Scholarly Concentrations

The goal of the Stanford Pediatric Residency Program is to develop leaders in pediatrics. We believe that in-depth training and experiential learning through completion of a scholarly project empowers our residents to approach medicine in a scholarly way and see how to incorporate scholarship into their careers to improve children’s health.

The Scholarly Concentrations were created in 2009 to give residents formalized training and personalized mentorship in one of six scholarly areas:

The Scholarly Concentration program forms a unique and valuable component of the residency experience. Our Scholarly Concentration Leaders and faculty mentors are committed to creating intellectually stimulating and supportive environments that encourage and foster the development of individual passions and interests.

Research Retreat Schedule 2025-2026
Graduating Resident Scholarly Concentration Abstracts
  • All residents are expected to:
    • Ask a scholarly question
    • Select a research mentor
    • Determine the appropriate methods for answering their question
    • Carry out their scholarly project
    • Disseminate their work in oral and written form

Requirements

Curriculum

The Scholarly Concentrations Program requires all residents to participate in core block rotations and half-day research retreats throughout their residency training to learn skills in research design and dissemination. In addition, some Scholarly Concentrations have quarterly evening sessions to meet the specific needs of the residents in their concentration. Scholarly concentration sessions allow residents to share their work with their SC Leaders and colleagues, discuss challenges and brainstorm solutions to their projects, and explore ways to integrate their work into their day-to-day clinical lives and long-term career plans.

Research Project

  • Residents are required to disseminate their scholarly work at the annual Stanford Peds Research Day. You may choose to present in any year, though most residents present in spring of their senior year. Submission to a national platform is strongly encouraged but not required.  Each year we recognize residents who have demonstrated outstanding achievements on their scholarly projects in the Scholarship Honor Roll.

 

Contact Information

For questions about the program, please contact:

Clea Sarnquist, DrPH, MPH
Program Director, Scholarly Concentrations Program
Email Clea

Rasika Behl, MPH
Associate Program Director, Scholarly Concentrations Program
Email Rasika

Timeline

Residents are introduced to our six scholarly concentration areas at the end of their PGY-1 summer, learn more about the scholarly concentrations in the fall, and choose a scholarly concentration in the winter of their PGY-1 year.  During their PGY-2 year (if not earlier), residents choose a mentor, who supports them in the process of developing a scholarly question and determining methods for answering that question. Residents are provided with training in IRB (Institutional Review Board) protocols and are supported in the process of obtaining approvals (if needed). By the end of their PGY-2 year, residents have typically begun data collection. During their PGY-3 year, residents complete data collection, analyze their data, and present their findings as a poster or platform presentation during our Research Day or other forum. 

  • PGY-1
    • December 1st: Deadline to apply to SC area of interest
    • By December 15th: Receive notification of SC placement
  • PGY-2
    • December 1st: Deadline to submit project proposal
    • December 1st: Deadline to apply for Research Grant (optional)
  • PGY-3+
    • April: Present at Peds Research Day

Combined residents, please click here for more information