Department of Pediatrics Hosts Residents Day

Dr. Mhd Wael Alrifai presents his work
at Residents Day

The University of South Alabama Department of Pediatrics hosted its annual Residents Day on Oct. 12th, 2012. At the event, 13 senior residents in the pediatrics residency program presented their required scholarly work to fellow residents, faculty and students.

Dr. Rosina Connelly, associate director of the pediatrics and residency program and assistant professor of pediatrics at USA, said the program requires scholarly activity in one of three options: research, quality improvement or community advocacy projects.

Residents choose a topic and faculty advisor, and then work on their scholarly activity for the first two years of their training.

“It is a great opportunity to foster scholarly work and collaboration between residents and faculty within the department,” Dr. Connelly said. “Participation in scholarly activities furthers the medical career for residents who are pursuing fellowship training by helping them become familiar with scientific methodology and research procedures.”

Dr. Connelly said many of the projects presented will also be submitted to the Southern Societies Meeting in New Orleans.

In addition, the pediatrics department bestows the Charles Hoff Award for excellence in scholarly activity to the resident and his/her faculty advisor with the best project, as chosen by evaluations from faculty members in the department. The recipient of this award is made known at the end of the academic year, during the graduation banquet in June.

Dr. Connelly said this year marked the 10th anniversary for the residents’ presentations.

The residents’ abstracts can be viewed here.