Every resident completes several rotations in the Pediatric Emergency Department or ED. Residents, under pediatric emergency medicine faculty supervision, see approximately 1,100 patients each month with a wide range of emergency medical problems, including major and minor trauma, acute medical illnesses, poisonings, obstetrical and gynecologic emergencies, and community referrals. Many of the general ward and PICU admissions originate in the ED. Pediatric residents play an indispensable role in providing high quality, prompt emergency care to the children of Sacramento and Northern California. The quality of this experience is outstanding, with residents having the opportunity to manage an extraordinary range of problems, perform many procedures and supervise medical students.

The urgent care clinic experience occurs during the Ambulatory rotation. While assigned to urgent care, residents see patients for same-day sick visit appointments. Most patients come from the resident continuity clinic or faculty practice clinic population and the problems encountered are similar to that seen in general pediatric practice. During this rotation residents also have an opportunity to participate in telephone triage, a vital component of pediatric training.

All residents spend one afternoon per week in their resident practice where they provide "longitudinal" primary care for their own panel of patients. In this role, residents develop the skills necessary to deliver well child care including developmental screening and health promotion, as well as continuing care for children with chronic illnesses or disabling conditions. This experience takes priority over other assignments.

General pediatric faculty and volunteer clinical faculty from the community provide supervision in the clinics. Although residents present all patients to an attending physician, the clinic strives to cultivate resident responsibility for providing a medical home for clinic patients. Residents participate in the management of continuity clinic through the Resident Group Practice Committee, which undertakes continuous quality improvement projects related to clinic management and education.

In addition, developmental-behavioral pediatric faculty attend continuity clinics on a monthly basis to provide longitudinal consultation and training on developmental and behavioral issues for the residents within the context of their own practices.