Children in rural areas have high rates of medical complexity and often reside in low-income and medically underserved areas, according to researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. A study published in Pediatrics examines the inpatient health care utilization of rural children as compared to nonrural children, specifically the higher cost of hospitalization and increased frequency of readmissions.
Chang Wu, M.D., Pediatric Hospital Medicine, and Marjorie White, M.D., Pediatric Emergency Medicine, were among the investigators who looked at patient admissions in 41 freestanding tertiary-care pediatric hospitals across the United States, where rural children account for 12 percent of all admissions. The most common admissions were for asthma, bronchiolitis and seizures. Children from rural areas are particularly vulnerable, as they often experience worse health outcomes, and higher rates of obesity and tobacco exposure, and 71 percent had at least one chronic medical condition.
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Fox 6 News interviewed Dr. Wu in regards to this study. Click here to view the segment.
Chang Wu, M.D., Pediatric Hospital Medicine, and Marjorie White, M.D., Pediatric Emergency Medicine, were among the investigators who looked at patient admissions in 41 freestanding tertiary-care pediatric hospitals across the United States, where rural children account for 12 percent of all admissions. The most common admissions were for asthma, bronchiolitis and seizures. Children from rural areas are particularly vulnerable, as they often experience worse health outcomes, and higher rates of obesity and tobacco exposure, and 71 percent had at least one chronic medical condition.
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Fox 6 News interviewed Dr. Wu in regards to this study. Click here to view the segment.
The Office of Faculty Development is pleased to announce the inaugural class for the Department of Pediatrics (DOP) Faculty Scholars Program. Congratulations to: Heather Austin, Ph.D., General Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine; Krista Casazza, Ph.D., RD, LD, General Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine; JR Hartig, Ph.D., General Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine; Morissa Ladinsky, M.D., General Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine; Claire Lenker, LCSW, CCM, Pediatric Pulmonary; Leslie Rhodes, M.D., Pediatric Cardiac Critical Care; Mary Lauren Scott, M.D., Pediatric Endocrine; Nicole Sims, M.D., Pediatric Critical Care; Cassi Smola, M.D., Pediatric Hospital Medicine and Stephenie Wallace, M.D., MSPH, General Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.
This one-year program is designed to strengthen our cadre of teaching faculty and support the development, implementation, and evaluation of innovative curricula designed to improve pediatric graduate medical education.
This one-year program is designed to strengthen our cadre of teaching faculty and support the development, implementation, and evaluation of innovative curricula designed to improve pediatric graduate medical education.
The UAB Center for Clinical and Translational Science (CCTS) recently acknowledged Department of Pediatrics (DOP) members who participated in the CCTS Panels Done Quickly (PDQ)/ Nascent Panel Project (NPP) team this past year.
PDQs and NPPs provide investigators across the UAB Campus and throughout the CCTS Partner Network with expert feedback during a critical window of grant development - within 6 weeks of an application deadline. Reviewingproposals at this stage requires an agile, highly focused response that is only possible with the involvement of accomplished scientists. Those who participated from the DOP include: Drs. Smita Bhatia, Randy Cron, Maaike Everts, Tom Harris, Wendy Landier, Jeffrey Lebensburger, Melissa McBrayer, and Alyssa Reddy
PDQs and NPPs provide investigators across the UAB Campus and throughout the CCTS Partner Network with expert feedback during a critical window of grant development - within 6 weeks of an application deadline. Reviewingproposals at this stage requires an agile, highly focused response that is only possible with the involvement of accomplished scientists. Those who participated from the DOP include: Drs. Smita Bhatia, Randy Cron, Maaike Everts, Tom Harris, Wendy Landier, Jeffrey Lebensburger, Melissa McBrayer, and Alyssa Reddy
Cason Benton, MD, FAAP, has been selected to serve on the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) Portfolio Review Panel. Under the purview of the AAP Quality Cabinet, review panel members provide ongoing review and critique of part four MOC applications, bi-annual project reports, and final reports for projects submitted through the AAP MOC Portfolio.
So… you say you weren’t able to join us for the first annual Pediatric Science Day. Here is your chance to see the 20 pediatric platform presentations that were showcased. These included presentations by 12 pediatric fellows, six pediatric residents, one post doc in psychology, and one medical student. The link below will take you to individual links for the respective presentations. Thank you again for your interest, and we look forward to seeing you next year!
Click here to view the Pediatric Science Day 2015 Lectures.
Click here to view the Pediatric Science Day 2015 Lectures.
Krista Casazza, Ph.D., Associate Professor in General Pediatrics, and David Allison, Ph.D., Professor and Associate Dean of the School of Public Health, were highlighted in ConscienHealth for their writing in a Clinical Obesity publication titled, "Stagnation in the clinical, community and public health domain of obesity: the need for probative research." Click here to read more.
On May 1, the Civitan - Sparks Clinics will join the Department of Pediatrics! This will now align these clinical and training efforts within the Department of Pediatrics and specifically with the new Division of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics (DDBP). Dr. Fred Biasini and colleagues will continue to provide interdisciplinary evaluations for children with neurodevelopmental disabilities and serve as a long and short-term training experience for many disciplines such as social work, audiology, psychology, occupational and physical therapy, speech/language pathology, nutrition, nursing, pediatric dentistry, and medicine. The Clinics are an important component of the Alabama University Center of Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD), and are the home base of the MCH Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities training program (LEND). Clinics include the Child Development Clinic, Behavioral Assessment Clinic, Psychoeducational Clinic, and Autism Clinic. Located in the UAB Community Health Building at 930 20th Street, the Civitan-Sparks Clinics also includes Sparks Pediatrics, a primary care clinic that serves healthy children as well as children with complex medical and social needs. Dr. Snehal Khatri, a developmental pediatrician, leads this team. All of these professionals are strongly committed to serving children with neurodevelopmental disabilities, and we welcome them to the Department of Pediatrics!
The new division, approved by the Board of Trustees on April 8, represents a move to more fully align and integrate with other clinical divisions that provide care for congenital cardiac patients at Children's of Alabama, said Department Chair Dr. Keith A. (Tony) Jones. “Because of the highly complicated nature of these surgical procedures, the faculty members who provide this care have become highly subspecialized,” Jones said. “Moving forward, they will be fully dedicated to congenital cardiac anesthesiology and will have their own space at Children’s.”
Yung R. Lau, M.D., director of the Division of Pediatric Cardiology and the Thomas N. Carruthers Endowed Chair in Cardiology, welcomed the new division. “The formation of the Division of Congenital Cardiac Anesthesiology is a welcomed step by all the stakeholders of the Pediatric and Congenital Heart Center at Children’s of Alabama. We see this as an important part of the evolving understanding that congenital heart disease is one of the unique and signature programs that UAB has,” he said. “Having dedicated Congenital Cardiac Anesthesia colleagues codifies the practice of focused multidisciplinary care of patients as well as research efforts that contribute significantly to the knowledge.”
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Yung R. Lau, M.D., director of the Division of Pediatric Cardiology and the Thomas N. Carruthers Endowed Chair in Cardiology, welcomed the new division. “The formation of the Division of Congenital Cardiac Anesthesiology is a welcomed step by all the stakeholders of the Pediatric and Congenital Heart Center at Children’s of Alabama. We see this as an important part of the evolving understanding that congenital heart disease is one of the unique and signature programs that UAB has,” he said. “Having dedicated Congenital Cardiac Anesthesia colleagues codifies the practice of focused multidisciplinary care of patients as well as research efforts that contribute significantly to the knowledge.”
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A panel of local doctors including Jaime McKinney, M.D., General Pediatrics, and educators discuss the complications of childhood poverty and what can be done to improve the quality of life in the news source Weld for Birmingham. Alabama is a poor state that consistently ranks among the lowest in categories pertaining to child poverty. A town hall meeting hosted by the UAB School of Medicine sought to address these issues last week.
“Frederick Douglass once said, ‘It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men,’” said Dr. Jaime McKinney, a general pediatrician at UAB who moderated the event. “I think that really encapsulates what we are trying to do.”
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“Frederick Douglass once said, ‘It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men,’” said Dr. Jaime McKinney, a general pediatrician at UAB who moderated the event. “I think that really encapsulates what we are trying to do.”
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Children's of Alabama published the spring/summer 2016 issue of Inside Pediatrics, which highlights the excellent care provided by Children's of Alabama and the UAB Department of Pediatrics and Pediatric Surgery.
Among the highlights: our innovative pediatric concussion clinic, global surgery program, and Alan Percy, M.D., as one of the world's leading experts in Rett Syndrome.
If you have not received your printed issue, click here for a link to the electronic, flipping book version of the recent edition of Inside Pediatrics. Please feel free to share this link with any colleagues around the country.
Among the highlights: our innovative pediatric concussion clinic, global surgery program, and Alan Percy, M.D., as one of the world's leading experts in Rett Syndrome.
If you have not received your printed issue, click here for a link to the electronic, flipping book version of the recent edition of Inside Pediatrics. Please feel free to share this link with any colleagues around the country.