Department of Pediatrics
Residents » Outpatient
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center
The Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Pediatric Clinic consists of two primary care clinics which house the general pediatrics, several sub-specialty clinics, as well as the residents' Continuity of Care Clinic. We have nine pediatricians who work in the clinic and act as attendings for the residents and students. They have many roles, including facilitating educational experiences and overseeing patient care. They work closely with the students and contribute to the Tuesday lecture series that all pediatric residents attend. The main pediatric clinic has 30 patient care rooms as well as two treatment rooms with the capability to perform several general pediatric tests such as pulmonary function testing, urine analysis, Hemoglobin A1C, EKG, basic blood work, etc.
Residents are assigned to the outpatient clinic throughout the three year residency program. Residents see patients under the supervision of the general pediatric faculty. The outpatient clinic also provides sick visit care for the residents' continuity clinic patients. The clinic residents start the day in the newborn nursery helping the nursery resident with admissions and discharges. The remainder of the day is spent in the outpatient clinic.
Several unique clinics are conducted in the general pediatrics clinic. They include:
- High Risk Clinic - high risk clinic is a follow-up clinic for NICU graduates. The clinic is run by a nurse practitioner and the infant is followed throughout their first two years. Residents are invited to spend time in this clinic to gain a better understanding of the care of the high risk neonate, including management of BPD and identification of developmental delay.
- Cleft Palate Clinic - cleft palate clinic is a multi-specialty collaboration in which infants and children with cleft palates are followed, and their care coordinated, by several specialists including pediatric ENT, plastic surgery, speech pathology, pediatrics and dentistry. This effort is made to maximize the quality of care offered to this small yet unique subset of the pediatric population.
- Newborn Clinic - the newborn follow-up clinic is conducted over several half-days during the week. This clinic enables the residents to follow patients recently discharged from the newborn nursery. This allows for close monitoring of weight gain as well as feeding issues, jaundice, and other issues that are often present in the immediate newborn time period.
- Continuity of Care Clinic (COC) - one of the most appreciated aspects of the pediatric residency training is the opportunity for continuity of care with a selected patient base. One half day per week, each resident, with supervision by attendings, sees a panel of patients that they will continue to follow during the duration of their three years of training. These clinics are designed in such a way that the resident is able to build a rapport with a group of patients and become well aware of the practical care issues and needs of these patients and their families. The COC clinic also offers the patients, who are often from low income families, the opportunity to establish a consistent medical home to monitor growth and development. Our residents find this experience invaluable as one of the stellar aspects of the residency program.
Newborn Nursery
During the 1st and 2nd years, residents are assigned to the newborn nursery. The resident is responsible for providing patient care as well as parent education and arranging follow-up. The resident also performs all circumcisions (with direct faculty supervision) for newborns on the Texas Tech service whose parents have requested the procedure. The newborn resident also sees patients in newborn follow-up clinic.
Community Clinic
During the second year of residency, a month is spent at Lubbock Children's Health Clinic. This facility provides primary care to the indigent population with help from numerous private and federal funding sources. Residents have the opportunity to learn about resources available in the community for the care of this patient population and to appreciate the necessity of effective allocation of limited resources.
Third year residents spend a month in the office of a private practitioner of general pediatrics. The goal of this month of community clinic experience is to provide exposure to office management, insurance, billing, coding, and other day-to-day aspects of private practice. Many different practices are available thanks to the excellent relationship that the department of pediatrics shares with the community pediatricians.
Adolescent Medicine
The adolescent medicine rotation provides exposure to all aspects of adolescent care. Residents spend time at the student health service for the undergraduate school, sports medicine clinics, and gynecology clinic focused on adolescent females.
During this rotation, residents also spend time at a rural clinic. The Hart school-based clinic is located in a small rural community approximately one hour from Lubbock. The clinic is run daily by the school nurse with resident and faculty member coverage provided on Wednesdays throughout the school year. This experience offers residents the opportunity to experience true rural medicine.
Developmental/Behavioral Pediatrics
The developmental rotation is done in the first year and focuses on differentiating normal and abnormal development as well as recognizing and treating behavioral problems in the pediatric population. Much of the clinical time is spent with a fellowship trained developmental and behavioral pediatrician. Additional time is spent exploring community resources for children with developmental and behavioral problems such as early childhood intervention programs and special education resources. A portion of this rotation is also devoted to abuse and neglect with time spent with Children's Protective Services and other agencies involved in protecting children.
Emergency Room
The ER rotation is done at Covenant Childrens' Hospital, an affiliated hospital located approximately 5 minutes from the main clinical site of University Medical Center and the Health Sciences Center. The ER is a separate children's ER staffed with Pediatric Emergency Medicine trained physicians as well as general pediatricians. Residents assess and care for patients and do procedures including suturing, splinting, lumbar punctures, etc. This rotation also provides an opportunity for the practice of other procedural skills such as IV placement and bladder catheterization.
In addition, pediatric residents serve as consultants for the UMC emergency room, a Level one ER. While on pediatric ward, PICU rotation, and on call, residents evaluate patients referred by the emergency room physicians. All patients are discussed with the inpatient pediatric ward or critical care attending prior to admission or discharge home. In addition, consults are received from other services such as the pediatric trauma team.
