Experience Clinical Excellence through the KU Pediatric Residency. Our faculty provides residents with a wide variety of diagnostic and therapeutic experiences in general and subspecialty pediatrics. In keeping with changes in the health care delivery system in recent years, the department places strong emphasis on ambulatory care. KU Pediatrics manages 35,000 outpatient visits and 2,100 inpatient admissions annually. Through our strong ties with area hospitals and practicing physicians, we expose residents to office-based community pediatrics. KU Pediatrics supports full- and part-time faculty members, fellows, and nurse practitioners. All of our clinical divisions are actively involved in teaching, research, and patient care.

Inpatient Services

The General Pediatric Inpatient Unit is a secured unit. Only appropriate personnel are permitted on the unit. There are 1300 discharges, both surgical and medical, annually from the pediatric inpatient unit. For residents, the unit has a study area, a conference room, and comfortable on-call quarters. The departmental library houses a wide selection of textbooks and journals for residents to use at any time.  Computers also are available for resident use.

The inpatient unit is fully supported by a full-time nutritionist, a social worker, a school teacher, a child-life specialist, and an inpatient nurse education coordinator. The medical director of the inpatient unit interacts with residents, nurses and attending physicians with the goal of maintaining high standards of quality and providing optimal care to all the patients admitted to the unit.

Full Term Nursery

The Full Term Nursery (FTN) is staffed by general pediatricians and a pediatric nurse practitioner. The nursery provides residents with the opportunity to care for 1200 newborns delivered annually.

Neonatal ICU

The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) is a highly sophisticated Level III neonatal center. The NICU cared for more than 240 admissions in 2005.

The NICU is located on the same floor as labor and delivery, the full-term nursery, and the maternal area. As a tertiary prenatal center, perinatologists are an integral part of the neonatal staff. Ours is the only area institution where mothers and their infants can receive intensive tertiary care in the same hospital.

Pediatric ICU

The Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) is equipped for individual patient monitoring and intensive care nursing support for over 400 medical and surgical patients yearly, as well as pediatric procedures.

The PICU has the advantage of being close to other intensive care units and support facilities in the Medical Center, such as complete diagnostic imaging and surgical suites.

Both the PICU and the NICU received 99% levels of patient satisfaction in a recent patient survey. We are very proud of everything our faculty and residents have done to make this possible.

Ambulatory Services

The HC Miller Building, a completely staffed ambulatory facility, delivers a broad range of general and specialty pediatric services. Physicians, nurses and other health professionals, including a full-time social worker, provide care for 35,000 patients each year. Each resident provides comprehensive health supervision as a member of a clinical team that includes faculty pediatricians and nurse clinicians.

Emergency Services

The Emergency Services Department of KU Med treats approximately 6,900 infants and children each year for acute illness and injury, and 650 require admission to the hospital. Facilities include pediatric examination and treatment rooms, surgical suites, and complete staff and equipment. Pediatric residents develop the skill and expertise necessary to handle a wide range of emergencies under emergency medicine faculty supervision.

Research Activities

The Department of  Pediatrics encourages residents to take advantage of research opportunities in their areas of interest. Residents may develop new studies or collaborate with faculty on research studies in progress. Each year, faculty members provide a prospectus of research in progress and possibilities for new research. Residents may use elective time for research within program requirements.

Additionally, the Medical Center's annual Research Forum offers residents an opportunity to present research papers in a friendly environment.

Department faculty are involved in both basic science and clinical research. These are featured in Research News, a quarterly publication featuring some of the current research projects at KU Pediatrics. A few of the current research projects include neonatal and pediatric pharmacology, diabetes, drug studies in oncology, behavioral studies in chronic pain,  and studies in ambulatory care.

Developmental Disabilities Center (DDC)

Through the Center for Child Health and Development (CCHD) (formerly the Developmental Disabilities Center and the Child Development Unit), residents participate in many unique multidisciplinary clinics and programs. The CCHD staff and fellows provide clinical evaluation and treatment for multiply handicapped children on an outpatient basis. Fourteen disciplines combine to provide comprehensive diagnoses, follow-up planning and treatment to children.