A message from Cynthia Gibson, MD, MHA
Chair, Department of Pediatrics
Inova L.J. Murphy Children's Hospital (ILJMCH) is a 226-bed state-of-the-art children’s hospital, located on the Inova Fairfax Medical Campus in Falls Church, Virginia. ILJMCH is the region’s tertiary and quaternary care center, providing the highest level of care for infants to young adults, upholding the Inova values of Patient Always, Our People, One Team, Integrity, and Excellence.
It is an honor and privilege to follow in the footsteps of the visionary work of Dr. Mohsen Ziai and the further program development and leadership of Dr. Michael Altieri and Dr. David Ascher. We continue to expand not only our pediatric facility, but also our services. Our Level IV NICU is one of the nation’s largest, at 108-beds, supporting over 10,000 annual births, a busy maternal-fetal medicine program, a specialized small-baby unit and are regularly ranked highly by U.S. News and World Report for their care of these most fragile patients. The 14-bed Pediatric ICU care for a variety of critically ill children including post-surgical patients, oncology patients, those that require ECMO, and supports the only Level I trauma center in Northern Virginia. There is a 12-bed Cardiac ICU for our Pediatric Heart Center patients providing superb care in pediatric and adult congenital heart disease and surgery. The general pediatric units care for a diverse population of patients with simple as well as complex diagnoses and are led by board certified Pediatric Hospital Medicine physicians along with specialty physicians supporting the academic and patient care goals of the organization. Ranked among the best in the nation by U.S. News and World Report, the hematologists and oncologists care for children and their families across the full lifespan of treating these disorders, from initial diagnosis to comprehensive treatments and recovery. ICH is home to a highly sought after Pediatric Emergency Medicine fellowship and a Pediatric Hospitalist Medicine fellowship and is in the process of developing PICU and cardiology fellowships.
The 39 pediatric residents have exposure to a complete range of pediatric specialties, diagnoses and advanced treatments including ECMO, as well as an ethnically and socio-economically diverse patient population, with over 75,000 children receiving care through our inpatient and ambulatory services annually. ICH residents are actively involved with a variety of clinical research endeavors across multiple specialties and quality improvement projects under the direction of faculty advisors and the Office of Research. Their research and quality projects are routinely accepted for presentations at the PAS, ESPR, PHM and AAP annual conferences. Our residents are actively involved in the program’s development as well as committees addressing Residency Wellness, Advocacy and Community Collaboration, Social Media and Outreach, and Diversity and Inclusion. Being located just outside of our Nation’s Capital, there are multiple opportunities for advocacy at the
national level in addition to local political advocacy. ICH also has resident representation in the Virginia AAP Chapter.
Our residency program has helped ICH achieve excellent quality and safety scores; ICH was recognized by Press Ganey as a 2023 Human Experience Guardian of Excellence Award® winner for CH-CAHPS Patient Experience. Inova L.J. Murphy Children’s Hospital participates in Children’s Hospital Solutions for Patient Safety, Vermont Oxford Network, Children’s Hospital Association, the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, American College of Surgeons Children’s Surgery Verification Program tracking and ranking national quality data. The residents have opportunities to participate in these quality and safety endeavors.
In addition to serving as the Northern Virginia Campus of the University of Virginia School of Medicine, Inova Children’s has strategic clinical, educational and research partnerships with the University of Virginia, Children’s National Hospital, Georgetown University Medical School, Inova Fairfax Family Practice Residency, National Capital Consortium and Ft. Belvoir Family Medicine Residencies, and Shenandoah Valley Family Practice Residency in conjunction with Winchester Medical Center and Valley Health System.
Each year, graduating residents are selected to highly ranked fellowship programs or decide to work in primary care, many stay in the region, or come back after fellowship training. Our vision of the future continues to be exciting and dynamic. As a not-for-profit healthcare system, Inova re-invests all its income and contributions into programs, staff, services and technology to improve the health of the diverse community it serves and to meet its commitment to excellence in patient care, education and research.
Inova L.J. Murphy Children's Hospital is committed to training innovative and compassionate pediatricians by providing an exceptional foundation in general pediatrics and maximizing each resident’s individual potential. As a graduate of this program, I am honored to serve the residency program and am always amazed by the caliber and successful careers of the pediatricians we train. We welcome your interest in our Pediatric Residency Program and urge you to explore our website for more information.