News from Academic & Medical Education

Medical Education: Teaching Tomorrow's Doctors

The Medical Education department supports Cook Children’s being the preeminent model for delivering children’s healthcare in the U.S. through the training of the next generation of physicians. Medical students, residents and fellows are able to spend time at Cook Children’s, learning first-hand from our professionals and experiencing the unique culture, family-centered focus and integrated health care provided by our system.

Medical Education reinvests in our community to make Fort Worth the healthiest place for children to grow up by affiliating with three local medical schools and 14 residency programs. An additional four new residency programs will start this year. They are: JPS Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, BSW All Saints Surgery, Texas Rehabilitation Hospital Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, and Texas Tech Pediatrics.
 

Cook Children’s Medical Education program experienced a growth of 57% in 2021-2022 and an additional 11.2% growth in 2022-2023, significantly rebounding from the Covid pandemic restrictions that disrupted clinical rotations over three academic years. In addition, a Graduate Medical Education Residency Program Coordinator position was added to oversee visiting residents and fellows. Two Medical Education Coordinators oversee all visiting medical student rotations.

Please redirect any requests for a rotation to Medical.Education@cookchildrens.org or contact us via phone or email BEFORE you agree to host a medical student or resident.

Clinical rotations require an affiliation agreement with the school or residency program. Please review policies ED 375.pdf (cookchildrens.org) and ED 335.pdf (cookchildrens.org), which state that Medical Education is solely responsible for all contractual agreements including fees and distribution of funds.

Along with Scope of Practice documents, two policies provide guidance about supervision of students and residents. They are ED 350.pdf (cookchildrens.org) and ED 400.pdf (cookchildrens.org).

For more information, please contact:

• Don Wilson, M.D., Medical Director, Medical Education
• Debra Jorden, Director, Academic & Medical Education
• Maria Dominquez, GME Residency Program Coordinator
• Amy DePrang, Medical Education Coordinator
• Tash Heinz, Medical Education Coordinator

Advancing Your Education: Here's What You Need to Know

Going Back to School?
Are you, or an employee you know, planning on going back to school to advance your/their education? As part of that education, do you/they plan to complete clinical hours at Cook Children’s? If so, please note the following: 

• All programs for continuing academic education require an application process. Visit the school/university site for requirements.
• Notify your supervisor as early as possible of your intentions, especially if you'll need to modify your work schedule.
• Tuition reimbursement is handled through Human Resources. See HR 970.pdf (cookchildrens.org) policy for additional information and instructions.  

Academic Partnerships

Cook Children’s has affiliation agreements with about 200 academic institutions. The affiliation agreements are specific to the college and degree program. New affiliation agreements take about three months to fully execute. Please start the affiliation agreement process early by contacting Jennifer Vierkant at academic.education@cookchildrens.org . A Legal Request for Affiliation Agreement form is required to initiate the process.

Completing Rotational Hours at Cook Children's
Employees completing academic/clinical hours at Cook Children’s will be assigned a student badge and student computer access. Employee badges and computer access cannot be used while completing academic/clinical hours at Cook Children's.  If an employee is part of a nursing school cohort, the school will initiate and complete the on-boarding process. 

If the employee is not part of a nursing school cohort and they plan to complete clinical or any other rotational hours at Cook Children’s, they must:

• Identify a preceptor
• Confirm or initiate a current affiliation agreement between Cook Children’s and the school/university
• Submit an application for approval and upon approval, complete the onboarding process

Contact academic.education@cookchildrens.org to verify or initiate an agreement. New agreements take approximately three months to fully execute. Start the process early!

Application for completing hours at Cook Children’s must be submitted no less than three weeks prior to the start date. All paperwork must be completed and returned no less than ten business days prior to the start date.  If these steps are not completed, the start date may be delayed.

Upon completion of the onboarding process, an email clearing the employee to be on their rotation will be sent to the employee and their preceptor.