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Medical Student Education

We offer a wide range of programs to give medical students a solid understanding of childhood health and illness – key components of a well-rounded medical education.

  • Clerkship Requirements

    The core clerkship in Pediatrics requires six weeks of clinical experience through the many care units housed at Children’s Health℠ Children's Medical Center Dallas, in addition to select locations at Parkland Health & Hospital System. Faculty from the Department of Pediatrics also regularly host students in their clinics during students' Ambulatory Care Clerkship.

    The department offers a full curriculum based on the core competencies as published by the Council on Medical Student Education in Pediatrics (COMSEP). The faculty in nearly all divisions in the Department of Pediatrics maximize teaching tools including:

    • Bedside clinical supervision
    • Daily rounds
    • Various didactic sessions
    • Facilitated team-based learning sessions

    We review the entire curriculum on an ongoing basis, based on feedback from medical school faculty, national regulatory agencies, and medical students themselves.

  • Exploring Elective Subspecialties

    Along with their compulsory rotations during the Clerkship period, medical students gain exposure to the many pediatric subspecialties through two- to four-week exploratory electives in such disciplines as:

    • Cardiology
    • Genetics
    • Infectious Diseases
    • Child Development and Autism (our newest elective track)
  • Post-Clerkship Rotations at Children’s Health, Parkland
    Parkland Hospital

    Post-Clerkship medical students can tailor their academic schedule to meet individual learning goals. Students gain in-depth exposure to pediatric subspecialties in preparation for an eventual career in pediatrics. They can also strengthen their foundation in caring for children in advance of any health care career path.

    Children’s Health℠ and Parkland allow UT Southwestern medical students to immerse themselves in acute/intensive care experiences via rotations in:

    • Neonatal Intensive Care
    • Pediatric Intensive Care
    • Cardiovascular Intensive Care
    • Pediatric Emergency Department

    Extended Post-Clerkship learning includes work in:

    • Pediatric Hematology and Oncology
    • Nephrology
    • Gastroenterology
    • Endocrinology
    • International-health electives
    • Individual scholarly investigations mentored by UT Southwestern faculty
  • Career Prep Pediatric Internship

    For students wishing to pursue a career in Pediatrics, the Preparation for Pediatric Internship course -- or Boot Camp -- delivers the knowledge and practical skills you need before entering pediatric residencies. Boot Camp focuses on:

    • Patient care scenarios
    • Daily intern tasks
    • Effective communication
    • Basic procedures
    • Evidence-based medicine.

Real-World Results

Doctor holding baby

Positive Student Experience

Medical students rated their experience on their Pediatrics Clerkship as overwhelmingly positive. Student feedback from course evaluations remained consistently positive, specifically related to:

  • Autonomy
  • Promotion of clinical skills
  • Preparation for internship

On the 2016 graduation questionnaire, 91.4 percent of UT Southwestern students rated their educational experience as “good” or “excellent.”

Proven Success

Students rotating through the core clerkship continue to outpace national averages on standardized assessments. For example, UT Southwestern students consistently score above the national average for comparable pediatric clerkships on the National Board of Medical Examiners subject exam in Pediatrics.

Perhaps most telling, every year about 30 students from the graduating medical school class choose to pursue careers in pediatrics or some combined program including pediatrics.

Mentors Support Students’ Success

Faculty from the Department of Pediatrics often participate, and take leadership roles, in the more didactic curricula during the first two years of medical school. Such key courses include:

  • Genetics
  • Biochemistry
  • Endocrinology
  • Medical ethics

Since the creation of the Colleges system at UT Southwestern, faculty members in the Pediatrics Department have played pivotal roles as mentors to medical students. As a part of the curriculum, each participating faculty member guides a group of six pre-clerkship medical students through weekly small group meetings focusing on curricula such as:

  • Professionalism and ethics
  • Communication skills
  • Diagnostic and physical exam skills
  • Clinical reasoning
  • Interpretation skills

College's mentoring continues monthly through the clerkship and post-clerkship periods.

The Department takes great pride in the quality of education delivered by its faculty. Dr. Angela Mihalic received a pre-clerkship teaching award at the Excellence in Education Annual Reception and Award ceremony (2016). Both she and Dr. Susan Hupp received Southwestern Academy of Teachers grants for their educational scholarship. Two of our faculty, including Dr. Mihalic and Dr. Dorothy Sendelbach, were inducted into the UT System Kenneth I. Shine, M.D., Academy of Health Science Education.

Medical Student Education Faculty

Soumya Adhikari, M.D.

Soumya Adhikari, M.D.

Associate Professor

  • Director, Pediatric Medical Student Education
Rory Nicolaides , M.D.

Rory Nicolaides, M.D.

Assistant Professor

  • Associate Clerkship Director (MS4s)
Ben Lee, M.D.

Ben Lee, M.D.

Associate Professor

  • Clerkship Director

For Visiting Medical Students

Pediatric Rotations for Visiting Medical Students