Fellowship Overview

The fellowship is intended for physicians to acquire expertise and skills in clinical practice, teaching, investigative research and administrative functions related to the field of pediatric emergency medicine. The clinical information and skills acquired during residency training will be sharpened and focused as the fellow gains new knowledge and experience pertinent to the emergency management of critically ill and injured children. The fellow will participate in teaching of both medical and lay personnel on topics related to pediatric emergency medicine in a variety of formats. An understanding of clinical research will be fostered through course study in research design and the development and execution of a research project. In addition, exposure to the administrative aspects of managing an emergency department will be afforded the fellow during the years of training.

Clinical Facilities/Experience

MUSC Children’s Health serves as the comprehensive regional pediatric quaternary hospital for Charleston and the surrounding area. The new Shawn Jenkins Children’s Hospital which opened February 2020 contains 250 beds, an increase of nearly 20 percent over the previous hospital.


Unique features include:

  • An entire floor dedicated to the care of children with heart problems
  • A comprehensive interventional program for non-cardiac surgical procedures housing six operating rooms, four procedure suites, and an MRI scanner specifically designed for the care of children
  • A full top floor dedicated to the care of children with cancer and blood disorders, providing these longer-term patients with soothing views of Charleston and surrounding tidal areas
  • 22,000 lb. rooftop helipad is engineered to accommodate the Coast Guard’s new Jayhawk helicopter for emergency and disaster situation

 

All major subspecialties are represented at our institution with national recognition in the US News and World Report hospital rankings in 6 specialties. MUSC Health has invested more than 500 million dollars to expand the clinical mission of pediatric care in the region with the construction of the new Shawn Jenkins Children’s Hospital and a new medical office building and ambulatory surgical center that opened in early 2019.

 

The Children’s Health Emergency Department (ED) provides care for almost 32,000 patient visits per year in our downtown location, including over 600 trauma patients annually. Our division also runs three pediatric-exclusive urgent care clinics throughout the greater Charleston area, where we care for an additional 30,000 patients.

 

Our pediatric trauma program is certified by the American College of Surgeons. Our new state-of-the-art ED houses 20 unique patient rooms, including two beautiful and expansive resuscitation/trauma rooms, a dedicated orthopedic room, and dedicated psychiatric rooms. Our ED is equipped with video recording capabilities for resuscitations for educational purposes, as well as centralized virtual patient monitoring, telemedicine, and real-time locations systems (RTLS) capabilities. We have an additional 6-8 beds to flex into in evenings or on weekends, when volumes necessitate. Current acuity ranges from minor pediatric illnesses to major multiple trauma, with almost 18% to 20% of patients visits resulting in hospital admission.

 

We perform anywhere between 450-500 procedural sedations annually for an ever-increasing number of indications. Nationally, we rank in the top 20th percentile for critical care billing and proportion of patients admitted, which is a strong testimony to the acuity of patients we see. The ED is staffed 24 hours a day by faculty physicians of the Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine, Pediatric Nurse Practitioners, and residents from training programs in Pediatrics, Emergency Medicine, Medicine-Pediatrics, and Family Medicine. We are also staffed with only pediatric-trained nurses and Certified Child Life Specialists. In 2017, our ED was awarded the prestigious Lantern Award from the Emergency Nurses Association, which is a national award given to EDs that exemplify exceptional practice and innovative performance in the core areas of leadership, practice, education, advocacy and research.

 

MUSC has an excellent transport team that transports patient to our hospital from around our state and beyond via ground, helicopter and fixed wing vehicles. The ED attending and fellows serve as medical control for all transport crews coming to the ED.