Education

Clerkship Director:
Heather M. Taylor, M.D.
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics
htaylor@cchs.ua.edu

Welcome to pediatrics!  During rotations in our department, you will have the opportunity to become part of a health-care team with a responsibility to care for and to treat chronically and acutely ill children. Through this process, you will learn about common pediatric disorders, health maintenance in children, and child advocacy. Regardless of your anticipated career choice, you will need a strong foundation in pediatrics.

Philosophy:

Pediatrics is a primary care subspecialty of medicine, the primary concern of which is the comprehensive and continuing care of children. The basis of pediatrics resides in an understanding of the growth and development of the human organism as it proceeds from birth to adulthood. Pediatrics is, therefore, not an organ-based specialty but one which evaluates the child, both in health and disease, in terms of developmental physiology and its relationship to both family and society. Education within pediatrics is patient-related and interactive. The student must learn that infants and children are different from adults in their responses to both the environment and to disease. By understanding the child in terms of developmental biology, psychosocial development, and cognitive development, the student will begin to appreciate that area of medicine which is pediatrics. In dealing with children, the students in pediatrics will have an opportunity to truly influence the future.