Unique Experiences

Vision

The goal of the global health track is to provide residents with an extensive introduction to the health care issues of children worldwide and to encourage applying the learned skills to address these issues throughout their careers.

View the list of residents in our Global Health Track.

Visit our Global Health page for full details on our global health experiences for trainees at Children’s Mercy.

The Child Health Systems and Community Collaboration Track is designed to support residents with a passion for  the systems that impact child health and well-being and would like to take a leadership role throughout their careers. Participating residents will gain the skills and knowledge necessary to improve child health by engaging communities and communicating with policy makers. There are two Track opportunities: the MOCARE Leadership Track and the Public Policy Track. Read more.

The Clínica Hispana de Cuidados de Salud (CHiCoS) sets Children's Mercy apart by offering a unique, formal program for learning medical Spanish as part of a resident’s weekly continuity clinic. Selected residents with at least intermediate Spanish proficiency are able to work alongside bilingual general academic pediatricians while using a dedicated Spanish culture and language coach to provide care to Spanish-speaking families.

In addition to developing bilingual language skills using a formal curriculum, CHiCoS residents learn how to provide culturally-appropriate support for the growing Spanish-speaking community of Kansas City. The goal is to increase Spanish culture and language proficiency with the vast majority of residents graduating the CHiCoS continuity clinic as qualified bilingual pediatricians.

The Medical Education Track will provide residents with the knowledge and skills needed to become medical educators, equipping them with the ability to influence the next generation of pediatricians as part of their personal career pathway. Residents will have faculty mentorship support through a longitudinal curriculum of knowledge acquisition, medical educator activates completion, and final capstone project to earn their final certificate.

Program AIMS

• Graduate residents who can Design and Plan educational activities with aligned learning objectives, activities, resources and sequencing for an educational activity 

• Advance residents' ability to Teach and Engage learners in both classroom and clinical settings.   

• Develop residents’ capacity to Assess and Analyze outcomes of learners and programs including the delivery of feedback 

• Produce residents who can synthesize data to Reflect and Improve oneself as a medical educator and medical education programs. 

The Resident Healthcare Improvement Track is designed for those interested in making quality and process improvement a foundation to their future career and offers a longitudinal hands-on experience in quality and process improvement. Small-team projects are mentored by a physician improvement expert where residents design and implement iterative tests changes to achieve their project’s aim, earn an advanced improvement certificate from a nationally recognized organization, and work toward presenting their project at a professional conference. Projects take place during the PL-2 year and may continue into PL-3 to meet Track requirements.

Pediatricians are encouraged and expected to be champions of Advocacy, Research / Quality Improvement, Parents in Medicine, and Wellness. Each of the three chief residents now chairs a committee of residents to increase exposure directed at one of these three non-clinical tenants of pediatrics. 

This organizational strategy began in July 2018, and has led to an increase in resident engagement, both with respect to participation in institutional opportunities at CM as well as organizing outside community events that promote child health and/or physician wellness.

Advocacy Committee

The goal of this committee is to make a positive impact in children’s health within the Kansas City area. Recent past events have included providing smoking cessation education and resources to mothers at Amethyst Place, teaching children at Operation Breakthrough about asthma and its effects on the lungs, and maintaining a community garden that supplies local food kitchens. Residents also completed a very successful donation drive that collected items needed for the CMH Foster Care Clinic last year.

Parents in Medicine

The Parents in Medicine Group is dedicated to promoting peer connection and well-being for residents who are parents or expecting children. By creating a community of shared understanding, the group aims to reduce isolation, provide guidance, and support resident physicians as they navigate the unique challenges and rewards of parenting during pediatric training. Discussion topics have included work-life integration, childcare resources, parental leave, wellness, and time management while raising a family. The group also promotes family outings, such as trips to the park, zoo, or pumpkin patch, which are often sponsored by GME.

Wellness

The Resident Wellness committee brainstorms and implements activities that will amplify the sense of community within the residency program. This committee has been exceptionally successful with high turnout rates for activities such as virtual yoga, group karaoke, bowling, and trips to the pumpkin patch. Residents’ children and significant others are encouraged to attend these events as well.  

Click here to see more about the support programs in place at Children's Mercy.

Research

The Pediatric Residency Program at Children’s Mercy is committed to providing research opportunities and mentorship support for research to pediatric residents. The program supports the goal of matching interested residents with research mentors throughout the hospital. Additionally, the program works with the Children’s Mercy Research Institute to collaborate on resources to maximize research success. 

Our residents produce valuable work that has resulted in a variety of case reports, QI and research projects. You may view resident scholarly projects completed during the last few academic years here!

SOAR (Support Opportunity Access & Respect)

Our patients and families come from all walks of life, and so do we. We know that our greatest strengths come from the people who make up our team. We hire qualified people from a wide variety of backgrounds, not just because it’s the right thing to do, but because it makes our hospital stronger, our patient care more compassionate, and our research better. 

Residents participate in simulation sessions using high fidelity mannequins during their outpatient elective months. Residents work in teams of 4-6 residents to address common pediatric critical illnesses, including altered mental status, respiratory failure, and cardiac emergencies. Residents have the opportunity to work on resuscitation skills and procedures, such as vascular access and airway support, as well as improve their leadership and communication ability in crisis situations.

Simulation sessions are facilitated by both physician staff and a multi-disciplinary team including nurse and RT educators. In addition to the in-depth simulation experience, residents are also provided with supplemental electronic learning resources as a review of these important topics.

In addition to experiences in the Simulation Center, the resident program has a small sim lab in the Housestaff lounge area that residents can access at any time in order to practice procedures as needed.