Dr. Paul Patrick Tafoya

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Get to know Pediatric Critical Care Specialist Dr. Paul Patrick Tafoya, who serves patients in Phoenix, Arizona.

A committed pediatric critical care specialist, Dr. Tafoya is the Pediatric Residency and Medical Student Clerkship Director at Phoenix Children’s Hospital, where he has been instrumental in the effort to develop an integrated telemedicine program.

Phoenix Children’s Hospital understands the unique health care needs of newborns, young children, and adolescents. With many locations throughout the Valley, it provides exceptional preventive and medical care for children of all ages in a community setting.

With a broad educational background, Dr. Tafoya earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Sociology and Anthropology at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon. After a year-long study abroad program in South America, he attended the Ohio State University College of Medicine in Columbus, Ohio, where he received his medical degree. He graduated from Phoenix Children’s Hospital combined internal medicine/pediatrics residency program at Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center, and served as the Chief Resident from 2001 to 2002. 

Thereafter, he completed a fellowship in pediatric critical care medicine at the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles with subspecialized training in cardiac critical care. While in Los Angeles, he also completed an integrated professionalism and leadership program that is the first of its kind in the nation.

Subsequent to his education, the doctor attained board certification in pediatrics and pediatric critical care medicine through the American Board of Pediatrics (ABP). The mission of the ABP is to advance child health by certifying pediatricians who meet standards of excellence and are committed to continuous learning and improvement.

Continuously advancing his efforts, Dr. Tafoya is an active member of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Society of Critical Care Medicine, and the Section on Critical Care.

As for his academic appointments, he serves as an Assistant Clinical Professor at both the University of Arizona College of Medicine and Creighton University School of Medicine.

Pediatrics is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, and adolescents. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends individuals be under pediatric care up to the age of 21. Pediatric critical care specialists treat children from birth through the teen years. They choose to make caring for children who are very sick the core of their medical practice. Their advanced training and experience prepare them to give children in PICUs the unique medical care that they need.

Among his various accolades, Dr. Tafoya has been the recipient of the Landacre Award by The Ohio State University School of Medicine Research Society in 1998.

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