Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA)

About the residency

The CHLA Residency is a research-based, clinical skill focused program that aims to provide the resident with a rigorous and in-depth experience with the provision of consistent mentorship. This is a significant time commitment of the resident and staff.  The resident will be expected to spend time outside of residency hours preparing and planning treatments in their specific practice area, developing clinical reasoning skills, taking continuing education courses, and completing a research-based project by the end of the year.

Currently there are three CHLA Residency programs: Acute Hospital Care, Inpatient Rehabilitation, and Outpatient Hand Therapy. While there are three, CHLA does not guarantee placement in each program; rather we determine the placement based off of the student’s completed application, interview and best fit.

Schedule
The CHLA resident will be expected to follow the hospital schedule rather than the USC academic schedule. The resident will follow CHLA’s holiday policies and scheduling to ensure continuity of care with their caseload. The resident will be expected to work a 30 hour work week throughout the residency, with hours increasing to 40 a week for one semester as the USC program specifies. These hours at CHLA will be scheduled over the course of up to 48 weeks. The resident’s exact hours will be determined with their preceptor(s) at the beginning of their residency.

Pre-requisites

• For Acute and Rehab: It is strongly encouraged that the resident complete a Level II fieldwork in a high quality, hospital-based physical disabilities setting similar in medical complexity to CHLA’s patient population.
• For Hand Therapy: The resident is required to have completed a Level II fieldwork in a high quality, outpatient hand therapy setting either in pediatrics or adults, and it is suggested their second Level II fieldwork be in a high quality, hospital-based physical disabilities setting similar in medical complexity to CHLA’s patient population.

Contact and application information

CHLA has a three-part application process. Thorough review of materials will result in invitation by the OTD committee to participate in subsequent steps:

Part I: Satisfactory completion and submission of the application below
Part II: Completion of a thorough case study
Part III: Interview with OTD Committee members and potential mentors

After assuring satisfactory completion of pre-requisites detailed on the information page, prospective residents may complete an application. The application will consist of: Cover letter including a statement of interest specifying the area of interest and professional/personal background, résumé, and letter of recommendation by their fieldwork educator from the suggested pre-requisite Level II setting listed above.

Résumé
Please provide sufficient detail of previous/upcoming fieldwork placements and previous work experience.

Statement of interest
Please answer the following questions in depth:

• Why do you want to pursue your residency at CHLA and what do you hope to accomplish in your residency year? (Please identify specific CHLA program of interest.)
• Describe your previous experience with children.
• Because this is an intensive mentoring program, can you tell us how you learn best?

Additional questions need to be provided if applicant did not complete the prerequisite Level II fieldwork in an inpatient hospital based setting (required for residency for rehab or acute placement at CHLA) or hand therapy based clinic (required for residency in CHLA hand clinic).  Applicant must explain why they did not fulfill the prerequisite fieldwork requirements and why they are seeking this opportunity and transition in their learning.

Letter of recommendation
1-2 letters of recommendation are required for a complete application.

• For Acute and Rehab: 1 letter MUST be from the clinical instructor during the pre-requisite Level II experience and detail the prospective resident’s ability with treatment planning, handling high stress environments and high complexity patient populations.
• For Hand Therapy: 1 letter MUST be from the Level II clinic instructor in a hand therapy setting and speak to the prospective resident’s experience and skill with custom orthotic fabrication.

Submission
Please submit your entries to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) and .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), and copy to Sarah Bream, Director of the OTD Program, at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Thank you for your interest in being a resident at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, we look forward to welcoming you to our program!

Kendra King & Briana Pollard
OTD Committee Co-chairs
Division of Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine
Children’s Hospital Los Angeles

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USC Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy

1540 Alcazar Street, CHP 133, Los Angeles, CA 90089-9003

ACOTE accreditation | NBCOT certification

The USC entry-level doctorate in occupational therapy (OTD) degree program (cost of attendance) is fully accredited by the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education® (ACOTE®) of the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA). The USC entry-level master’s degree program (cost of attendance) is in Accreditation–Inactive status by ACOTE®. View our program’s ACOTE® standards public data. ACOTE® c/o the American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc.®, 7501 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite 510E, Bethesda, MD 20814, (301) 652-AOTA, www.acoteonline.org.

Professional program graduates are eligible to sit for the national certification examination for the occupational therapist administered by the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy, Inc.® (NBCOT®), nbcot.org. Program results from the NBCOT can be found online at www.nbcot.org/Educators-Folder/SchoolPerformance.