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Prospective Applicants
CPT Karina Kauffman Brown
PGY-3
LT Brandon Neal
PGY-3
CPT Kayla Dahlquist
PGY-3
Capt Daniel Rochford
PGY-3
Recruitment Chairs
CPT Anna Raymond
PGY-3
Interview Rotations & Day Visits
Fourth-year USUHS and Health Professions Scholarship Programs (HPSP) students interested in elective rotations in Pediatrics at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center at Bethesda should email coordinator@nccpeds.com to schedule a rotation or a visit.
Students interviewing for our program should plan electives in the July-October time block. Preference is given to students who are applying for military pediatric residencies. Regardless of the elective site, students will have an opportunity to work and observe our program at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. We suggest that you arrange those rotations early, as spots are limited.
Requests are accepted on the first Monday of December for the upcoming academic year starting the following July. Requests are honored in the order in which they were received. Inpatient rotations typically last 4 weeks with both day and night shifts, while outpatient and elective rotations can be split into 2 week increments. We also offer single day visits or short stay visits during application season (July-October)/
Requests are made by contacting the program coordinator at coordinator@nccpeds.com with the following information:
- Rank and Name
- Email and phone number
- Branch of Service (Army, Navy, Air Force, Public Health Service)
- Name of Medical School
- Your expected year of graduation
- Your planned specialty after medical school (preference for rotations from July to October is given to those applying for pediatrics)
- Whether you are applying to the NCC Pediatric Residency for internship
- Whether you will be traveling to DC on military orders or not
- Requested dates of the rotation (be sure to include the year)
- A ranked order of your rotation preferences (see below)
USUHS students may not submit a 1304 form to the registrar for any pediatric rotation in the NCC program without first getting approval from the Program. Forms with signatures from the Walter Reed Bethesda GME Department or the USUHS Department of Pediatrics will not be honored. Once approval from the program is obtained, USUHS Students may then complete the pre-filled Form 1304, save it locally, and send to coordinator@nccpeds.com.
If you do not receive a response to your request within 48-72 hours, please contact LTC Hepps, Program Director, at 301-319-2466 or the Chief Resident at chief.resident@nccpeds.com.
Available Rotations
Adolescent Medicine
Ambulatory Pediatrics
Inpatient Sub-internship
NICU Sub-internship
Newborn Nursery
Pediatric Cardiology
Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics
Pediatric Endocrinology
Pediatric Gastroenterology
Pediatric Genetics
Pediatric Hematology/Oncology
Pediatric Infectious Diseases
Pediatric Neurology (Please ask coordinator for more information)
Pediatric Pulmonology
Typical Rotation Schedule
Orientation
On your first day, you will be greeted by a member of our residency leadership team and then taken to the GME office for in-processing. Following some general check-in items, you will meet our Chief Resident and take a brief tour before joining your rotation.
Candidate Recruitment Day
During your rotation, you will be scheduled for a Candidate Recruitment Day. Recruitment days include an overview of the program, a hospital tour, and candidate interviews.
Alternative Shadowing Opportunities
During your rotation, you will have the opportunity to shadow other rotations like the ward, NICU, and general pediatrics. Let the chief resident know if you are interested!
Social Events
There will be a variety of social events hosted by the social committee during your rotation. Check out the Plan of the Week for more details!
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How do I request a rotation?Requests are made by contacting the program coordinator at coordinator@nccpeds.com. Requests for the following interview season can be made on or after the first Monday of December. Include the following information in your email request: - Rank and Name - Email and phone number - Branch of Service (Army, Navy, Air Force, Public Health Service) - Name of Medical School - Your expected year of graduation - Your planned specialty after medical school (preference for rotations from July to October is given to those applying for pediatrics) - Whether you are applying to the NCC Pediatric Residency for internship - Whether you will be traveling to DC on military orders or not - Requested dates of the rotation (be sure to include the year) - A ranked order of your rotation preferences (see below) You can review available rotations above. USUHS students may not submit a 1304 form to the registrar for any pediatric rotation in the NCC program without first getting approval from the Program. Forms with signatures from the Walter Reed Bethesda GME Department or the USUHS Department of Pediatrics will not be honored. Once approval from the program is obtained, USUHS Students may then complete the pre-filled Form 1304, save it locally, and send to coordinator@nccpeds.com. If you do not receive a response to your request within 48 hours, please contact LTC Hepps, Program Director, at 301-319-2466 or the chief resident at chief.resident@nccpeds.com
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What rotations are available?Adolescent Medicine Ambulatory Pediatrics Inpatient Sub-internship NICU Sub-internship PICU Sub-internship - may be limited Pediatric Cardiology Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics Pediatric Endocrinology Pediatric Gastroenterology Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Pediatric Infectious Diseases Pediatric Neurology (coordinated with the Department of Neurology) Pediatric Pulmonology Pediatric Rheumatology - may be limited
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Who is eligible to rotate?Fourth-year students at USUHS or in the HPSP programs of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, and Public Health Service may rotate during interview season.
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Can I rotate at Walter Reed-Bethesda for my third-year pediatrics clerkship?Third-year medical students in the HPSP program may not participate in the pediatrics clerkship. The third-year clerkship is for students of the Uniformed Services University only. We have limited resources and placements for the pediatrics clerkship, and they are completely filled by USUHS students throughout the year.
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Can I participate in 2 different rotations?Because of the demand for rotations during the July-October time period, we request that students only rotate in ONE rotation at Walter Reed - Bethesda. If you need to cancel your rotation or if you decide that you are pursuing a residency that is not pediatrics, you must contact us so that we can best accommodate students applying for pediatrics. The military also limits the number of rotations in military facilities. The HPSP office will pay for one active-duty rotation per fiscal year (Oct 1 - Sep 30); additional rotations can be arranged but not funded. In addition, the Graduate Medical Education commands limit HPSP students to a maximum of 3 months of rotations - funded or unfunded - in military facilities each fiscal year. Any additional time training in military facilities for HPSP students may result in your medical school refunding the government some of your tuition payment for that year.
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Why is preference given to students who are applying to pediatrics during the summer & fall?The program has a limited number of rotations and a high number of students requesting to rotate with us. Since the period of time before the Joint Service Graduate Medical Education Selection Board (JGMESB) occurs in December, many students visit our program during the late summer and fall in order to interview and allow the faculty, residents, and staff an opportunity to get to know the strengths of the applicant. If students applying to non-pediatrics programs fill those slots, the program and the student may not have the opportunity to work closely together before the JGMESB. We appreciate that many third-year medical students are still deciding on their chosen career, and that a pediatrics rotation will help make that decision. In these cases, we will offer a non-sub-internship rotation, if available, to the student. If the student decides to pursue another specialty before the scheduled rotation starts, we expect the student to contact us as soon after that decision is made so that we can offer the rotation to a pediatrics student on the waiting list.
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Where do I report?The Chief Resident will contact you in the month prior to the start of the scheduled rotation with the reporting date, time, and place. Generally, it will be at the Pediatrics clinic at 0730 on the 4th Floor of the America Building (Building 19). You will attend morning report with the residency, complete your in-processing, and then report to your rotation supervisor to get started!
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Where can I find information on the rotation?Rotation specific information can be found in the Rotations section of the nccpeds.com website under the ‘Residents’ menu. While these goals and objectives are geared towards interns and residents, they closely mirror our expectations for fourth-year medical students.
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Can I split a rotation between 2 different electives?In some cases, rotations can be split into two week blocks. If interested, include this request in your rotation request email.
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Which rotations count as sub-internships?Sub-internships are available on the pediatric inpatient ward, neonatal intensive care unit, and the newborn nursery.
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How do HPSP students arrange active-duty orders?HPSP students should contact their HPSP office to arrange orders. Please send all correspondence to coordinator@nccpeds.com if confirmation is needed by the HPSP office. The information below is a summary for familiarization only - it is not necessarily up to date. Please contact us if you have helpful tips for students navigating the process in the future. Navy HPSP Students (Annual Training Information Website) You should request orders at a bare minimum of 6 weeks before your scheduled rotation with us. Please read the “Instructions for Requesting an Annual Training Request” and complete the Annual Training Order Request Form. You will need to scan your form and email to USN.OHSTUDENT@MAIL.MIL. Once you get your orders, you may or may not have a “Certificate of Non-Availability [CNA]” number on it. If you do, you can arrange government approved lodging in the area. If not, we will have to arrange a CNA once you arrive. Air Force HPSP Students An ADT Form must be completed, signed by our program, and then sent to AFIT (kadams@us.af.mil). The HPSP program contact is Matthew T. Kush, GS9, USAF Medical Student Program Manager, HQ AFPC/DPAME Randolph AFB TX 78150 Toll Free: 800-531-5800 extension 1 DSN: 665-0656 / COMM: 210-565-0656 Army HPSP Students Please contact the Student Management Office at the Army HPSP program website.
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What if I am not on orders or if my scheduled rotation spans 2 fiscal years (i.e. crosses over October 1st)?Active-duty orders are not required. However, the program cannot reimburse students for any costs associated with rotating at the hospital during your rotation. Also, the hospital requires a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between your medical school and the hospital. Walter Reed at Bethesda has existing MOUs with many medical schools, but you should check as part of your preparation for your rotation if you will not be on orders.
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What do I wear during my rotation?If you are on active-duty orders, the uniform of the day is required. As a generalization, working uniforms are worn by most staff in the outpatient clinic environment. The Navy uniform is khakis or the Navy Working Uniform (NWU) year-round, with an option to wear Summer White/khakis or Service Dress Blues during the summer and fall/winter respectively. Army personnel wear OCPs. Air Force ASUs are worn year round. If you are not on orders but applying to the program, we strongly encourage you to wear the uniform of the day. For interviews, the wearing of your uniform is strongly encouraged.
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Where can I stay during my rotation?Students usually stay at corporate housing or a hotel off-base but close to the medical center. However, the process can be hard to navigate. The default for the government is to have you stay in quarters on-base (in the BOQ, Navy Gateway Inn, or the Navy Lodge) -- facilities at times can be unavailable due to needs of the families of patients. Before getting approval for housing off-base, a Certificate of Non-Availability (CNA) is required. A CNA can be obtained by contacting the Navy Lodge (navylodge-bethesda@nexweb.org or 301-654-1795, fax 301-654-9373). Our program can also help you navigate this process. Recently, students have found excellent lodging for comparable prices to hotels but with kitchen facilities and more amenities by using corporate housing services. As long as the corporate housing service has a current contract with the military billeting office, it will be reimbursed. Recent students have used BridgeStreet Corporate Housing [800 278 7338], asked for housing near Walter Reed-Bethesda, and specified the amount of housing per diem [they have several options and pretty much make them $150, so it is important to give them the correct per diem (or under it) because they will charge right up to that amount]. Most students look for housing in Bethesda or in Silver Spring. The hospital is on the western leg of the Red Line of the Metro, and housing with stops close to the Medical Center metro station are good choices. A shuttle service from Silver Spring to the hospital was recently discontinued, although some hotels have direct shuttles to the hospital.
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How many positions are offered?The NCC usually has (4-6) training spots for the Air Force, (1-2) training spots for the Navy, and (4-6) training spots for the Army. These numbers are set by the respective services and may vary slightly from year to year.
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How competitive is the program?Unlike the civilian pediatric match, the number of applicants for Army, Navy, and Air Force Pediatrics exceeds the number of pediatric intern training positions offered nation-wide. Board scores, GPAs, and performance of medical students selected for pediatric PGY-1 positions is much higher than the national average for pediatrics. Not all applicants to pediatrics will match. Navy and Army applicants submit a rank order list of programs, and each program submits a rank order list of applicants, and the match is made similarly to the national civilian Match. For Air Force applicants, a board of military pediatric GME leaders ranks each applicant to generate a composite rank list which is paired with individual applicants' rank lists.
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What are the salary and benefits?Residents are well-compensated as an O-3 military officer with Variable Special Pay and Variable Housing Allowance for the 20889 ZIP code (verification of income for rental or mortgage applications is available from the Program Coordinator). Free healthcare (no-copay, no premium, no deductible) is provided to residents and their family members. Dental care is free for residents, and available at a heavily discounted cost for family members. One of the best day-care systems in the country is available on base with doctor and nurse friendly hours. Service members Group Life Insurance, the Thrift Savings Plan, and eligibility to military federal credit unions and USAA come with active-duty service. A generous maternity and paternity policy is in effect. Thirty days of vacation are earned each year, although PGY-1 residents may only take 21 days during the first year and 28 days during the subsequent 2 years; the extra vacation time is saved for use anytime after graduation. Scrubs and white lab-coats are provided free-of-charge. Paid membership in the American Academy of Pediatrics is offered.