Medical Student Education

During their major clinical year, students at the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons (VP&S) spend six weeks on the pediatric clerkship, either at NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital or Harlem Hospital. Under the direction of the Pediatric Clerkship Director Marguerite (Maggie) Costich, MD, MS and Associate Pediatric Clerkship Directors Kathleen Brennan, MD, MS and Kelsey Fawcett, MD, students learn to care for children and families in a variety of patient care settings and develop the clinical skills, diagnostic reasoning, basic management strategies, and interpersonal and communication skills core to the practice of pediatrics. Department faculty members and pediatric residents are involved in every aspect of medical student education, from mentorship and didactic conferences to advising on career directions. 

Students are exposed to both usual child growth and development and the role illness plays in the lives of children and families. Their patient care experience is supplemented with daily rounds, conferences, case-based seminars, and team-based learning modules. 

In their final year, students can avail themselves of numerous pediatric electives ranging from sub-internships on the general medicine service to virtually all subspecialty divisions within the department.

In 2024, eight VP&S students matched into pediatric residency programs and one in a medicine-pediatrics residency program. 

Honors and Awards 

During the 2024 Babies Hospital Alumni Association annual meeting, several students received awards from Pediatrics faculty members. 

• The Rebecca Schwarz Memorial Prize was awarded to Alice Tao. This award is presented to a senior medical student conducting outstanding research in pediatric heart disease. 
• The Harry S. Altman Memorial Prize was awarded to Madeleine Fish. This award is presented annually to a senior medical student who demonstrates enthusiasm, eagerness, integrity, honesty, and dedication to the health and well-being of children, in the best tradition of Dr. Harry Altman. 
• The Jerry Jacobs Prize was awarded to Marissa Caldwell. This award is presented to a graduating student(s) who has demonstrated excellence in the differential diagnosis and treatment of disorders in children. 
• The Emmett Holt Fellowship Award was awarded to Alexander Northrop. This award is presented annually to a graduating student(s) who shows exceptional promise in the field of pediatrics and dedication to children. 
• The William Perry Watson Prize was awarded to Alexander Johnson and Sara Lehman. This is the oldest award in Pediatrics, awarded to the member(s) of the VP&S graduating class showing the most valuable work in the study of the diseases of infants and children during regular courses. 

Team-Based Learning, Learning from Experts, and Feedback 

During their pediatrics clerkships, students participate in team-based learning modules. Team-based learning is an active learning strategy that encourages students to develop critical, clinical reasoning skills, hone adaptive teamwork skills, demonstrate accountability for educational material, and appreciate the ambiguity and variability of practice. These sessions review high yield pediatric content and are facilitated by content experts.  

• Fever in children, Sarah Schechter, MD and the pediatric hospital medicine fellows 
• Common pediatric infections, Shivang Shah, MD 
• Pediatric gastroenterology, Elizabeth Berg, MD and the pediatric gastroenterology fellows 
• Pediatric nephrology, Catherine Kavanagh, MD 
• Pediatric cardiology, the pediatric cardiology education fellows 

The Pediatric Clerkship team also implemented a system, with accompanying resident and faculty education and development, to provide timely and actionable feedback to students in all clinical settings of the rotation using workplace-based assessments (WBAs). WBAs allow learners to incorporate changes in practice and to focus on skill-building. The team is also using WBAs to provide peer feedback through student learning small groups. 

Pediatric Electives 

Steve Caddle, MD, MPH, director of pediatric electives and sub-internships, is also the department's Electives Committee representative. Through regular meetings, Dr. Caddle has established a community for electives directors that provides important support for students deciding on pediatrics as a career trajectory. 

Pediatric Electives Directors 

• Linda Aponte-Patel, MD,  Pediatric Health Equity Clerkship for Visiting Students (virtual or in person) 
• Priyanka Asrani, MD , Pediatric Cardiology 
• Karen Soren, MD and Samuel Master, DO, Adolescent Medicine 
• Aliva De, MD and Alexandra Kass, MD, Pediatric Pulmonary Medicine 
• Kelsey Fawcett, MD, Pediatric Emergency Medicine 
• Prakash Satwani, MD Hematology, Oncology, Bone Marrow Transplant 
• Priyanka Mehrotra, MD and Brenna McCabe, MD Pediatric Critical Care Medicine Sub-Internship 
• Marina Catallozzi, MD, MSCE, Pediatric Sub-Internship 
• Candace Johnson, MD, Pediatric Infectious Disease 
• Catherine Kavanagh, MD, Pediatric Nephrology 
• Sivan Kinberg, MD and Amanda Cantor, MD , Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition 
• Joel Brooks, DO, MPH, Pediatric Allergy and Immunology 
• Sharon Oberfield, MD and Patricia Vuguin, MD, Pediatric Endocrinology 
• Natasha Piracha, MD, Pediatric Palliative Care 
• Rakesh Sahni, MBBS and Helen Towers, MD, Neonatology Sub-Internship 

Pediatric Applicant Advising for 2024 

Steve Caddle, MD, MPH and Marina Catallozzi, MD, MSCE co-lead the group that advises students applying to residencies in pediatrics, medicine-pediatrics, pediatric genetics, and pediatric physician-scientist programs. All students are also paired with an individual advisor in the department. These advisors include: 

• Amanda Esteves, MD, MS 
• Marguerite (Maggie) Costich, MD, MS 
• Lauren San Lorenzo, MD 
• Natasha Piracha, MD