We have created weekly activities to help residents stay focused on preparing for pediatric board exams on completion of residency. These include case-based discussions, practice exams, Jeopardy games, and friendly team competitions.

As a program, our aim is to generate successful, independent, American Board of Pediatrics (ABP) Certified Pediatricians.  We are committed to providing our residents with the resources necessary to assist in obtaining this goal.  We are mindful that this necessitates not only independent learning but also program initiatives and have made strategic changes to our program to facilitate this goal. 

Residents are provided protected time from patient care every Wednesday from 1:00-4:20 PM. These weekly sessions follow an 18-month curriculum constructed by program leadership based on the American Board of Pediatrics (ABP) Content Specifications.  Numbers of sessions per specialty are determined by the exam percentage represented by that discipline on the ABP Certification Examination.   

Sessions are divided into 3 parts:

1. Individual/House Quiz: A 30-minute session for Houses (see resident wellness page) to complete a pre-test. Points gained from the House Quiz go towards the annual House Cup.
2. Session 1: Approximately 1.5-hour review on a discipline/topic.  Included is an audience participation Q&A session utilizing practice ABP questions led by the specialist of that discipline.
3. Session 2:  approximately 1.5-hour session with the same academic setup as session 1 in a new area of discipline.

Residents are expected to practice continuing medical education activities by their participation in our academic point system (Maintenance of Education, MOE).  Residents can accumulate points by completing questions in assigned question banks, reading Pediatrics in Review articles, or by completing reading assignments prior to each weeks’ didactic sessions.  Minimum point accrual must be accomplished yearly to achieve promotion to the next PGY-level.

Once per year, the Program Director/Associate Program Directors host a board review preparation workshop for senior residents. Goals and objectives of the session include how to register for the ABP exam, financial obligations, licensing, but also specifically, how to create a successful study plan. Residents are reminded about available resources on campus as well as tutorial resources.

• American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Annual Membership
• Residents are given 3 annual AAP memberships during the course of their residency. This provides access to 3-years of AAP Pediatrics Review Education Program (PREP) questions, which can be used as a study tool for the ABP exam. Additionally, this subscription gives access to all volumes of Pediatrics and Pediatrics in Review journals.
• MedStudy© Package
• PGY-1: MedStudy© Core Curriculum hardcopy and online access
• PGY-2: Continued access to online core curriculum
• PGY-3: Continued access to online core curriculum plus MedStudy© Q&A online bank with over 2000 practice questions.
• Subscription does not expire until October of the graduating year to continue studies for ABP exam.
• True Learn Question Bank
• Another resource for ABP preparation. This q-bank is also used as the main source of questions for weekly group quizzes, helping residents work through the q-bank together.
• University of Texas Medical Branch, Moody Medical Library
• All residents have access to reading materials including texts and journals via the UTMB Library website or via Interlibrary Loan.
• Department of Pediatrics Library
• Several board review materials including nationally acclaimed board review texts, core pediatric textbooks, True Learn and MedStudy© materials are available for use.  Additionally, the department library is equipped with a whiteboard, conference table, and 60” flat screen with computer/internet access to augment group learning.