Training Sites

Diversity in Training and Patient Populations

The UCLA Pediatric Residency Training Program provides a rich and diverse training experience in a wide spectrum of venues. Throughout their three years of training, residents have the opportunity to train in a broad network of community-based settings and major Los Angeles medical centers including:

• UCLA Mattel Children's Hospital 
• UCLA Medical Center, Santa Monica
• Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
• Los Angeles County Olive View Medical Center
• Community Sites and Partnerships
• Continuity Clinic Sites

The combination of each of these complementary experiences provides for an unparalleled education which is truly rigorous, well-rounded, and unsurpassed for diversity of clinical, economic, and cultural experiences. In all settings in which they rotate, interns are the primary care providers for their patients. 

PATIENT POPULATION: Our patients come from the diverse population representing the greater Los Angeles area and a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds. At our various training sites within UCLA hospitals and clinics, UCLA-partners, and community-based settings, residents will primarily see patients that are on Medicare/Medicaid, and California Children's Services provided care. Our residents see patients that are uninsured and privately insured (and everything in-between!). These patients will be seen in a variety of academic settings, community and county hospitals, and FQHC or FQHC look-alike primary clinic sites. 

UCLA Mattel Children's Hospital

Ward residents care for patients on either a hospitalist or subspecialty team, with an average of 6-7 patients per intern. As a major referral center, both the Pediatric and Neonatal ICUs offer state-of-the-art advanced critical care services. With faculty and fellows from all disciplines, residents are exposed to cutting-edge tertiary and quaternary pediatric care. 

• Inpatient Wards

• Pediatric Intensive Care Unit

• Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

There is an amazing spectrum of illness to which residents are exposed at the 100-bed UCLA Mattel Children's Hospital. In addition to the tremendous breadth of pathology, there is great socioeconomic diversity among our inpatients.

Inpatient Wards (50-beds): Residents rotate on all four day teams throughout their training. The night team, made of 1 senior resident and 2 interns, covers all ward patients overnight.

Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (24-beds): With an average of 4 patients per resident per rotation, and 1,100 admissions per year residents have opportunity to care for patients with a wide spectrum of general pediatric and subspecialty critical care problems, including patients receiving heart, liver, small bowel, and renal transplants.

Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (22 beds): Second and third year residents train in the UCLA NICU, a major referral center caring for the highest acuity patients, including those requiring ECMO.

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

Residents receive training in inpatient general pediatrics, neonatology and newborn nursery/neonatal resuscitation in this academically-affiliated hospital which is based in a community setting. Rotations at Cedars-Sinai provide a tremendous complement to the UCLA-based inpatient experiences. Both pediatric and neonatal experiences provide tremendous exposure to patients with general pediatric and neonatal problems. In addition to the core rotations, many residents spend time at Cedars-Sinai doing inpatient/outpatient elective rotations.

Inpatient Ward (24 beds): At Cedars-Sinai the inpatient ward service has a tremendous mix of high-yield and relevant general pediatric, subspecialty and surgical patients. On average, about half of the inpatients are admitted with general pediatric problems, and half are admitted with more tertiary problems. The average number of patients per resident is 4-6. The patients admitted to the inpatient pediatric ward reflect the cultural, socio-economic and ethnic diversity of the entire region including a large underserved patient population.

Newborn Nursery (~70 beds): Residents receive an exceptionally strong neonatal resuscitation and routine newborn care experience in this setting. The delivery room at Cedars-Sinai is one of the busiest in the nation, with over 7,500 deliveries per year - a significant percentage of which are high-risk deliveries. Support for residents found in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (45 Beds) on site, if a newborn requires a higher level of care.

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Official webpage

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UCLA Mattel Children's Hospital at UCLA Medical Center, Santa Monica

With a 26-bed general pediatrics inpatient unit floor and a 4-bed Step-Down Unit in a new tower built in 2012, UCLA Mattel Children’s Hospital at UCLA Medical Center, Santa Monica provides an excellent environment to care for general pediatric patients. The experience combines a rich blend of common pediatric illnesses, including patients with chronic illnesses and those with no previous medical problems, patients admitted for orthopedic and general surgery, and pediatric solid tumor oncology patients.

UCLA Medical Center, Santa Monica Official webpage

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Olive View Medical Center

Residents learn about urgent and emergency pediatrics in this Los Angeles County facility at Olive View. The spectrum of pathology is phenomenal, with excellent teaching from a variety of attending physicians, including academic general pediatricians, community physicians, emergency medicine attendings, and subspecialists, while the education and focus is primarily on caring for the urgently or emergently ill child. At this "safety net" hospital residents also have the opportunity to provide comprehensive care to underserved patients including participation in some subspecialty care clinics in addition to managing a small general inpatient ward. Two residents per training year have their continuity clinic site at Olive View.

Los Angeles County Olive View Medical Center Official webpage

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Community Sites & Partnerships

Continuity Clinic Sites

In each continuity clinic, residents provide comprehensive care to their panel of pediatric patients. As part of the continuity clinic training experience, residents have the opportunity to develop a continuous quality improvement project to enhance patient care in their unique clinic setting. Residents also participate in small group learning on general pediatric topics and best practices in their weekly clinic sessions. Current sites include:

• The Primary Care Center at UCLA: The Primary Care Center at UCLA: In addition to being the primary care continuity site for 50% of the residency program, first and second year residents also rotate through urgent care at the UCLA outpatient Children's Health Center.
• Colen Children’s Health Center
• Simms-Mann Health and Wellness Center
• UCLA West L.A. Pediatrics Clinic in Santa Monica
• OV Continuity Clinic (an LA County clinic located at Olive View Medical Center)
• Northeast Valley Health Center

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