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Children's National Staff Recognized by the Academic Pediatric Association for Excellence in Research and Teaching

Washington, DC—Children’s National Medical Center physicians are receiving prestigious awards from the Academic Pediatric Association (APA). Ellie Hamburger, MD, and Mary Ottolini, MD, MPH, will receive the 2013 Teaching Program Award for their program, the Children’s Academic Pediatric Educators (CAPE). Additionally 2013-2014 Chief Resident, Michael V. Ortiz, MD, and his co-authors will be honored with the 2013 Ray E. Helfer Award for Innovation in Medical Education. Dr. Ortiz is the first medical resident to receive the award. The awards will be giving during the APA Annual Meeting in Washington, DC, May 4-7.

“Increasing our understanding of the medical education of our residents and fellows is vital to providing the best patient care possible,” said Dr. Ottolini, Vice Chair of the Office of Medical Education at Children’s. “All of the Children’s National program members who were awarded at this year’s Academic Pediatric Association Annual Meeting at Children’s National have gone above and beyond our goal to facilitate the ethical, professional, and personal development of our residents and fellows.” 

The Teaching Program Award is given to an outstanding general pediatric program as a way to cultivate interest in teaching. The program needs to demonstrate a high standard of teaching methods, acceptance by students and/or residents, the community and institution, and the quality of the people trained in the program. The CAPE program at Children’s National, launched in 2010, now includes 26 clinical educators that represent 15 pediatric disciplines. These educators all receive administrative, design, and research support to help refine their innovative initiatives. Since CAPE’s inception, members have collaborated on 45 projects, like a blended learning curriculum to improve the quality of care for patients admitted with diabetes. Many of these projects have made significant medical education contributions locally, nationally, and internationally.

The Ray A. Helfer Award recognizes creative scholarly work in pediatric education described in a paper submitted for the Annual Meeting. Dr. Ortiz and an interdisciplinary team of co-authors—Joyce Campbell, BSN, MS, CIC, Sarah Birch, BSN, MSN, DNP, Dr. Ottolini, and Dewesh Agrawal, MD, all from Children’s National—submitted the abstract “PDA-Based Self-Work Sampling Study of Pediatric Residents Quantifies Educational Value of Workday Activities.” The study surveyed pediatric interns to determine how they spend their time and what daily activities they perceive are most effective in preparing them to practice high quality, patient-centered care as the primary care providers and pediatric specialists of the future. This is the first time a self-sampling technique was used with pediatric interns.

“At Children’s National we work hard to support the highest standard of excellence in caring for children by preparing pediatric caregivers, both within and outside of our walls, to practice outstanding pediatric medicine,” said Mark Batshaw, MD, Chief Academic Officer at Children’s National. “The way we teach and how we support our educators is important and can always be improved. We have this year’s teachers and students to thank for helping our programs evolve to be more effective.”

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