The Pediatric Chief Residency at Rush Children’s Hospital is shared by two fourth year residents. Their key roles are leadership, education, and resident advocacy. As resident leaders they are responsible for creating resident schedules, coordinating conferences and other educational activities, and attending committee meetings as resident liaisons. They play a crucial role in the ongoing improvement of the pediatric residency program. In addition, they each spend 4 weeks during the year as the pediatric ward attending.

The chief residents for the academic year 2009-2010 are Jackie Busse and Laura Torchen. Jackie grew up in Madison, Wisconsin where she lived until moving to Chicago for residency. She attended the University of Wisconsin, Madison as part of the Medical Scholars Program and graduated with honors and a major in Zoology. She stayed on for medical school at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. Jackie is looking forward to spending her free time this year planning her upcoming wedding. After her chief year, she plans to pursue a career in general academic pediatrics. Laura grew up in the Memphis, Tennessee area and graduated from the University of Notre Dame with honors with a degree in English and Preprofessional Studies. She went on to study medicine at the Loyola University Strich School of Medicine. This fall, Laura looks forward to the arrival of her first child. After completing her chief residency, she will be moving on to a pediatric endocrinology fellowship at Children’s Memorial Hospital here in Chicago. Both Jackie and Laura are very excited about their new roles as resident advocates, and look forward to a great year.

The chief residents at Rush are selected during their second year and in the past have been chosen from both the pediatric and med-peds residency programs . Michele Beekman and Joel Krier, a med-peds resident, will be sharing the chief residency for the 2010-2011 academic year. They hope to continue the tradition of teamwork and a strong commitment to resident advocacy.