Daniel Merrill, D.O.

Samantha Winstead, M.D.

Welcome from Kansas City! A place of barbecue, art, multiple high-quality hospitals and our favorite Med-Peds residents. We are continuing with a recommendation for virtual interviews, and excited to meet many of you this year.

UMKC Med-Peds is a mid-sized program that trains six residents per academic year. In our program we have the opportunity to work in three uniquely different medical centers: Children’s Mercy, University Health, and the Saint Luke’s Health System of Kansas City. Children’s Mercy is a stand-alone children’s hospital that spans a large portion of the Midwest. University Health is a very busy academic medical center that serves the greater Kansas City area with very diverse patient care including insured, underinsured, and uninsured populations. Saint Luke’s Health System has multiple nationally recognized subspecialties, including the Saint Luke’s Mid-America Heart Institution. While challenging, working in three different hospitals provides residents a broad scope of medical training. If you are interested in ambulatory-outpatient care, we have our very own Med-Peds clinic. If you are interested in sub-specialty, we have extensive subsets of electives. If you are interested in research, we have bountiful research opportunities and have nationally recognized research. If you are interested in Global Health, we have a global health track through the pediatric side. And with that, we’d like to say that we have limitless opportunities in our program!

There are no words to describe just how hard residency can be, and it’s not until you start residency that you realize just how much sacrifice goes into this medical journey. Our Med-Peds program is not just a residency program – we are a family. We get to know our colleagues and sometimes spend more time with them than we do with our own families. We have play dates for our kids. We have intentional and purposeful monthly social gatherings. We blend in well with the categorical sides and often hear, “You’re MedPeds? Oh good!” One of the best attributes of our program comes from the love, respect, and support of our Med-Peds faculty.

If you haven’t been to Kansas City – you are truly missing out! It’s a hidden gem. KC has a casual pace and friendly Midwest vibe, but big city amenities. The food scene rivals large cities with a huge push for supporting local restaurants. As our prior chiefs quote, “KC FOOD – enough farm-to-table to keep Portland transplants happy and enough barbecue to give even the hardiest carnivore ‘meat sweats’.” If you’re into sports, KC has professional baseball, soccer, and football (did you know we are Super Bowl Champions from 2020?!).  If you are into the arts, KC is filled with the KC Symphony at the Kauffman Performing Arts Center, the works of internationally renowned artists at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, more than 20 museums to learn about anything from jazz and WWI, and a huge live music scene.

We feel so fortunate to be a part of this program and family, and to call KC home. We hope you feel the same.

Excited to meet you,

Dan & Sam