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Nemours Children's Hospital in Lake Nona has received accreditation from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) and will launch its first Pediatric Residency Program next summer. The Pediatric Residency Program leadership will begin recruiting residents this fall with the inaugural class beginning in July 2019.
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"We opened the doors to Nemours Children's Hospital five and a half years ago with a distinct vision to create something new for Central Florida," said Dana Bledsoe, president of Nemours Children's Hospital. "Our mission was to build a world-class pediatric academic medical center, and this training program is an essential piece that will benefit families struggling to access care."
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Nemours Children's Hospital has institutional accreditation and is sponsoring the program with the support of Nemours Children's Health System. Florida ranks near the bottom in sponsoring GME residents and fellows, per capita (41 out of 50). Starting a pediatric residency program and subsequently building fellowship programs in a freestanding pediatric hospital, is a unique opportunity to make a difference.
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"At Nemours, we have a rapidly growing population of children with medical complexity and those with high acuity needs," said Dr. Amber Hoffman, program director for Nemours Children's Hospital Pediatric Residency Program. "This paired with an expert faculty that has assembled from across the country is a combination that provides a perfect training ground to teach pediatric residents and subspecialists evidence-based, cutting edge medicine."
The new residency program will help relieve the statewide physician shortage crisis. The state anticipates an increase of children and a shortage of 7,000 medical specialists by the year 2025. The risk is that medical situations for sick children can become acutely worse with a delay in care, or lack of specialty expertise.
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In years to come, Nemours specialists will build a pipeline of high-level pediatric specialty care physicians in central Florida. Families will have more access to specialty care and won't be forced to travel out of the region in search of care.
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"Academic medicine is defined by a threefold mission. As a faculty physician you are expected to be an excellent clinician championing quality and safe care, a researcher to advance the field, and a medical educator to ensure high caliber training," said Dr. Heather Fagan, vice chair of education at Nemours' Department of Pediatrics. "Our doctors have been recruited from academic medical centers across the country, and are ready to help families in Florida by training the next generation of pediatricians and pediatric specialists."
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Key Details
- Nemours Children's Hospital in Lake Nona Medical City is set to launch a Pediatric Residency Program next summer. Hospital executive announced today that Nemours received accreditation from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). This program is the first step in training future pediatricians, followed by specialists and subspecialists.
- The new residency program will help relieve a statewide physician shortage crisis. By 2022, the number of kids in FL is expected to increase by 7%. The state anticipates a shortage of 7K medical specialists by 2025. This means long wait times and difficulty accessing care. Medical situations can become acutely worse with a delay in care, or lack of specialty expertise.
- Nationwide, 2/3 of pediatric residency graduates practice medicine where they complete their training. By adding residency spots, Central Florida families will have more access to pediatric specialty care closer to home and will not be forced to travel out of the region in search of care for their child.
- Currently, NCH experts are providing pediatric education for medical students. Now, Nemours pediatricians and specialists will build a pipeline of highly trained pediatricians and pediatric specialty care physicians for central Florida. These future pediatric specialists and subspecialists will change the landscape of our region's healthcare for children and the outcomes for pediatric patients in this area.
- Nemours Children's Hospital has institutional accreditation and is sponsoring the program with the support of Nemours Children's Health System. The NCH residency program is in charge of developing and executing the full educational program. It is a unique opportunity to start a pediatric residency and subsequently building fellowship programs in a self-governed/freestanding pediatric hospital in today's world.
- Nemours Children's Hospital has been accredited for 36 pediatric residents.
- This fall, the pediatric residency program leadership and Nemours faculty physicians will be recruiting the first class of resident trainees that will begin in July 2019.
- In the next several years, leadership will first focus on successfully launching the Pediatric Residency Program in 2019 and will then begin mapping out the development of pediatric subspecialty fellowship programs.
- Florida has a lack of residency slots and ranks near the bottom, 41 out of 50 states in sponsoring GME residents and fellows, per capita.
- Children's hospitals across the country continue to experience significant shortages in pediatric specialties such as: pediatric neurology, rheumatology, genetics and developmental pediatrics. (Data from the Children's Hospital Association)
- Surgical specialties with access issues: Plastic, Orthopedic, Cardiovascular and Otolaryngology. (Data from the Children's Hospital Association)
- According to the AAMC's 2017 Physician Workforce Profile, there are 121,000 patients per pediatrician in Florida.
- Only 1% of all hospitals in the United States train approximately half of the nation's pediatricians and pediatric specialists.
- Access is already a serious issue in FL. According to the 2016 Health Needs Assessment sponsored by Nemours of families in Brevard, Orange, Osceola & Seminole Counties:
- (36.3%) reported some type of difficulty or delay in obtaining healthcare services for their child in the past year. With Osceola County being affected the most.
- (37.2%) of children are reported to have needed to see a specialist at some point in the past year. A significant increase within the past three years.
