he most prolific universities in pediatrics between 1999-2003 were recently featured in SCI-BYTES. According to the ISI Essential Science Indicators Web product, of the top 100 federally funded U.S. universities, Baylor College of Medicine ranked third in contributing the greatest number of papers to the field of pediatrics over the last five years. Based on each university's percentage of the 34,729 papers entered into the Thomson ISI database from Thomson-indexed pediatrics journals between 1999 and 2003. in-cites visited the Website of Baylor College of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics and captured the unedited text of what this highly-cited institution is all about.

In 1943, Baylor University College of Medicine (now Baylor College of Medicine) accepted the invitation to become the first institution in the fledgling Texas Medical Center in Houston.  At that time, James H. Park, Jr., M.D., was offered and accepted an appointment to the college's voluntary clinical faculty and thus became professor and chair of the Department of Pediatrics.  The following year, George W. Salmon, M.D., was appointed assistant professor and was the first full-time faculty member in the department.

In 1947, Russell J. Blattner, M.D., accepted an invitation to join the college's faculty as the first full-time chair of the Department of Pediatrics, as well as chief of Pediatric Services at Hermann Hospital.  He was joined by Florence M. Heys, Ph.D., an instructor in pediatrics who would engage in pediatric research and handle some of the teaching assignments.  At that time, Dr. Blattner noted that "eventually" the department would have three full-time clinical members in addition to the chair. By 1952, however, the department had grown significantly, with 10 full-time clinical faculty and three full-time research staff members.  In addition, teaching affiliations had been established between the department and numerous institutions throughout Houston, including Jefferson Davis Hospital, St. Joseph Hospital, The Methodist Hospital, and the Junior League Children's Clinic.

A pivotal event in the Department of Pediatrics' growth was the opening, in 1954, of Texas Children's Hospital in the Texas Medical Center.  Under a formal affiliation agreement between the hospital and BCM, the chair of the Department of Pediatrics would be physician-in-chief and all chiefs of services would be BCM faculty members.  The hospital's opening contributed, also, to the creation of Baylor College of Medicine's Affiliated Hospitals Residency Program, which has allowed BCM to recruit and provide postdoctoral training to some of the nation's finest graduates from the best American medical schools.

The progress of the department has continued unabated for more than 50 years, as faculty members contributed to the medical knowledge in a variety of fields.  In the late 1940s, Dr. Blattner and Dr. Fred Taylor led a group of BCM researchers in their pursuit of the source of the polio virus; and a decade later, Dr. Murdina Desmond, Drs. Ellard and Martha Yow, and Dr. William Daeschner, all department faculty members, were highly instrumental in focusing attention on the plight of pediatric patients during a devastating epidemic of penicillin-resistant staphylococcal disease in Houston.  In fact, it was a new antibiotic developed by Dr. Ellard Yow that finally brought the epidemic under control.  The department continued to grow both in size and stature, and in 1971, the J.S. Abercrombie Chair in Pediatrics, which provided support for the chair of the department, was announced.

In 1977, Dr. Blattner retired and Ralph D. Feigin, M.D., a recognized expert in the field of pediatric infectious diseases, became the department's second full-time chair and physician-in-chief at Texas Children's Hospital, positions he continues to occupy.  Today, the department has 395 full-time faculty, 160 pediatric housestaff, 160 fellows in pediatric subspecialty training, and 35 residents and fellows in pediatric surgical subspecialty training.

The department is ranked consistently among the nation's best.  It is committed to providing superior programs of instruction for medical students and residents; advancing specialty knowledge in the medical sciences, particularly as it relates to the health problems of children; and maintaining its role as a major contributor to research training and scientific activities that enhance the health of children everywhere.