Welcome to the Tulane/Ochsner Combined Pediatric Residency Program!
Looking for combined programs?
So what do you really want out of your pediatric residency? Obviously, you want to leave your training prepared for whatever future awaits you, whether that be general pediatric practice or fellowship training. But are you content with that? Is that sufficient? We don’t think so.
You are what you do. A simple statement, but one that defines any place you will find yourself in this life. It doesn’t matter what you say when you talk, because your character and honor express themselves in your actions. The culture of a place or organization is nothing more than the accumulation of actions that express the same character and sense of honor. At Tulane/Ochsner Pediatrics, we believe that the culture you will see here is indicative of a group of people who believe that what they do matters, and that their actions are their best and only testament to the people they are. And that culture is one in which graduating as an outstanding pediatrician is necessary, but not sufficient. The people on our team at Tulane/Ochsner are here because of a larger sense of purpose, an intention to do something more than mark time for three years, a desire to be a part of something bigger than themselves.
So what has gathered this group of people here in this place? It is simple, actually; it all revolves around a set of principles that guide our program. Those principles?
Adult Learning
As someone who has now completed the 20th grade, you deserve to graduate to something better. An educational experience that treats you like the adult you are. Our curriculum is built around concepts that exemplify best current practices in teaching adults. Our inpatient services are designed to offer opportunities to develop autonomy in a protected environment of supervision and support. Our program’s advocacy efforts are designed to allow you to discover exactly what you have to offer in defending the interests of children on the larger stage. You have abilities that can benefit others, with effects that will be felt long after you have graduated from residency; our job is to give those abilities free room to make themselves known and felt.
Activism
If you are coming to New Orleans, you are coming to a place where need and opportunity intersect like no other. There are many places you can develop into an excellent pediatrician, but there are few where you can leave a lasting testimony to the time you were there, in a way that says “I was here, and this place is better because of that.” If you join our team, you will be surrounded by people who came here in part for that reason - for the chance to sense purpose, meaning, and enduring benefit in the things that we do every day, both within the hospital and out in the real world.
Ownership
A terrible, clumsy word for something that is of such central and vital importance. If you “own” your patients on the ward, you will go the extra mile to make sure that they have the best care possible. If you own your education, you will squeeze every possible ounce of experience from your time with us. And perhaps most importantly, if you own your program, you will ask the questions, and be a part of the answers, of how to make that program’s offerings more perfectly suited to getting you where you want to be as a pediatrician. This is a place where your questions will be greeted, not with “why,” but with “why not?” – if you have a good idea, it will be heard, and if possible, acted upon. You will find examples throughout this website of residents' ideas that became realities. As a resident here, you will even have the decisive vote when we create our rank list at the end of the match process - it is of crucial importance to us that we assemble a group of people who like each other and share common values, and your opinion will be crucial in that process. This is your program.
Diversity
You will have a wide range of patients and pathologies from which to learn, made possible by one of the most diverse cities on the planet. Equally important, you will have a diverse range of people with whom you will interact. Look at our resident roster, and you will see that our team members come from all parts of the country; get to know those people, and you will see that they represent the full range of perspectives and experiences that comprise a full human life. The more extensive your experience with varying groups of people, the better and more fully empathic your eventual practice of pediatrics will be. After living here for three years, you will feel like you’ve seen everything – and you will be a better physician and person for it.
There are many places where you can get excellent pediatric training. There are plenty of cities with extensive options for after-work entertainment or enrichment. The world is teeming with places of need, where you can have a tangible, beneficial impact on the lives of the people there. And you’re going to run into lots of people over the course of your career with whom you can feel proud to work, based on shared values and the aspiration to be the best physicians possible. But there isn’t another program around that combines all of these things the way you will find them in effect at Tulane/Ochsner Pediatrics. Take a bit of time and look around our website, see what is going on here, and what we are about. Linger long enough to get a sense of who we are, and what we do. And if the values and actions you see presented here resonate with your own, then please consider coming to join us in doing something that you'll still talk about with pride and fond memories twenty years from now.