Emily Killough, MD

The Ray E. Helfer Society Recognizes Dr. Emily Killough for Outstanding Teaching

Nomination Letter for Emily Killough, MD

This letter is in support of Emily Killough, MD, for the Helfer Teaching Award.

I first met Dr. Killough as a Child Abuse Fellow at Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City,·Missouri. Dr. Killough transitioned to faculty during my first year as a fellow and from the very beginning, I could tell she was a gifted educator and was passionate about teaching. Dr. Killough spent dedicated time with me throughout my fellowship to help me learn to be a better Child Abuse Pediatrician as well as an effective educator.

Dr. Killough's talents and passion for education were quickly recognized by her own institution when she was appointed as an Associate Program Director for the Pediatric Residency Program at Children's Mercy Hospital. In that role, she developed a robust curriculum for resident learners and helped advocate for residents to spend valuable time with the Child Abuse team at Children's Mercy. By the end of my 3-year fellowship residents were rotating with the Child Abuse Team for a full month and consistently provided feedback that the rotation was a valuable experience. The success of the Child Abuse rotation at Children's Mercy has also been demonstrated in residents' consistent interest in pursuing a Child Abuse Fellowship. I was lucky to be able to learn at Children's Mercy Hospital given the frequency of internal applicants often vying for a fellowship position.

I am now serving as a Child Abuse Pediatrician at Arkansas Children's Hospital and have continued to stay in contact with Dr. Killough and look to her as a mentor when it comes to my own development of a resident curriculum for Child Abuse Pediatrics. I have copied her efforts in preparing materials for residents, organizing learning opportunities, and have continued to use several prepared handouts that were developed for the residents at Children's Mercy Hospital. I have had great success in recruiting residents to rotate with us with an average of two residents rotating with us every month, in no small part due to the example and resources provided by Dr. Killough.

Dr. Killough has also demonstrated leadership on a national level as a co-chair of the Helfer Education Committee. Alongside other talented and passionate educators, she has provided opportunities to learn and share educational tools through ECHO community of practice meetings, has facilitated ongoing conversations about new opportunities to improve Child Abuse Education and has led workshops about effective teaching.

In a field of many passionate educators, Dr. Killough has continued to stand out to me through her clinical teaching, her curriculum development, educational advocacy and involvement in national education efforts. I feel lucky to have learned from her and hope to follow in her example as an effective, passionate and creative clinical educator.

Liza Murray, MD