Department of Pediatrics Philosophy Statement

The Department of Pediatrics, in alliance with its partners at UAMS, Arkansas Children’s Hospital, Arkansas Children’s Hospital Research Institute and other physicians and health service providers, embraces three equally important missions in clinical care, research and education. Were it not for our teaching function, our organization would not exist. We are also a professional service organization and a research institution. These three missions are synergistic, each component enhancing and strengthening the others. Our goal is exceptional performance in all three areas compared to benchmarks on the local campuses and nationally.

Our primary clinical goal is to improve the health and welfare of children in Arkansas through both direct provision of services and advocacy. We endeavor to avoid morbidity through prevention efforts. We strive to provide access to medical services for all of the children of our State by filling unmet needs. We provide clinical services that are always “state of the art” and evidence-based, where possible, within a seamless delivery system that is comprehensive, coordinated, accessible, available, accountable, cost-effective and highly efficient. We continuously improve the quality of these services, both for services that are already functioning well and for those that are not. We place “patients first,” striving to be sensitive to the needs of our patients and families and setting patients’ interests ahead of other activities when we are responsible for clinical services. We serve our patients, families and referring physicians to achieve their complete satisfaction.

The future of pediatric health care depends on the performance of the faculty of the Department of Pediatrics as educators. We endeavor to provide the highest quality, comprehensive and well-organized curriculum and program for our students, residents, fellows and other trainees. We tailor our instruction to meet the specific needs of individual trainees. We promote self-directed learning as the basis for life-long continuing education. We strive to fulfill the needs for continuing medical education and community education in pediatrics in the State. We are innovators in education and we continuously improve our programs and develop the teaching skills of our educators.

We seek the means to reduce morbidity and mortality and to advance the state of the art in health care through our basic, clinical and applied research endeavors. We promote the conduct of rigorous, high quality research through the recruitment and retention of excellent scientists, development of thematic research groups and support of the research infrastructure.

Our administrative services exist to facilitate the productivity of all of the members of our organization. We anticipate and respond to the needs of those we serve. We are good stewards of our resources and are committed to the highest standards of integrity and professionalism in management. We promote a nurturing, positive and enjoyable work atmosphere. We recognize that each and every member of the organization has a unique and important role in fulfilling our tripartite mission. We challenge, develop and empower each individual to achieve his or her full potential. We affirm our commitment to carry out our own unique roles to the best of our ability, to be flexible and to work together and with our partners as a mutually supportive team to achieve these important organizational goals. We recognize, reward and celebrate excellence.