Description of Navy Pediatrics Programs
HPSP or USUHS student,
I would like to provide you with some information about Navy Pediatrics. I know that at this point you probably do not know what type of clinical medicine you would like to practice. However, I want to be sure you have as much information as possible to make an informed decision.
Navy Pediatrics is a growing and vibrant community. There are over 135 Navy pediatricians. What roles do Navy Pediatricians play? Navy pediatricians primarily serve in clinical roles in general or subspecialty pediatrics. However, we do also have pediatricians (about 10%) in operational settings doing flight surgery, dive medicine or senior leadership positions on ships, or with the Marines. At this point, the operational medicine jobs are voluntary. The clinical jobs are located at the three major teaching hospitals in San Diego, Portsmouth (Virginia), and Washington DC; family practice teaching hospitals at Camp Lejeune (North Carolina), Pensacola and Jacksonville (Florida), Camp Pendleton (California) and Bremerton (Washington State); small hospitals in the U.S. at Lemoore (CA), 29 Palms (CA), Hawaii, Oak Harbor (Washington State), Annapolis (MD); and overseas in Naples, Sigonella (Italy), Rota (Spain), Okinawa and Yokosuka (Japan), Guantanamo Bay Cuba, and Guam.
One of the exciting areas emerging in Navy Pediatrics is Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief operations on Navy warships and hospital ships like the USNS Mercy and Comfort. At least one ship per year goes on a four-month deployment to developing countries in the world to render medical assistance and respond to disasters. This is a very rewarding experience. About six of our pediatricians go on these deployments each year. Navy pediatricians play a critical role in assuring the success of these missions. All three Navy pediatric residencies have incorporated some form of humanitarian assistance training into their curricula and most residents actually spend a couple weeks in a developing country as part of their residency.
The three residency programs are all excellent and far above national average by any metric. Here are their websites: Naval Medical Center Portsmouth (http://www.med.navy.mil/sites/nmcp/EduTrain/Pages/PediatricResidency.aspx) National Capital Consortium (http://www.nccpeds.com/) Naval Medical Center San Diego (http://www.med.navy.mil/sites/nmcsd/Staff/Pages/PediatricResidencyProgramPRP.aspx
Navy pediatric residency training emphasizes critical care and newborn skills, community pediatrics, and general pediatrics. Our standards are very high because our graduates practice in remote areas and need to use all of their skills. After residency, the majority of graduates who desire to pursue fellowship training in a pediatric subspecialty are able to do so either in the civilian sector or in military fellowship programs. This additional training incurs additional payback time.
If you think you might like to explore pediatrics further, we encourage you to do a rotation at one or more of our teaching hospitals. Some medical schools allow 3rd year clerkship rotations at away sites, and most will allow 4th year rotations. The most important factor in selection for residency is resident/faculty opinion of your performance during a 4th year elective rotation. Therefore, you want to maximize your exposure by doing more than one 4th year rotation if possible. Navy funding for these rotations is available each fiscal year, with years beginning on 1 OCT. For 4th year students, to maximize your ability to get to several programs I would recommend you schedule one rotation early in your 4th year before 30 SEP and another one in OCT. Interviews wrap up the first week in NOV so you want to have your rotations under your belt before this time. With three programs to look at and only two funded rotations the East Coast rotations are used to “sharing” students. You can do a full rotation at one program but ask for two days off to travel to the other one for a day visit. This will allow you to see all three facilities. Each of the websites above has information about how to schedule a rotation. You should start working to schedule these in the winter of your third year.
In addition, I would like to put you in touch with a resident mentor – a current pediatric resident who was an HPSP or USUHS student like you. Your mentor can answer detailed questions you may have, keep you in touch with events and developments in the Navy pediatric community, and help you navigate the process of applying for residency.
In summary, I want you to know that Navy Pediatrics is an exciting and expanding field of medicine. I am very interested in your participation in Navy Pediatrics. If you would like a resident mentor please email: Denise.Martin@med.navy.mil. If you have any general questions about Navy Pediatrics, my email is below. Thank you and good luck with your studies!
Christine L. Johnson, MD CDR MC USN General Pediatrician Specialty Leader, Navy Pediatrics Christine.johnson@med.navy.mil 619-532-9868
