Seattle Children’s Hospital
The mothership. Home sweet home. As the main clinical training site for pediatric residents, this 407-licensed-bed hospital is conveniently located 1.5 miles from the University of Washington campus. Recently recognized by U.S. News & World Report as one of the top 10 best children’s hospitals in the U.S. and the best in the Pacific Northwest, Seattle Children’s serves as a much-loved community hospital for children in Seattle as well as the primary pediatric referral center for children throughout Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho.
Pediatric residents rotating at Seattle Children’s learn to care for children hospitalized with an exceptionally wide variety of childhood diseases, ranging from everyday pediatric illnesses to highly unusual conditions.
University of Washington Medical Center
Located on the University of Washington campus, the University of Washington Medical Center is one of two primary teaching hospitals for the UW School of Medicine. This comprehensive care facility is consistently ranked as one of the best hospitals in the nation.
During intern year, pediatric residents rotate through the Mother/Parent and Baby Unit during their Newborn Rotation, as well as the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit during their NICU Rotation. Some residents return as senior residents in their second and third years. The UW Maternity and Infant Care Center provides routine obstetrics and neonatal care, but also serves as the regional center for high-risk obstetrics and neonatal pediatrics.
Working in the UW NICU and Newborn units is truly a unique experience for Seattle Children’s residents. UW is a catchment area for high risk OB patients, so it is not uncommon for us to attend complex deliveries where resuscitation of the newborn is more involved. Working nights at UW was definitely one of the highlights of my residency- I really enjoyed the autonomy I had during newborn deliveries, but also the immense attending and fellow support I had for NICU deliveries. My favorite part has to be discharge though! All babies need a PCP before discharge, and it is really fun connecting families to my co-residents’ clinics!
Harborview Medical Center
Founded in 1877, Harborview Medical Center is located in the heart of downtown Seattle and is one of two primary teaching hospitals for the University of Washington. Harborview is the only Level I trauma center in the entire five-state region, as well as a major referral center for burns, orthopedics and neurosurgery.
Pediatric residents rotate through Harborview for two to four months during their second and third years of training. Residents rotating through the inpatient pediatric service work closely with the burn and trauma services in the management of injured children. Residents also staff a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit with a focus on trauma and burn care.
Some residents also have their weekly continuity clinic at HMC, and learn to provide equitable, culturally safe, and comprehensive pediatric care to patients in King County, including a diverse urban population, refugee and immigrant, unaccompanied minors, and those experiencing housing instability.
One of the main reasons I chose Seattle Children’s was Harborview Medical Center. On top of the two months we spend there as residents, HMC is where my continuity clinic is housed. To say that this experience has been transformative is an understatement. Being able to serve such a diverse patient population including immigrant and refugee patients has been incredibly rewarding. Faculty at HMC have inspired me to pursue health services research and have mentored, encouraged, and guided me to be able to develop an equity and QI-focused career as a pediatric subspecialist.
Primary Care Clinics
Each resident is assigned a site throughout the greater Seattle area for their continuity clinic, and they spend an average of one half-day a week seeing patients there. As first years, residents also have a month-long rotation called Community Practice where they see patients at their continuity clinic most days of the week.
Continuity Clinic Sites
The map below to shows the continuity clinic sites in the Seattle area!
I have loved my experience at Sea Mar clinic! It has been a pleasure serving the patients and families at Sea Mar, the majority of whom are from the Latinx community. I enjoy being able to use my fluency in Spanish to communicate with families who consider Spanish their preferred language. Our preceptor, Cor Van Niel, is a great teacher and mentor, and the staff are lovely to work with.
Harborview Medical Center (HMC) Pediatric Clinic
Size: 4 residents per class
Location: First Hill, Seattle
Patients: HMC maintains an active, comprehensive outpatient primary care clinic. Patients come from among the most vulnerable populations in Seattle including low income, immigrant/refugee, families facing homelessness, and families who prefer a language other than English. The largest ethnic groups represented are Somali, Hispanic, Ethiopian (Amharic/Oromo), Vietnamese, and Khmer (Cambodian). Given the diversity of patients, this clinic is very well-suited for those interested in global health, immigrant and refugee care, and learning about community-based partnerships.
Strengths and Resources: Multidisciplinary team of dedicated nurses, social workers, mental health providers including a BHIP provider and child psychiatrist, dietitians, in-person interpreters, the family navigator program, and an early relational health clinician. Community outreach programs, including home visits and after school programs. The Pediatric Clinic was named the first Center of Excellence in Foster Care in Washington and also provides a a Traumatic Brain Injury clinic.
Clinic Medical Director: Dr. Anisa Ibrahim
Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic (OBCC)
Size: 3-4 residents per class
Location: Central District, Seattle
Patients: Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic (OBCC) is a community clinic of Seattle Children’s Hospital providing medical, dental and child behavioral health services to the predominantly low-income, multi-ethnic families in the surrounding community.
Special Features: Asthma Clinic, ADHD Clinic, Fit4You (an obesity prevention and management program), and a Sickle Cell clinic, staffed by hematologists from SCH. OBCC also runs the Teen Health Center at Garfield High School as well as medical services at First Place School, an elementary school for homeless youth, and Wellspring, a daycare for low income and homeless families in the neighborhood.
Continuity Clinic Director: Dr. Shaquita Bell, MD
Eastgate Public Health Center
Size: 1 resident every 2 years
Location: Eastside – Bellevue, WA
Patients: Part of the King County Health Centers Network, Eastgate PHC primarily serves the low-income population in Bellevue and the surrounding East King County communities of Issaquah, Woodinville, Kirkland, Renton and Kent. The clinic serves Medicaid patients as well as children with special health care needs. Many of the families are Spanish-speaking immigrants.
Special Features: The only designated public health clinic available for resident continuity clinic. Housed within a full spectrum facility offering primary care, a teen clinic, nutrition, WIC, dental, maternal support services, environmental health services, family planning, and STD services.
Clinic Preceptors: Dr. Crystal Shen MD, MPH
UW Neighborhood Kent/Des Moines Clinic (KDM)
Size: 9 residents per class
Location: South King County
Patients: Located in one of the fastest growing and most diverse areas of our region in south King County. Residents at KDM care for an underserved culturally and socioeconomically diverse patient population, as well as many medically complex patients who receive specialty care at SCH.
Special Features:Level 3 medical home model with a team-based, modern approach to primary care that includes an on-site social worker, health navigator, nutritionist, laboratory and radiology services, and an active behavioral health program with pediatric psychiatrists and cognitive behavioral therapy. Family medicine providers at the clinic provide access to unique opportunities, such as assisting on procedures like IUD/Nexplanon placement and circumcision.
Continuity Clinic Director: Dr. Nicole Johnson, MD
University of Washington Medical Center – Roosevelt Pediatric Care Center
Size: 12-13 residents per class
Location: University District, Seattle (2 miles from SCH)
Patients: PCC serves as a medical home to patients from a varied socioeconomic spectrum ranging from high-risk, low-income families to children of university graduate students, faculty, and staff. Patients are commonly recruited from the newborn nursery at UWMC, giving residents a chance to develop a relationship with families starting at birth. About 1/3 of our patients are considered children with special health care needs.
Special Features: Adoption medicine clinic, behavioral health including a weekly psychiatry clinic, allergy clinic, and faculty expertise in fetal alcohol syndrome.
Medical Director: Dr. Julie Bledsoe, MD
Kaiser Permanente - Northgate
Size: 2 residents per class
Location: Northgate neighborhood, Seattle (3 miles north of SCH)
Patients: Kaiser is an integrated health community-based clinic serving families living in the north end of Seattle and King County. This clinic is a great option for residents seeking opportunities within an integrated health model, and the enhanced capacities offered for value-based care achieved across the Kaiser system.
Special Features: Pediatric patients and their families can utilize Kaiserʼs services located on site including pharmacy, lab, radiology, behavioral health, eye care, and OT/PT. Adolescent Center and Social Work services are available by appointment. This integrated health model allows pediatric residents to work alongside family practice physicians and residents and have access to selected specialty consultations within the system.
Continuity Clinic Preceptor: Dr. Kelly Dundon MD
Neighborcare - Columbia City
Size: 4 residents per class
Location: Columbia City (South Seattle)
Patients: This clinic opened as a public health clinic in response to health care needs of vulnerable families including many immigrants and refugees. Neighborcare, a Federal Qualified Health Care (FQHC) community clinic network, eventually assumed leadership of the clinic. The children seen at Columbia are diverse, low income, mostly East African, Southeast Asian or Hispanic immigrant families and include medically and socially complex patients.
Special Features: The practice has many advantages of on-site services: social work, pediatric RN case management, nutritionists, and integrated behavioral health services, as well as public health nursing, WIC, and a dental clinic. Immediately adjacent are a Neighborcare family medicine clinic and OB practice which facilitates interdisciplinary patient care.
Continuity Clinic Director: Dr. Heather Henne, MD
Sea Mar Community Health Centers
Size: 2 residents per class
Location: South Park
Patients: Sea Mar is a busy community-based clinic serving low-income Spanish-speaking families living in the south end of Seattle and King County. About 90% of patient visits are conducted in Spanish, and Spanish proficiency is a requisite skill for residents at this site.
Special Features: Sea Mar includes behavioral health department, Head Start program, WIC program, maternity support services, dental clinic, pharmacy, child development center, onsite lab and radiology. In-clinic professionals include a social worker, health educator, patient navigator and chronic care coordinators. All medical assistants and support staff are bilingual/bicultural.
Continuity Clinic Preceptor: Dr. Cor Van Niel, MD