Welcome from the Chairman
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Welcome to the Department of Pediatrics website. We appreciate your interest in our education, research, clinical and advocacy programs.
As the Department of Pediatrics of the School of Medicine of The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, our mission is to serve the needs of the state of Texas by:
- providing medical education and training to medical students, residents, fellows, and practicing physicians as well as students and practitioners of other disciplines;
- delivering high quality pediatric primary care and specialty pediatric care primarily to patients of Bexar County and South Texas;
- conducting basic, clinical and other bio-medical research;
- serving on a variety of University, community, state, and national and international committees, boards, agencies and other administrative bodies;
- developing a network of pediatric specialty care services in support of the children and pediatric primary care providers throughout South Texas;
- striving to increase the number of under represented minority medical students and pediatric house staff; and
striving for a majority of graduating medial students and pediatric house staff to commit to generalist careers, particularly in medically underserved areas.
Our education offerings include undergraduate programs in San Antonio and at the Regional Academic Health Center in Harlingen, Texas. Graduate medical education programs include the core pediatric residency and subspecialty training in critical care medicine, endocrinology, neonatology and sports medicine. In addition, we promote lifelong learning through continuing medical education programs like our weekly grand rounds which is open to the community at large.
Our primary clinical affiliation is with CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Children's Hospital. We have recently expanded our 35 year affiliation to create San Antonio's academic children's hospital. Major service lines include hematology-oncology, pulmonary disease, nephrology, palliative care, critical care, transport services and the University's congenital heart program. We continue to provide outstanding specialty service at University Hospital with neonatal services and critical care services in support of the trauma and transplant missions. State-of-the-art diabetes care is provided by the Division of Endocrinology and Diabetes at the Texas Diabetes Institute. Our Center for Hope offers evaluation and ongoing care of children with developmental and physical disabilities with the goal of achieving the maximal potential of each of these special children.
The Department provides primary care services at the Children's Health Center. Subspecialty clinics are housed in the Goldsbury Center for Children and Families. In addition we offer subspecialty services at the University Pediatric Subspecialties Clinic on Sonterra in North San Antonio.
Research is a vital component of our mission and the Department of Pediatrics has a broad portfolio of talent and programs. On the molecular level, we are looking at chromosome 18 and understanding the mechanisms by which gene deletions lead to physical and development disorders. Basic scientists are also working on cellular responses associated with respiratory distress in premature newborns, molecular mechanisms underlying renal disease and immunologic changes in an animal model for myasthenia gravis. In collaboration with the General Clinical Research Center, clinical investigators are studying the effectiveness of enzyme replacement therapy in lysosomal storage diseases. In collaboration with Children's Cancer Research Institute, the recipient of a two hundred million dollar endowment, basic and clinical research in tumor virology, cancer epidemiology and cancer treatment protocols are ongoing and growing.
We are also focusing on research in areas that are important to the health of our region, particularly the emerging epidemic of Type II diabetes mellitus, ethnocultural barriers to health care and children who are victims of AIDS.
We are proud of our role as educators of both the current and next generation of health care providers, as providers of cutting edge clinical care, as researchers unlocking the doors to new knowledge, and as advocates for our society's most precious asset - our children. As you browse through this website, I hope you are captivated by the spirit of the department, The University of Texas Health Science Center and South Texas.
Thomas C. Mayes, MD, MBA
Professor and chairman
Department of Pediatrics
E-mail: pedschair@uthscsa.edu