Rutgers Health-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School Program

Program Identity & Fit

This is a university-based academic pediatric residency anchored at the Child Health Institute of New Jersey, with clinical training spanning a tertiary children's hospital (BMSCH), a rehabilitation-focused specialized hospital (PSE&G Children's Specialized), and community-based continuity clinics (Eric B. Chandler Health Center and RWJ Medical Group at Somerset), giving residents a mix of tertiary inpatient/ICU exposure and underserved primary care continuity. The program adopted an ACGME pilot X+Y (4+2) schedule in 2022, protects longitudinal outpatient/advocacy/research time, and builds in an individualized PGY-3 year allowing residents to pursue subspecialty, advocacy, global health, or research tracks. A mandatory scholarly project (many QI or community-advocacy focused) plus access to the Pediatric Clinical Research Center signals that research is supported and required but not the program's central identity. Recent graduate outcomes show a fairly even split between general pediatrics/community practice and competitive subspecialty fellowships (hem-onc, PICU, endocrinology, pediatric EM, cardiology, GI), consistent with a program valuing broad clinical competence and flexible career preparation over a single fixed pathway.