Academic Curriculum

Our curriculum provides a broad range of didactic and experiential learning opportunities to prepare our fellows for a career in adolescent and young adult medicine.

Academic Morning
The academic morning occurs once per month. This dedicated learning time includes a review of clinical foundations of adolescent medicine and research methods. These didactic experiences cover the core topics on the Adolescent Medicine Board Content Specifications, as well as case conferences, and journal clubs, supplemented by directed readings. Teaching is provided by faculty, fellows, and subject matter experts from within and outside of Children’s Mercy. As fellows progress through fellowship, they take on more responsibility for the content and format of the didactic sessions.   

Business Operations
The Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine Division Director conducts meetings with faculty, staff, and fellows in which the operational status of the clinic, new initiatives for the division or hospital, and provider concerns are discussed. This exposes our fellows to financial planning, clinic management, and billing for patient care so they are prepared for independent practice after completing fellowship.

Fellowship Common Curriculum
The Children’s Mercy Department of Graduate Medical Education (GME) provides a core curriculum consisting of monthly didactic sessions to first-year fellows focused on the ACGME Competencies in Professionalism, Communication, and Systems-Based Practice.  

Click here for more information about the Common Curriculum. 

Psychology Didactics
The first-year fellow attends this weekly didactic series along with psychology interns, psychology fellows, and fellows from Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics. These sessions are an opportunity for staff psychologists, psychiatrists, and other professionals from within and outside Children’s Mercy to discuss a broad variety of theoretical orientations, assessment techniques, and interventions.  

Biostatistics Training
Fellows are required to obtain training in biostatistics as part of the fellowship. This can be accomplished through the year-long biostatistics course offered by Children’s Mercy GME or in the context of one of the graduate programs (see “Master’s Degrees and Certificate Programs” below).  

Problem Solving for Fellows and QA/QI Project
Problem Solving for Fellows is a year-long participative learning experience at Children's Mercy designed to help fellows develop a framework for problem solving that helps them stay current and continuously improve their practice. This course pairs a fellow with a Quality Assurance/Quality Improvement (QA/QI) mentor who coaches the fellow throughout the year on a QA/QI project of the fellow’s choosing.  

Fellows Grant Writing Course
Fellows are paired with an experienced faculty mentor to write a grant to support a future research project. After completing this course, fellows can apply for intramural or extramural funding for their project, including the Children’s Mercy Hospital Clinical Fellowship Research Award (up to $15,000). Fellows with well-developed research interests who feel they may need funding for their fellowship scholarly project can take this course during the first year of fellowship. Alternatively, fellows can take this course during the last year of fellowship to obtain assistance with faculty development grants or research projects sparked by the fellowship experience.  

Faculty and Fellow Development Sessions and Workshops
Children’s Mercy Office of Faculty Development offers various faculty and fellow development opportunities focused on areas of research and education. Topics covered include academic e-portfolios, academic writing, teaching in academic medicine, presenting scientific research, providing feedback, and transitioning to faculty.  

Faculty and Fellow Development Sessions and Workshops
Children’s Mercy Office of Faculty Development offers various faculty and fellow development opportunities focused on areas of research and education. Topics covered include academic e-portfolios, academic writing, teaching in academic medicine, presenting scientific research, providing feedback, and transitioning to faculty.  

Fellowship Community Lunch and Learns
The Fellowship Community Lunch and Learns are informal lunches that cover topics not otherwise covered in other series, such as financial planning, interviewing skills, test taking strategies, CV development, and fellow wellness.  

Master's Degrees and Certificate Programs
Children’s Mercy supports fellows in obtaining a certificate or master’s degree through either the University of Missouri – Kansas City or the University of Kansas. Click here to see the list of additional training opportunities.

Click here for more information about GME offerings for fellows.