,
Given the importance of your upcoming decision about residency, I wanted first
to introduce myself and then describe to you some of the important aspects of
the Pediatric Residency Program at the University of Chicago.
My name is David Gozal, and I am the new chairman of pediatrics at the
University of Chicago, a position that I assumed as recently as February 1st.
Therefore and for obvious reasons, I missed meeting you personally during the
interview season. I wanted to take this time to offer you some of my thoughts
about the residency experience, emphasize to you my commitment to residency
education, and then tell you a little bit about the U of C.
I believe that the residents (Peds and Med-Peds) are absolutely vital to my
department; they are the windows to the world of any program, anywhere, and
therefore it is justified to state that the image and essence of the
department resides in its residency programs. The residency and training
programs are clearly the reason most academic physicians choose to remain at a
university hospital, and I am no exception.
There are some exciting developments that I would like to share with you.
During this academic year and throughout the interview season, the University
of Chicago has been in discussion with Northshore hospital in Evanston,
Illinois to open opportunities for resident and fellow education. Those doors
are now open and although there are no required or mandatory rotations in
Evanston, there will be pediatric rotations at Northshore for residents who
want a community oriented experience in general pediatrics and/or in neonatal
intensive care being provided by a cadre of teachers and pediatricians with a
long track record of excellence in training. Because of these opportunities,
we will increase the intern class from 18 to 20 for the 2009 match while the
Med-Peds program will continue its current match of 4 residents.
Many of you have seen or read recent news reports about job cuts at the
University of Chicago. Because of the current difficult economic time the
University did cut approximately 350 staff positions. However, our commitment
to excellence in education, training, and patient care is so deep and defines
us in such an overarching manner that no residents or fellows were cut, no
resident extenders lost their positions, and bedside nursing numbers were not
decreased. Administrative staff and other support staff positions were
however eliminated in an effort to be fiscally responsible and at the same
time, be sensitive not to compromise education or patient care. In the Comer
Children's hospital this resulted in a loss of 9 positions.
Finally, Dr. Kahana will step down as program director this summer. Although
we are all saddened by her departure and wish her the best of success and
happiness in her new personal and professional venues, I am delighted to let
you know that Dr. Heather Fagan will take over as the Director of the
Residency Program. As you probably know, Dr. Fagan and Dr. Kahana have worked
side by side for a decade, and Dr. Fagan brings to this position the same
energy, passion and dedication to resident education that has become the
reputation and signature mark of the University of Chicago. From my
perspective, I plan to be integrally and personally involved in the
educational program, to get to know each and every one of you, and to enhance
even further the existing array of extraordinary opportunities that are
already in place in our program for research activities, leadership
development, and tailored academic career pathway development. I hope that you
can appreciate our unwavering commitment to train the next generation of
pediatric leaders for our communities, our scientific frontiers and the world.
I therefore strongly believe that if you wish to make a difference, your place
is with us here at the University of Chicago.
See you soon,
David Gozal, MD