Children’s Hospital Appoints Bonnie Desselle, MD as Chief Medical Education Officer and Director of the Department of Medical Education

Physician Leader is a Nationally Recognized Authority on Pediatric Post-Graduate Education

Children’s Hospital, New Orleans proudly announces the appointment of Bonnie C. Desselle, MD, as Chief Medical Education Officer and Director of the newly established Department of Medical Education. Dr. Desselle is a Professor of Clinical Pediatrics and Vice-Chair of the Department of Pediatrics at LSU Health New Orleans. She holds the Leslie Lewinter-Suskind and Robert Suskind Professorship of Pediatric Education at LSU. Dr. Desselle also serves as Division Head of Pediatric Critical Care at LSU.

“Children’s Hospital has positioned itself as the leader of pediatric academic healthcare in the Gulf South,” said John R. Nickens IV, president and CEO of Children’s Hospital, New Orleans. “Education of the next generation of pediatric healthcare professionals remains at the heart of our mission.”

To accomplish the hospital’s educational goals, an expanded and innovative Department of Medical Education will allow coordination of educational services for medical students, post-graduate physician learners, nursing and advanced practice nursing students, and the broad array of interprofessional learners necessary to provide team-based and family-centered healthcare to children and adolescents. Dr. Desselle will provide the necessary medical education leadership to the Department of Medical Education to fulfill that charge.

An important first goal of the new Department of Medical Education is the seamless incorporation of Tulane University School of Medicine Department of Pediatrics learners into the longstanding Children’s Hospital-LSU Health New Orleans educational partnership.

“Dr. Desselle’s leadership during our transition planning has proven invaluable and we look forward to her continued support of the educational mission of Children’s Hospital and its academic partners,” said Samir El-Dahr, MD, chair of the Department of Pediatrics at Tulane University School of Medicine and Pediatrician-in-Chief at Children’s Hospital.

“We are thrilled to have an accomplished member of our faculty leading this joint effort,” said Steve Nelson, MD, Dean of LSU Health New Orleans.

The unique incorporation of two academic pediatric departments (LSU Health New Orleans and Tulane University School of Medicine) at one Children’s Hospital provides unparalleled opportunities for educational enhancement and innovation.

“Children’s has shown its commitment to innovative approaches to both care delivery and academics and embracing two medical schools is another great example of thinking outside of the box to do what’s best for the kids of Louisiana,” said Lee Hamm, MD, Dean of the Tulane University School of Medicine.

“Dr. Desselle is a nationally recognized authority on Pediatric Post-Graduate Education,” said Raymond G. Watts, MD, chair of the Department of Pediatrics at LSU Health New Orleans and Pediatrician-in-Chief at Children’s Hospital. “I do not think it would be possible to find a more accomplished, respected, and dedicated faculty member to lead our collective medical education efforts.”

Dr. Desselle is a Louisiana native and completed her graduate and residency training at LSU Health New Orleans where she served as Chief Resident. Following completion of Pediatric Critical Care Training at the University of Tennessee, Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital in Memphis, TN, Dr. Desselle joined the LSU faculty in 1995.