Curriculum

Year 1

The first year of the Pediatric Pulmonology Fellowship is predominantly focused on clinical training.

Clinical

Fellows spend ten months in the inpatient and outpatient settings, including a one month rotation in Otolaryngology learning about diseases of the ear, nose, throat, and airways. They each have a continuity clinic one half-day per week, allowing them to follow patients throughout all three years of their training.

Inpatient consultation service is spent evaluating and managing inpatients admitted to the pediatric pulmonology service as well as consulting on patients with pulmonary issues admitted to other services. Fellows attend regular clinics to evaluate and manage patients in an outpatient setting. In addition, they also participate in an Illness Clinic where they evaluate and manage children presenting with an acute respiratory illness, or known patients with chronic pulmonary conditions who are suffering from an acute illness.

Research

Early in the first year, the program director meets with each fellow to identify general areas of interest that the fellow would like to pursue. Division faculty meet with the fellow soon after to refine a research focus and identify a primary research mentor and other members of his/her Scholarship Oversight Committee (SOC). With the SOC’s guidance, the fellow identifies a specific research project and starts to explore the scope of that research, resources needed, and plans to write a preliminary research objective and hypothesis.

Years 2 and 3

During the second and third years of the Pediatric Pulmonology Fellowship, the majority of the fellow’s time is geared toward research and developing scholarly projects.

Clinical

Fellows spend five months in their second year involved in clinical activities including a one month rotation each in Sleep Medicine and Allergy/Immunology. They also continue to participate in the Illness Clinic.

Fellows have the opportunity to choose other electives in Anesthesiology and Acute Care in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) depending on their specific career goals and unique interests. The continuity clinic experience continues so that the fellow may acquire a full understanding of the progression of diseases.

Research

Second and third year fellows spend most of their time gaining a thorough understanding of basic or clinical science research with the guidance of their primary mentor. They meet formally with their SOC and program director at least twice a year to review their progress, solicit feedback, identify possible resources, discuss a timeline, and explore funding opportunities.

Fellows submit abstracts for presentation at national meetings and articles for publication in peer-reviewed journals. Third year fellows have an opportunity to present their research at Pediatric Grand Rounds.

By the end of the third year of the Pediatric Pulmonology Fellowship, each fellow completes a significant research project, a requirement by the American Board of Pediatrics to sit for the subspecialty board exam. Fellows pursuing an advanced degree continue classes during their second and third years.