Training residents in developmental pediatrics: results from a national replication

This investigation examined the extent to which a structured curriculum in developmental pediatrics could be applied effectively to a wide range of pediatric residency training programs. Residents drawn principally from sites not involved in the original development of a curriculum in developmental pediatrics were assigned randomly to prerotation control or postrotation experimental groups. Based on an objective case management test, residents who had participated in the rotation defined by the curriculum scored significantly higher than those who had not. Differences between experimental and control groups were similar for both the first and second evaluation years and for residents drawn from the original and new sites (total n = 161). Subjective evaluations by residents and faculty preceptors confirmed the utility of curriculum.