Welcome to the Pediatrics Program
From the Program Director
Welcome to The University of South Dakota Sanford School of Medicine’s Pediatric Residency Program! To all medical students, our program wishes you the best on your journey to Match Day. We are excited to share what we have to offer!
Our program, now over a decade old but future-focused, is housed within Sanford Children’s Hospital’s Castle of Care in Sioux Falls, SD. Residents work and learn alongside pediatricians and pediatric subspecialists from over 35 areas to provide compassionate and comprehensive care within the region’s only freestanding children’s hospital (including a Level VI NICU, Level II Pediatric Trauma center with pediatric emergency medicine specialists, and ECMO) and four easily accessible pediatric clinics in the Sioux Falls area.
As a regional referral center, we care for a diverse patient population both in background and medical diagnoses from throughout the upper Midwest. Due to our geographically large catchment area and unique patient population, our program has a special interest in educating pediatricians who desire to practice in underserved or rural areas. Many of our former graduates, both general pediatricians and subspecialists, choose to remain in or return after fellowships to our health system and region!
Our program’s vision is “Personalized education in Pediatrics”. The size of our program, six residents per year, creates a family-like atmosphere. Faculty know residents as individuals and tailor educational opportunities to career trajectories. Residents participate in both 1:1 academic mentoring and group mentoring with a combination of junior, mid-career, and late career faculty.
The program offers a unique blend of a strong community practice model, dedicated to patient safety and access to care, with the possibilities for scholarly activities of a larger academic center. Our residents learn in a robust simulation center and receive an academic appointment to teach students and instruction in medical education. They also interact with the community through media and outreach opportunities, acquire skill in research and/or quality improvement projects, and benefit from a unique wellness initiative designed with graduate medical education in mind. Each opportunity contributes to our strong record for matching residents into fellowships or obtaining employment in practices of their choice.
Finally, the voices of our residents are heard and valued within our program. This is exemplified by our mission statement, revised by our residents and enthusiastically affirmed by our faculty: “Training empathetic pediatricians committed to providing care and advocating for the well-being of children in their communities.”
Jessica White, MD
Residency Program Director