Dear Friends,

Welcome! Thank you for taking the time to explore our Pediatric Residency Programs. At the Medical College of Wisconsin and Children’s Wisconsin, we are committed to your education and career.

I am excited that as of January 20, 2020, I am now the Interim Chair of The Department of Pediatrics as well as the Interim Pediatrician-In-Chief of Children’s Wisconsin as Dr. Lane has taken a new role in Kansas City.

Our residency program is near and dear to my heart. I matched here in 1989 and did my internship, residency, and fellowship here. I have chosen to stay at MCW/Children’s Wisconsin because we have wonderful people and programs that work together to care for children and their families. As we care together, we also learn together, have fun together, do scholarship together, and teach together.

Part of my approach as Interim Chair of the Department of Pediatrics is to recognize and acknowledge that our Department and the entire pediatric enterprise encompassing MCW and Children’s Wisconsin is very strong and doing very well. Therefore, I intend to provide stability and continue our present trajectory.

We have implemented a vision that we believe will lead to healthier children. Our immediate objective is to make use of current knowledge and technologies to improve the health and quality of life of children now. Our long-term objective is to advance the understanding of what will make children healthier in the future.

As stewards of these objectives, we are guardians of 1) standards that must be used to protect our patients and their futures; 2) a code of ethics that entails service to our patients and students; and 3) a body of knowledge that must be communicated to the next generation. This guardianship is a trust that comes with responsibilities. The most important of these responsibilities is delivering care and advocating for children and their families. To do this at an extraordinary level, we must create new knowledge, translate new knowledge, and teach new knowledge to the next generation of pediatricians in exciting and meaningful ways.

The quality of the people and their dedication to your education at the Medical College of Wisconsin and Children’s Wisconsin guarantees the success of our pediatric residency programs in training you. At the core of their beliefs, there exists a commitment towards inclusiveness, diversity, family, and teamwork.

Evidence of these commitments includes recognition that pediatric institutions are embedded into our greater community. Our programs actively provide opportunities to practice advocacy and care of the underserved through strong primary care training in sites throughout our local community. We have an excellent Center for the Advancement of Underserved Children with many community partnerships. Our residents work in this Center during their community pediatric rotation. We also recognize the wider community by providing opportunities to participate in an established global health program with multiple world partners.

These opportunities only scratch the surface of the depth and breadth of experiences possible through our residencies. Our department includes 25 pediatric divisions that provide rich and broad inpatient experiences including large pediatric and neonatal intensive care units. These units, as well as the Herma Heart Institute, MACC Fund Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders and our Emergency Department, have earned national recognition based on their passion to create and translate knowledge into cutting-edge compassionate patient care.

Our Department is able to provide this wide breadth of experience because of the excellence of Children’s Wisconsin, The Children’s Research Institute and The Medical College of Wisconsin.

As an investment for the community, the Children’s Wisconsin established the Children’s Research Institute in 2004. The Children’s Research Institute involves over 100 physician-scientists working in multiple pediatric programs of excellence. The mission of the institute is to develop thematic research programs that translate new knowledge from the basic sciences into improved care for children now and in the future. This investment has allowed our investigators to flourish.

Investing in the future of medical education and care is also an important component of our pediatric residency program’s vision for medical education. Evidence of this investment includes the following initiatives:

• Our pediatric residency team has developed the infrastructure for 6 different training tracks. The hospital medical and global health tracks began in 2010. The primary care and subspecialty/research tracks began in 2012. The availability of the Children’s Research Institute is particularly important for the latter track. The Career Identification Track (for those residents uncertain of career path) and the hybrid tract (for residents who want to combine the best of multiple tracks) began in July of 2013.
• Our pediatric residency team has developed the SURFboards board review program (Strategic Unified Regimen For passing the boards), which contains 7 distinct elements providing a comprehensive boards preparation experience beginning in orientation and ending after you pass your boards.
• Our pediatric residency team has tailored morning reports to your level of training (intern morning report and senior rounds). Intern morning report builds a basis of medical approach and care by teaching healthcare principles that hold true over time regardless of changes in technologies or population. Senior rounds are a unique experience imbued with a rich tradition facilitated by faculty including Chair Emeritus Dr. Bob Kliegman. Senior rounds are one of our residents’ favorite activities during their training.

Finally, congratulations on reaching this point in your training. You have chosen wisely to be a pediatrician. This is an exciting time to become a pediatrician because of recent advances in knowledge, technology, and care. Residency should be a wonderful and stimulating experience in which your primary responsibility is to learn. This will be a unique time in your lives and careers.

I sincerely believe that our residency programs are well-poised to help you become the best pediatrician you can be. As the Interim Chair of Pediatrics and the Interim Pediatrician-in-Chief of Children’s Wisconsin, I am personally committed to our residency programs as I have witnessed and experienced the impact of training here.

For a pediatric department to be great, the educational programs must be extraordinary.

Please feel free to reach out anytime to me.

• My email address is dam@mcw.edu
• My office phone number is (414) 337-7770

I look forward to hearing from you and working with you now and in the future.

David A. Margolis, MD
Professor of Pediatrics
Interim Chair, Department of Pediatrics
Program Director, MCW Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) and Cellular Therapy Program
Medical College of Wisconsin

Interim Pediatrician in Chief
David A. Margolis Chair in Pediatric BMT
Children’s Wisconsin

Go Bucks Go
#FearTheDeer
Twitter: @drdavemke