The Kiwanis Cal-Nev-Ha Foundation has funded a pediatric emergency medicine fellowship program at Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital.

Working with Lance Brown, M.D., M.P.H., chief, division of pediatric emergency medicine at Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital, the Kiwanis Cal-Nev-Ha Foundation has committed $186,100 to fund a two-year training fellowship.

“This two-year training program will prepare a physician to care for children in the emergency department; research ways to improve the care of acutely ill and injured children; develop important communication skills with children, their families and medical personnel; and develop outreach programs to rural areas where there are currently no pediatric emergency medicine specialists,” Brown states.

From among several candidates, Andrea Thorp, M.D., a 2001 graduate of the School of Medicine, was matched with the fellowship offered at Loma Linda.

Thorp, a native of Redlands, received her undergraduate training at Pacific Union College, Angwin, before entering the School of Medicine.

Following graduation from Loma Linda, Thorp entered a pediatric residency at Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

“It was during my residency that I realized that many of my career interests would be met in the setting of a pediatric emergency department,” Thorp says.

“The children that come to the emergency department today tend to be sicker than kids seen in a general pediatric office.”

Loma Linda has had a pediatric emergency medicine training program for the past 12 years. Previously, Loma Linda had accepted just one pediatric emergency fellow per year. Thanks to additional internal funding and the Kiwanis Cal-Nev-Ha Foundation grant, three fellows will begin the training program in July 2005.

“Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital serves as an ideal training ground for pediatric emergency medicine residents,” Brown notes.

“Loma Linda is uniquely positioned as the only Level I trauma center in the four-county region of San Bernardino, Riverside, Inyo and Mono counties which is home to more than 1.2 million children.”

The pediatric emergency department at Children’s Hospital annually receives 20,000 to 25,000 acutely ill and injured children.