Pediatrics residency

Welcome and thank you for your interest in the Spectrum Health/Michigan State University College of Human Medicine Pediatrics Residency Program at Helen DeVos Children's Hospital! Located in one of the fastest growing cities in the Midwest, we are nationally ranked in four pediatric sub-specialties by U.S. News and World Report and offer a complete educational and clinical experience in our state-of-the-art, free-standing, children’s hospital.

We hope the following information is useful to you. Thank you again for considering us for your residency training and please feel free to contact us with questions

“What do you want to be known for when you leave residency?” When our graduates are asked this question, they overwhelmingly answer: excellent in patient care, compassionate and a team player. As program directors for the Spectrum Health/Michigan State University College of Human Medicine Pediatrics Residency Program at Helen DeVos Children's Hospital, we share these values with our graduates, and it is our goal to create a learning environment that cultivates them.

When you join this program, you join a team that works to foster a community that is inclusive and innovative in order to impact the health of all the children we care for both now and in the future.

Inclusive

Inclusivity is a top priority. We desire to serve our diverse community effectively. In order to do this, we are supported by the work of Spectrum Health, the diversity, equity & inclusion team and our pediatric diversity and inclusion committee. Through educational events, advocacy projects, candid conversations and intentional recruiting, our goal is to create a learning environment that is supportive, open and affirming to all of our members so that we can provide the best possible pediatric care to our patients.

Inclusivity also means listening to the needs of each individual resident. We desire to support you and your unique professional goals. Attendings and residents work side-by-side and intentionally call each other by first name. By doing so, we strive to know each of you as individuals and work to minimize traditional hierarchy. We strive to truly have an open-door policy that is responsive to issues that impact your learning environment and discuss difficult topics such as burnout, compassion fatigue, professional development, coaching, growth mindset and resilience.

You will have the opportunity to join one of five curriculum tracks that support educational goals. In the third year, every resident has a half-day a week to explore their own career interests. Scholarly and advocacy activity is individualized and supported by mentors from a community of 300 pediatric physicians representing over 50 subspecialties.

Innovative

Innovative means thinking about pediatrics in the future. Along with robust fulfillment of board requirements and board preparation, we provide curriculum for pediatricians to serve as leaders within their communities well into the future. We begin your education with intern immersion and advocacy – a month long rotation that places general pediatrics at the start of your education. This is followed by higher acuity complex care rotations in your second year along with unique leadership electives in your third year that will prepare you for the next phase of practice.

Along the way, you will have the opportunity to earn a certificate in lifestyle medicine or global health. You may even elect to become a health equity scholar or a culinary medicine scholar. If none of these align with your passions, you will also have an opportunity to participate in unique elective experiences such as resident-as-teacher, complex care, rehabilitation medicine, parenting, research, community hospitalist and business of medicine. Each elective allows you to explore the aspects of pediatric medicine that may not necessarily be tested by the boards but is critical to your success.

Impact

None of this would matter if we did not accomplish our ultimate goal: impacting the health of all the children we serve. Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital strives to advocate for every child and has been recognized as a tertiary and quaternary referral destination serving a wide region. Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital has earned U.S. News & World Report rankings for providing excellent pediatric care for many years running. With the region’s largest neonatal ICU, a neurologic and cardiac ICU, an award-winning cardiology program, personalized genomics, wireless EEG monitoring systems, an efficient emergency department and growing pediatric fellowship programs, the hospital provides cutting edge care to children from around the state, region, nation and world. We are supported by research facilities including Michigan State University College of Human Medicine and the Van Andel Institute. As leaders in the community, Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital has innovative partnerships with our local rehabilitative hospital and psychiatric hospital to provide comprehensive inclusive care for the children in our community.

In addition to excellent medical care, we work to impact our community in additional ways through legislative advocacy, topical advocacy day, volunteer projects and community outreach.

Inclusive. Innovative. Impactful. This is our mission. This work is possible due to the amazing teamwork and compassion within our program. When we ask residents why they came here to train, they list everything above along with the beautiful facilities and vibrant and accessible community of Grand Rapids. Most importantly, they will all unanimously say, ”It is the people!”

Program Aims

1. Impact the health of children in the community through innovative opportunities including advocacy, future-minded primary care education and exposure to a wide variety of pediatric subspecialties
2. To recruit and train an inclusive workforce that represents the community in which we work
3. Create a supportive learning environment that promotes individual career needs and individualized scholarly pursuits
4. Foster a culture of wellness, lifelong learning and safety in order to impact the health of patients, families and the community

Our Hospital

The Spectrum Health Helen DeVos Children's Hospital is a state-of-art, free-standing children's hospital and Level I trauma center. The Gerber Foundation Neonatal Center at Helen DeVos Children's Hospital is Michigan's largest neonatal center and the fifth largest in the nation with more than 1,300 babies admitted annually.

Like most pediatrics facilities, we practice a family-centered rounding style. Our continuity clinic experience is unique in that we have the option of spending one half-day per week of the third year in a clinical setting of your choosing, whether a private practice primary care clinic, a community clinic, a subspecialty clinic, or even a hospitalist or critical care role. At Helen DeVos Children's Hospital, we truly care about individualizing your education to help you reach your professional goals. As such, we offer several curriculum tracks.

Electives

Within each track, multiple electives can be selected based on your interests and goals. Here is a sampling of the electives we offer:

Scholarly activity at Spectrum Health spans the continuum of medicine and includes translational research, medical education, quality and safety, and advocacy projects and initiatives. Our faculty members are experts in their fields, with a vast array of scholarly interests, and are excellent research mentors for our residents. Each year, residents present their research at a variety of local, regional, and national conferences.

All pediatric interns complete a clinic immersion rotation in their first or second block. During this month, interns have daily morning clinics with a gradual increase in patient load. In the afternoons, they visit various community programs and advocacy groups to better understand what resources are available locally for our patients. Pictured here are interns on a wellness walk, a group preparing food at a culinary medicine class, and the intern day of service at Habitat for Humanity.

All visiting medical student applications must be submitted through the Visiting Student Learning Opportunities program. The Spectrum Health course catalog for rotation opportunities starting in July for the next academic year will be posted in March. Applications will be accepted starting April 1.

Spectrum Health provides a comprehensive and very competitive benefits package for our residents, staff and their families. In addition, our program provides educational monies to support your ongoing education. Download our salary and benefits document to learn more.

Learn more about our faculty at www.phd.msu.edu.