Inpatient Floor

Inpatient volume continues to increase at Children's Mercy Hospitals and Clinics. In fiscal year 2011, there were 14,880 inpatient admissions, which ranks Children's Mercy as one of the largest children's hospital in the nation based on number of admissions.

Non-surgical patients outside of the ICUs are admitted to one of seven inpatient teams, six of which are staffed by residents and one of which is staffed by pediatric hospitalists. Residents also spend time on our night-float team, called the "Owl Team," as an intern and as a senior.

Inpatient Teams

Red Team: General pediatric patients and neurology patients.
Purple Team: General pediatric patients and nephrology patients.
Green Team: Senior-resident only team, which covers general pediatric patients.
Blue Team: Cardiology and Pulmonology patients (including Cystic Fibrosis patients).
Gold Team: Gastroenterology and Endocrinology patients.
Orange Team: General pediatric patients-exists during busy winter months [December through March] to accommodate increased patient load.
Owl Team - Night Float: Covers inpatient teams Sunday to Thursday night.
Hematology-Oncology: A rotation for second and third year residents with a more traditional call system.

Emergency Department

Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU)

• Residents spend two months in the PICU with 24-hour on-site intensivist supervision.
• Our 41-bed Pediatric Intensive Care Unit is one of the largest PICU's in the nation.
• There were more than 1,800 PICU admissions totaling 7,212 PICU days in fiscal year 2011
• The in-house transport team serves a 150-mile radius and annually transports more than 4,000 patients per year.
  • Currently, Children's Critical Care Transport ranks third nationally in pediatric and neonatal transport volume.

Neonatal Intensive Care (NICU)

• Residents gain NICU experience at both Children's Mercy Hospital and Truman Medical Center.
• Children's Mercy Hospital has a 64-bed Level 3C Intensive Care Nursery, and ECMO capabilities. NICU fellows and attendants are present 24 hours a day.
• There were over 900 ICN admissions totalling 20,031 ICN days in fiscal year 2011
• The Truman Medical Center-West Neonatal Intensive Care Unit is a 24-bed Level II/III nursery associated with a high-risk obstetric service. Nurse practitioners, trained in neonatology, are in-house 24 hours a day.
  • Residents attend all high-risk deliveries to gain experience with delivery-room resuscitation.
  • Residents also complete a month of well-baby nursery during their second year.

Outpatient Clinical Education

• Adolescent Medicine

  • In the Adolescent Medicine Rotation, residents learn about issues that are unique to the teenage population.
  • Residents have the option of continuing to work in the clinic once a month as part of their Continuity Care Clinic.

• Developmental and Behavioral Medicine

  • In a clinic setting, residents gain an understanding of normal and abnormal development with a variety of child psychiatrists, psychologists and developmental pediatricians.
  • They also learn the management of common behavioral problems. 

• Continuity Care Clinic (CCC)

  • Each resident spends one-half day each week in their Continuity Clinic.
  • Residents have the opportunity to build a panel of patients that they can follow through their three years at Children's Mercy.
  • The clinic is staffed by the same general pediatricians each week to facilitate learning and continuity.

• Community Pediatrics

  • Each resident spends one month in a private-practice pediatrics office.
  • Residents learn the basic skills of office management in addition to primary-care pediatrics.
  • Residents have the opportunity to spend this month outside the Kansas City metro area.

• Pediatric Care Clinic (PCC)

  • The Pediatric Care Center (PCC) is the general primary-care clinic for Children's Mercy Hospital. More than 65,000 children and families were served by the clinic last year.
  • Pediatric residents spend two months in the PCC - one month during their first year and a supervisory month as a third-year resident.
  • The goal of the PCC is to provide every resident with a broad-based primary care pediatric experience.

Longitudinal Education

• Evidence-Based Practice and Quality Improvement

  • "Evidence-Based Tuesday" clinical lecture series at Noon.
  • Monthly evidence-based medicine and quality improvement lectures incorporated in monthly didactics sessions.
  • Bi-monthly journal clubs.
  • Team-based participation in a resident-led quality improvement project.

• Patient and Family-Centered Care

  • Learn the art of communicating on family-centered rounds.
  • Simulated conversations to develop the skills of sharing difficult news with patients and families.
  • Family-as-faculty teaching the patients' perspective.

• Advocacy Curriculum

  • Exposure to inspirational community and hospital speakers.
  • Topics range from political health care reform advocacy to grass roots community-service development.

Clinical Rotations by Year

Electives

• Electives exist in all pediatric subspecialties.
• Residents can tailor their electives to meet their own goals and interests.
• Some electives include: