Center for Childhood Arthritis and Rheumatic Diseases

Pediatric Rheumatology Fellowship Program

Overview and mission

Specific information by years and/or rotation

General information on outcomes of fellows

Additional information about the Pediatric Rheumatology Fellowship Program

Overview and mission

The Fellowship Program in Pediatric Rheumatology is a three-year program designed for physicians trained in pediatrics and selected on the basis of excellence in their credentials and training programs. The program is led by a broadly experienced faculty who will train physicians to be pediatric rheumatologists and leaders in pediatric rheumatology.

Multiple skills are required to be a well-rounded, productive pediatric rheumatologist, thus our program is designed to enhance the fellow's skills in:

Pediatric rheumatology is closely integrated with adult rheumatology, with shared conferences, the fellow attending both adult and pediatric clinics and a shared NIH fellowship training grant. Plans are underway for establishment of an Institute for Immunologic Therapeutics, which will take divisional discoveries from the bench to the bedside.

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Unique information about the program

An independent Division of Rheumatology was established in 1999 within the Department of Pediatrics. In 2000, the American College of Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) accredited the Rheumatology Fellowship Program. The division has grown from a clinic staff of three to an integrated clinical, research and administrative staff of 30. We have built and opened the Musculoskeletal Center, in collaboration with the Departments of Orthopaedics, Rehabilitative Medicine and Physical Therapy. We have also established a musculoskeletal pain syndrome program, in collaboration with the pain team.

Fellowship training program director:
 

David D. Sherry, MD
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Leonard and Madlyn Abramson Pediatric Research Center
Division of Rheumatology
3615 Civic Center Boulevard - Room #1102
Philadelphia, PA 19104-4399
215-590-7180
sherry@email.chop.edu

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Specific information by years and/or rotation

First year

The first year begins with an intensive clinical program involving rotations between supervised outpatient and inpatient services. Elective rotations will be set up from a variety of outpatient clinics, depending on the fellow's needs (such as sports medicine or immunology). The fellow will share in night and weekend care with the pediatric rheumatology attending.

Additionally, the fellow will prepare conferences and help teach residents and students rotating through the service. During the first six months, the fellow reviews the available options, then develops the basis for clinical or laboratory projects during the second half of the first year. A research mentor (either clinical or laboratory-based) is identified during the second half of the first year. Progress with research is measured, in part, by presentations at research conferences and at local and national meetings, and is monitored by a subcommittee which meets semi-annually with the fellow.

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Second and third year

The fellow is required to have a continuity clinic to see a cohort of patients (acquired during the first year) over the entirety of the fellowship. Additionally, new patients will be added to ensure that a representative sample of patients is followed. Clinical fellows (see below) will have a weekly clinic, while laboratory-based research fellows (see below) will have a fortnightly clinic.

Clinical pathway

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Basic science pathway

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General information on outcomes of fellows

Physicians who have successfully gone through the fellowship training program include the past chair, Section on Rheumatology of the American Academy of Pediatrics and chief of Rheumatology, Cigna HealthCare, along with the chiefs of Rheumatology at Mt. Sinai Medical Center, Hershey Medical Center and Thomas Jefferson University. Graduates are also on staff at Stanford University, St. Barnabas Medical Center, the Cleveland Clinic, Duke University and the University of Pennsylvania and one is a clinical investigator for Centocor.

Additional information about the Pediatric Rheumatology Fellowship Program

Related programs:

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