adopted children
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Water-borne and vector-born illnesses/neglected tropical diseases
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Approach to fever in low-resource settings
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Approach to non-infectious emergencies in low-resource settings
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Malnutrition
Travel Preparation and Post-travel Debriefing
Residents will be instructed on the complex process of preparing for their international elective rotation and are required to complete critical reflections on their experiences upon their return. Reflection questions will be provided by our core global health faculty.
Global Health Seminars
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Monthly noon conference series for track residents
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Journal clubs
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Ethics case sessions
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Case presentations
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Critical reflections regarding various aspects of global child health (medical, cultural, ethical, etc.)
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Workshops
Scholarly Activity
All residents are required to complete a scholarly project related to global child health, health inequities, or healthcare issues of marginalized populations. Scholarly activity may be related to our international programs or may pertain to local issues of health equity, which affect populations here in Kentucky.
Residents who successfully complete the required elements will graduate with a certificate and letter of distinction.
Medical Education
The Medical Education Distinction Track is a two-and-a-half-year longitudinal curriculum that weaves robust medical education, scholarly activity, elective rotations, mentoring and focused educational experiences together to explore the role of pediatricians as educators. Residents interested in improving their skills and professional identity as clinician educators are encouraged to apply during the 2nd half of their intern year. Cohorts of 4-6 residents progress through the curriculum, collaborating in their learning and teaching experiences.
Goals
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Create a robust experience in medical education across multiple disciplines and platforms.
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Educate future academic physicians in adult learning theory through innovative curricula, committee involvement, and strong mentorship.
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Compose and disseminate meaningful scholarly activity in the area of medical education.
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Advance the University of Louisville residency program's culture of learning and growth by developing leaders in education.
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Provide opportunities to apply developing knowledge and skills in medical student and resident educational programs.
Highlights
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Robust, mentored scholarly activity in a self-identified medical education project.
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Tracks are opt-in, so residents are not required to complete a distinction track in residency, members of each cohort will be motivated and passionate about medical education.
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We set high expectations for our team to create great projects ready for conference and journal submission, while knowing that many residents have never performed a curriculum development project or studied educational outcomes. To reach our goals, quarterly meetings with medical education experts are held to share ideas, promote project movement, and introduce/teach principles of Med Ed scholarly activity. To show off their hard work, each resident will present a capstone presentation to the Department of Pediatrics in the Spring of their final year of residency.
Track Components
Mentorship
Medical Education mentor(s) will be assigned/chosen based on an area of interest.
Scholarly Activity
Residents will complete a scholarly activity project on a medical education topic. For project completion, the resident will be required to participate in Medical Education Scholarly Oversight Committee meetings and submit this work to a local, regional, or national platform, with expected presentation.
Didactics
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Monthly, Medical Education Focused Workshops
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Asynchronous Didactics (Podcasts, interesting medical education articles)
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Medical Education Textbook Walkthrough
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2021-2022 - "Kern's Curriculum Development" edited by
Dr. David E. Kern, Dr. Patricia A. Thomas and Dr. Mark T. Hughes -
2022-2023 - "Researching Medical Education" edited by
Dr. Jennifer Cleland and Dr. Steven J. Durning -
2023-2024 - "Curriculum Development for Medical Education" edited by Dr. Patricia A. Thomas, Dr. David E. Kern and Dr. Belinda Y. Chen
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2024-2025 - "Researching Medical Education" edited by
Dr. Jennifer Cleland and Dr. Steven J. Durning
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Elective Rotations
Residents will have the opportunity to participate in an annual medical education elective (Medical Education Elective, Research in Medical Education Elective).
Med Ed Leadership, Presentation, and Committee Involvement
Residents are expected to complete a medical education-focused presentation at the department level during their final year of training. Additionally, they should have a significant contribution and/or leadership to a resident medical education committee or educational opportunity. These experiences could include the medical student education committee, teaching PBL to medical students, simulation education, oversight of 4th year medical student peer-assisted learning program, among others.
Medical Education Portfolio
In the Spring of their final year of training, each participant will give a presentation that includes a summary of the following:
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Scholarly project(s)
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Educational presentations
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Leadership activities and productivity in educational programs/initiatives
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Experience and outcomes of the Med Ed Elective
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SMART goals
Residents who successfully complete the required elements will graduate with a certificate and letter of distinction.
Research
The Research Distinction Track fosters meaningful, collaborative scholarly activity in the area of original research for residents interested in an academic career or fellowship.
Goals
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Guide the development of a robust original research, quality improvement, or curriculum-based project.
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Foster mentorship with research-oriented faculty.
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Educate residents on advanced research design and education topics, including evidence-based medicine.
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Prepare residents to submit an abstract to a local, regional, or national meeting and/or to submit a manuscript for publication.
Track Components
Mentorship
Research mentor(s) will be assigned or chosen based on the resident's area of interest.
Scholarly Activity
Residents must complete a scholarly project during their training. Required components of this project include: IRB application, meaningful participation in project design, data collection, analysis and write-up, and a submission of scholarly work to a local, regional, or national meeting or publication by the end of their residency training.
Monthly Conferences and Workshops
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Rotating 2-year curriculum, topics include: IRB application process, literature search, citation management software, advanced biostatistics, abstract and manuscript presentation, etc.
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Quarterly group conferences and workshops with other distinction tracks.
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Attendance at least 50% of these conferences and workshops is a requirement.
Semi-annual Scholarly Oversight Committee (SOC) Presentations
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PGY-1 (Med/Peds PGY-1 or 2): Explore potential project ideas, early design planning and collecting feedback.
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PGY-2 (Med/Peds PGY-2 or 3):
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Fall - refining research idea and design.
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Spring - department-wide presentation of research concept (and any data collection).
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PGY-3 (Med/Peds PGY-3 or 4): Data collection updates and final abstract/poster/manuscript preparation and presentation.
Research Elective
All residents may participate in a 2-4 week research elective during their training. Research track residents are able to participate in additional elective time or may split their elective time into multiple blocks on their schedule to focus on research design vs. data collection.