Thank you for your interest in our residency program. We are very excited about our program, and we hope that you will share in our enthusiasm as you learn more about the program from this website.
About the Program
The Grand Rapids Medical Education and Research Center/Michigan State University Pediatric Residency Program at DeVos Children's Hospital offers a complete experience with community-acquired disease as well as specialty-oriented exposure to the broad array of pediatric disease that only a referral center can provide. With its affiliation with the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, it also offers the quality teaching faculty and educational experiences provided by a university-based residency.
As a resident in our program, you will obtain the knowledge and skills to be an excellent general pediatrician. If you choose to pursue a subspecialty fellowship, you will have a solid background in pediatric knowledge and clinical practice as well as exposure to nearly all pediatric subspecialties. Most importantly, though, you will learn to take care of children and their families, not just diseases.
About the Hospital
- DeVos Children's Hospital is a 187-bed children's hospital.
- We are the major referral center for western Michigan, drawing patients from 13 counties and providing care for a population of roughly 1.2 million.
- We have an 80 bed level-3 Neonatal ICU that is the largest in the state.
- We have a 16 bed level-1 Pediatric ICU staffed by eight full-time intensivists.
- We have the largest hematology/oncology service in the state, which includes inpatient and outpatient services as well as bone marrow transplantation.
- We are the only referral center in western Michigan to provide pediatric surgery, including ECMO, and pediatric cardiac surgery.
- We have nationally-recognized outpatient multispecialty clinics including Cystic Fibrosis Clinic, Oral Cleft Clinic, and Diabetes Clinic (with the largest number of pediatric patients on insulin pumps in the state!)
- We have a Child Protection Team composed of 40 members from multiple disciplines which provides services for physically and sexually abused and neglected children on an inpatient and outpatient basis. This team has helped over 600 children annually since 1993.
With this size and patient population, DCH ranks in the top half of children's hospitals in terms of both inpatient admissions and outpatient care. However, being staffed by community-based pediatricians and clinically-based specialists, DeVos Children's Hospital never loses its community-based atmosphere.
Please check out the links to your left to learn more about the program, including the residents, the faculty, the curriculum and didactics, and elective opportunities.
Letter from Program Director
Congratulations on finding the best Pediatric residency program in the Midwest! Does that surprise you? Read on to learn why I believe this is true.
We serve large numbers of children, both in primary and subspecialty care. Your inpatient experience and your active continuity clinic will give you opportunity to manage a great variety of sick and healthy children from birth to young adulthood. This translates into a rich and diverse educational experience for you through the entire spectrum of pediatric pathology.
We are, above all else, committed to preserving the educational integrity of your residency experience. We guarantee you protected block didactic time, caps on busy inpatient services, regularly scheduled teaching rounds, and pediatric hospitalists who are in the hospital twenty-four hours a day to help, supervise, and teach. Our entire teaching faculty provides superior, evidence-based, compassionate, comprehensive care to every child seen at DeVos Children's Hospital, and we are committed to teaching you the same.
Our program provides you with some exciting opportunities to make a difference locally and regionally. For example, through your Advocacy rotation you will learn about the problems facing children in Grand Rapids and beyond, and will design and implement a small clinical project that will benefit a local child or family. In addition, you will hone your educator skills by supervising third and fourth year Michigan State University medical students during their Pediatric clerkship and senior electives at DeVos Children's Hospital. We'll enrich your skills through a "Residents as Educators" curriculum. You will be invited to participate fully on a variety of hospital committees. This provides you the opportunity to make a difference here and learn skills that you can take to other hospital systems in the future.
We are privileged to provide you the benefits of both a community and academic residency program in one location. Our community origin provides close relationships and involvement with local pediatricians in an energetic, fun, and respectful atmosphere. Our affiliation with Michigan State University preserves high academic standards and exceptional researchers and resources within our hospital. This is a unique balance in which residents are the clear winners.
So, why haven't you heard of us before? When you visit us, you will undoubtedly join the countless people who tell us that we are a "hidden treasure" and "a well kept secret"! Don't be confused by the "community" label. We are a very academic, university affiliated residency program that exists in a supportive community that just happens to be the second largest city in the state of Michigan! Come take a look at what we have to offer. You'll be glad you did. We are eager to meet you, and look forward to our visit together!
Sincerely,
Jeri Weyher, M.D., FAAP
Program Director
Pediatric Residency
jeri.weyher@devoschildrens.org
Welcome from the Chief Resident
Welcome to the Grand Rapids Medical Education Research Center Pediatrics Residency, affiliated with both Michigan State University and Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital. I would like to welcome you to our residency program and website. Here you will find a great video that helps define who we are and what we stand for.
First, I would like to introduce myself. My name is Joey Rexine and I am the current pediatric chief resident. My journey started in my home state of North Dakota where I received my bachelors of science in chemistry and my medical doctorate. As a pediatric resident here, I received a well rounded experience that has prepared me for the last part of my journey…a pediatric critical care fellowship at the University of Minnesota.
One of our main goals in this residency is to help you become a well rounded pediatrician who is ready for your next journey as a general pediatrician, a pediatric hospitalist, or a pediatric subspecialty fellow. Over the last several years many of our residents have selected to do fellowships, including:
- Hematology / Oncology – GRMERC/Helen Devos
- Hematology / Oncology – St. Judes
- Endocrinology – University of Buffalo
- Neonatology – Rainbow Babies in Cleveland, OH (Case Western University)
- Neonatology – Columbus Childrens (Ohio State University)
- Cardiology – Rush University
- Adolescent Medicine– Johns Hopkins
- Critical Care – University of Minnesota
- Pulmonology –Children’s Hospital of Milwaukee
- Rheumatology - Duke University
- Current Residents are applying for fellowships in Neurology, Genetics, Critical Care, Pulmonology, and Hematology / Oncology.
We are also very dedicated to education. We have weekly time dedicated to lectures that is free from call or floor duty. We have recently initiated a weekly reading club and board review that coincides with our lecture topics. Other educational activities include weekly Pediatric Grand Rounds, multidisciplinary case conference, and monthly journal club. We incorporate evidence based learning in most of these areas, as well as in our new EBM (evidence based medicine) Newsletter.
The Grand Rapids area is a great place with lots of fun things to do, especially for families. Please give us a chance by browsing our website and checking out our video. If you have any questions, please feel free to send me an email at jrexine@medicine.nodak.edu.
Thanks Again and I Hope to See You Soon!!!
Joey Rexine, MD
Pediatric Chief Resident