Lea Kirkham, MD, FAAP
Dr. Kirkham grew up on a farm in Franklin, Kentucky with 4 siblings. After graduating from college at Western Kentucky University, she worked as a medical technologist at Vanderbilt Hospital in both the Immunology and Genetics Labs. With the encouragement of the physician who served as medical director of the Immunology and Genetics Labs, she took the medical entrance exam and began medical school at the University of Kentucky. It was during medical school that she found Pediatrics to be her favorite rotation. She also met her future husband, Mark Kirkham, who was also attending medical school at UK.
After graduation, she began her pediatric residency at Vanderbilt Hospital. She finished her last year of residency at Children’s Hospital here in Cincinnati where her husband was completing his Cardiology fellowship. She worked in the Emergency Room at Children’s for one year after her training before joining private practice at Northeast Pediatrics. She has two young children and her husband also practices Cardiology here in Cincinnati.
She finds Pediatrics rewarding because of the ability to form close relationships with her patients and their families, and also for the challenge of keeping up with new treatments and the latest standard of care in Pediatrics.
Schedule
Education
1984-1988 Western Kentucky University, BS, Biology
1988-1994 University of Kentucky, College of Medicine, Lexington, KY
Professional Training
1994-1996 Resident, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN
1996-1997 Resident, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH
Licensure
1996 State of Ohio
Board Certification
1997, 2004 American Board of Pediatrics
1997 Fellow, American Academy of Pediatrics
Professional Memberships
American Academy of Pediatrics, Fellow
Professional Experience
1988-1990 Vanderbilt University, Immunology and Genetics Lab
1997-1998 Staff Physician, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Emergency Medicine
1998 - present Northeast Cincinnati Pediatric Associates, Inc.