About UsLetter from the Department of Pediatrics Chair
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As chair of the Department of Pediatrics, I would like to invite you to review the information in this Web site regarding the Pediatric Residency Program at UC Davis Medical Center. In the early years of this past century, the regents of the University of California purchased thousands of acres of farmland from Jerome Davis. Little did anyone envision what would transpire in succeeding years! Today UC Davis constitutes a wide range of academic programs with internationally renowned scholars and research programs. Although the School of Medicine is based at the Davis campus, the major thrust of its clinical operations is based at the impressive UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento.
Our residency program is multifaceted and designed to provide pediatricians-in-training with a variety of experiences. The program is particularly well known for its emphases on academics, teamwork, stimulation of inquisitiveness, and a free exchange of ideas and concepts in both formal and informal teaching settings. Residents who have successfully matched with our program come from a variety of backgrounds and literally from all over the country.
Teaching is provided by faculty members representing 14 designated areas of expertise as well as by volunteer clinical faculty, the chief resident and other senior residents. The program is based primarily at the UC Davis Children's Hospital, part of the UC Davis Medical Center. The UC Davis Children's Hospital is recognized by the National Association of Children's Hospitals and Related Institutions (NACHRI) and provides a full complement of services for the care of children throughout Northern California. Other training sites for our residents include a variety of ambulatory experiences at community hospitals and practicing pediatricians' offices as well as at the Shriners Hospital for Children, which is the largest and most complete Shriners Hospital in the country. Other popular areas of child health-related education for residents include a variety of pediatric subspecialty electives, time for international health electives and a child advocacy rotation.
In addition to clinical care, child-health-related research – both clinical and basic science – is a major thrust of the Department of Pediatrics. Residents are encouraged to participate in these studies, utilizing a wide range of faculty mentors. Time is made available for such pursuits, either during the residency or, in some cases, during an additional and specially designed "Medical Scholars" year of research.
In my view, in addition to preparing residents to be expert and caring pediatric physicians, residency should also provide trainees with enough senior mentors, potential role models, and training "experiences" to help our graduates make informed future career choices. At UC Davis there is a strong personal investment of the faculty in our housestaff and their education. In addition to an assigned faculty advisor, most residents "accumulate" several faculty members along the way as associate advisors and mentors. It is with this tradition in mind that the Department of Pediatrics continues to be proud of its faculty and its comprehensive academic pediatric residency program.
Anthony F. Philipps, M.D.
Department of Pediatrics
Professor and Chair