Residency Program | Overview

Washington University School of Medicine

The education of physicians at Washington University began in 1891, when an ordinance establishing a Medical Department of Washington University brought the independent St. Louis Medical College under the University's auspices. In 1899, Missouri Medical College, another independent college in the city, also joined Washington University's Medical Department.

The School of Medicine has one of the finest faculties of any medical school in the nation and attracts a student body of exceptional quality. The medical school's affiliation with St. Louis Children's Hospital places university students and faculty members in the hospital's patient units facilitating education and clinical research.

The Department of Pediatrics can be judged in part by its past and current leadership. In 1910, John Howland, M.D.,served as professor and head of the Department of Pediatrics. The coveted Howland Award of the American Pediatric Society memorializes his contributions to medicine. W. McKim Marriott, M.D., was the second head of the Department of Pediatrics. His interest in infant nutritional requirements led him to write Infant Nutritionin 1928, a text that retains scientific validity today. During Marriott's tenure, the nation's first insulin treatment for diabetic infants was conducted, starting a continuing tradition of special interest in this illness.

Prior to the appointment in July 1995 of Alan L. Schwartz, Ph.D., M.D., as chairman of the Department of Pediatrics, there had been only three heads of pediatrics since 1936: Alexis F. Hartmann, Sr., M.D., who laid the foundations for much of the modern treatment of childhood fluid and electrolyte disturbances; Philip R. Dodge, M.D., a distinguished leader in child neurology and currently a member of the staff, and Harvey R.Colten, M.D., a clinician-scientist with interests in immunology and pulmonology.

Two of the largest centers for the study and treatment of juvenile diabetes and childhood cancer are based here. Research is under way on the delineation of genetic disorders, pulmonary and cardiovascular diseases, childhood cancer, nutritional and metabolic disorders, and other conditions. Basic research efforts defining developmental molecular and cellular biology -- the foundation for future developments in pediatric medicine -- are being undertaken in the hospital's laboratories.

A few examples of leadership at St. Louis Children's Hospital in clinical research and practice include the medical and surgical treatment of intractable seizures and spastic diplegia, which have made the hospital a leading center for the care of children with neurological disorders. The physiologic basis for apnea in premature infants was described at St. Louis Children's Hospital. Major contributions to research also have been made in the areas of sudden infant death, immunodeficiency disease, vaccine development and juvenile hypertension.

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