The number of practicing pediatric hospitalists is estimated to be approximately 2,500 and rapidly increasing. Furthermore, at least ten fellowships dedicated to advanced training in pediatric hospital medicine have been developed at academic institutions across North America. Despite this growth, there has been an absence of an accepted and peer-reviewed framework for professional and curriculum development. Until now . . ..
The Pediatric Hospital Medicine Core Competencies, published online in April 20010 as a Supplement of the Journal of Hospital Medicine, is a blueprint to develop standardized curricula for teaching Pediatric Hospital Medicine in medical school, post-graduate (i.e., residency, fellowship), and continuing medical education programs. The competencies standardize expected learning outcomes, but leave it to the curriculum developers and content experts to select instructional strategies, provide relevancy of context, and select the most relevant and up to date medical content.
The book contains 54 chapters, divided into four sections: Common Clinical Diagnoses and Conditions, Specialized Clinical Services, Core Skills, and Healthcare Systems: Supporting and Advancing Child Health.
Although the entire document can be a resource for comprehensive program development, each chapter is intended to stand alone and thus support curriculum development specific to the needs of individual programs. In addition, an attempt has been made to make the objectives outlined in each chapter "timeless", allowing for creation of curriculum that can be nimble and reactive to new discoveries.
About the Author: The Pediatric Hospital Medicine Core Competencies are a result of the contributions of 80 pediatric hospitalists and content experts, under the guidance and leadership of the Society of Hospital Medicine Pediatric Core Curriculum Task Force, leaders within the Academic Pediatric Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the editorial board. The editors are: Erin R. Stucky, MD, FAAP, FHM, Director of Graduate Medical Education, Rady Children's Hospital San Diego; Medical Director of Quality Improvement, Rady Children's Hospital San Diego; Associate Program Director, UCSD Pediatric Residency Program; Vice Chair for Clinical Affairs, UCSD Department of Pediatrics; Director, Pediatric Hospital Medicine Fellowship, Rady Children's Hospital; Clinical Professor of Pediatrics, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA
Jennifer Maniscalco, MD, MPH, FAAP, Director of Education, Division of Pediatric Hospital Medicine, Children's Hospital Los Angeles; Clinical Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA
Mary C. Ottolini, MD, MPH, FAAP, FHM, Chair, Academic Pediatric Association Education Committee; Immediate Past Hospitalist Division Chief; Vice Chair for Medical Education, Children's National Medical Center; Professor of Pediatrics, The George Washington University School of Medicine, Washington DC
