Education

The Kempe Center has a long history of leadership in the field of child maltreatment through the multidisciplinary education of students and professionals working with victims of child abuse. As a university center, we contribute to the academic educational mission by teaching students, graduates and post-graduate of all levels and across various disciplines on this campus and in partnership with our affiliated teaching hospitals. Our community-based education is broad in scope and reaches thousands of professionals annually across the Rocky Mountain Region and at both national and international conferences. Continuing education and life-long learning for medical, nursing, child welfare social workers, law enforcement and legal professions are also a core part of our work. Training services in collaboration with other Colorado institutions of higher education and Colorado Department of Human Services are a core of our work.

Child abuse and neglect is an important component of the pediatric curriculum for medical, nursing, child health associate /physician assistant students and physicians in residency training programs. The Department of Pediatrics is highly devoted to medical education at every level of training from preclinical years, clinical rotations and postgraduate training of fellows (Child Abuse Pediatrics and Berger Fellowship) and post-doctoral students. The Kempe Center faculty participate in this longitudinal education with a commitment to innovation and excellence to help produce outstanding pediatric health care providers and researchers for Colorado and the nation.

Fellowships

The University of Colorado School of Medicine's Department of Pediatrics, Children's Colorado, and the Kempe Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse and Neglect offer a three-year post-residency fellowship in child abuse and neglect. The goal of the fellowship is to provide physicians who are board eligible or board certified in pediatrics with in-depth, comprehensive, and intensive training in child abuse and neglect that will prepare them for a clinical or academic career dedicated to the field of Child Abuse Pediatrics, which is an American Board of Pediatrics subspecialty.

Medical Student Electives

Child Protection Team faculty at Children's Hospital Colorado provide a lecture on basic child abuse principles as part of the pediatric clerkship's core lecture series. An Elective in Child Abuse and Neglect is available for fourth-year medical students. The course is designed to educate students, who are pursuing primary care, psychiatry residency, or any specialty that serves and treats this patient population, in both the basic and more advanced principles of child abuse and neglect. Students participate in all activities of the Child Protection Team at Children's Hospital Colorado and the Kempe Center including a busy outpatient sexual abuse evaluation clinic, inpatient and emergency department consultation service. Community based experiences augment the clinical work.

Residency Experiences

Training for residents in child abuse and neglect also involves the clinical faculty at Children's Colorado and the Kempe Center. Lectures on many aspects of child abuse are part of the pediatric residency curriculum. Intensive clinical training and experience in the medical and psychosocial aspects of child abuse occur throughout the three years of residency. An elective rotation with the Child Protection Team is available.

Child Health Associate/Physician Assistant Program

The Kempe Center also provides a 3rd year clinical rotation opportunity to the University of Colorado Child Health Associate/Physician Assistant Program students. This rotation mirrors the resident elective. Through this elective, the Center contributes to the comprehensive physician assistant program which provides education in primary care across the lifespan, with expanded training in pediatrics and the care of the medically underserved.