Welcome to the Children's Mercy Hospitals and Clinics' Pediatric Residency Program!

We are the Department of Pediatrics for the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine. We continue a rich heritage of providing excellent clinical care to the children of Kansas City and our region, and train future generations of outstanding pediatricians.

Our facilities are not only colorful and kid-friendly, but incorporate state-of-the-art technology, ever-growing research resources, and an easily accessible electronic medical record system. CMH has also been voted one of the top places to work in Kansas City for the past six years.

Our residency program annually accepts 24 categorical pediatric residents, two preliminary residents, and six internal medicine/pediatrics residents. Our current residents hail from 42 medical schools representing 25 states throughout the country and two countries. View a sample resident contract (pdf).

Children's Mercy residents are engaged in a unique training experience with a diverse clinical population; a wide-ranging array of pediatric pathology; an approachable faculty; and a variety of didactic opportunities. Whether they pursue general academic pediatrics, private practice, hospital medicine, urgent care, or subspecialty fellowships, our graduates routinely acknowledge their excellent preparation in our residency program.

The rich curriculum includes two unique longitudinal experiences. Residents are taught the critical skills needed to practice evidence-based medicine through a one-year integrated Evidence-Based Practice and Quality-Improvement Curriculum. Working in teams, each resident will participate in critically appraising the literature, presenting journal clubs, and critiquing clinical practice guidelines.

In addition, each team will complete a quality-improvement project as part of their training. Secondly, we have received a grant from the Picker Institute to build a Patient- and Family-Centered Care Curriculum. Through this curriculum, each resident will learn the art of patient- and family-centered care. This will be done through resident retreats teaching specific communication skills, an innovative "family as faculty" curriculum, and simulated conversations sharing difficult news with families.

An international health elective is available with a travel stipend provided to qualifying residents. We have developed unique partnerships with Hospital del Nino in Panama and Guanqiao Children's Hospital in China. Please visit our International Health Elective Page for more information on this incredible opportunity and see where our residents have traveled recently.

Annual class retreats provide enriching advocacy and career development experiences. The first-year and second-year retreat each have an advocacy, team building, educational and social component. As an example, the second-year residents began this year's retreat by comparison shopping in the "food deserts" of Kansas City. They toured Operation Breakthrough, which is a local day/after school-care program that serves our poorest communities. One of the founders, Sister Berta, took the class on a bus tour of the inner-city area that the center serves. Guest speakers from the community joined along the way to tell their riveting stories of poverty, homelessness, drug and alcohol addiction and the impact that Operation Breakthrough has made in their lives and in their children's lives. A dinner with family and friends at a local restaurant followed. The following morning was spent talking with faculty members from all disciplines about career choices, CV development, interviewing, academic portfolios and job searches.

Our Pediatric Research Center, anchored by the Pediatric Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutic Innovation Research Unit, provides technologically advanced facilities for research in allergy/immunology, endocrinology, genetics, infectious diseases, neonatology, nephrology, rheumatology and more. Resident involvement in research is encouraged through an innovative program, BRNSTRM - Building Resident New Skills Through Research Mentoring - which links residents to research mentors.

We value the important contributions our residents make every day and attempt to enhance their quality of life with an outstanding, competitive benefits package; free, covered onsite parking; and a night float system (owl team) that begins during internship.

Our residents' quarters include a spacious classroom; a private-resident resource library; multiple computer terminals; a kitchen; a living room with a big screen TV; locker; and sleeping rooms. The resident social committee plans regular scheduled outings. Life in Kansas City includes world-class jazz, even better barbeque, over 200 fountains, multiple arts venues and the fabulous Plaza lights!