Dr. Kennedy has dedicated his career to the education of doctors at every level of learning, from medical student to seasoned attending physician. When he returned to Children’s Mercy, he took on the role of Pediatric Emergency Medicine Fellowship Program Director. Recognizing a void in the education of all pediatric fellows, in 2002 he launched a hospital-wide fellow conference that is still in existence today. In 2005, Dr. Kennedy was instrumental in the development of a high-fidelity simulation program now known as the Center for Pediatric Simulation and Resuscitation. The Center began with a focus on trainees in nursing and pediatrics but has expanded to include all levels and disciplines of staff and providers at Children’s Mercy. Previously a Co-Director, Dr. Kennedy currently serves as Research Director of the Center. Through his effort, highly sophisticated resuscitation simulation training is now available for teams across Children’s Mercy, including the Emergency Department, Intensive Care Nursery and ECMO.

Outside Children’s Mercy, Dr. Kennedy has a national reputation as a leader in medical education. He has served on the Board of Directors for the Association of Pediatric Program Directors, ACGME, chaired the Pediatric Emergency Medicine Fellowship Directors group from 2005-2008 and was an elected member of that committee from 1995-2012. Dr. Kennedy has also served on the international steering committee for APLS and AHA PALS 2.0. In 2011, he received the American Academy of Pediatrics Lifetime Achievement Award for excellence in pediatric resuscitation training. He has been recognized as the Children’s Mercy Educator of The Year by the Emergency Medicine residency at Truman Medical Center an amazing fourteen times. In 2019, Dr. Kennedy received the Children’s Mercy Scagliotti Educator Award, and most recently the 2022 Department of Pediatrics Established Career Educational Achievement Award.

Current research interests include pediatric trauma care training. Pediatric readiness and simulation-based systems