Ashlee M. Jaffe, MD, MEd, FAAPMR

Locations: Specialty Care, King of Prussia; Specialty Care, Exton
Ashlee M. Jaffe, MD, MEd, FAAPMR, is board certified in Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and is an attending physician in the Center for Rehabilitation at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. She specializes in caring for children who have torticollis, cerebral palsy and brain injury or who need rehabilitation medicine services, such as bracing, or tone and spasticity management including botulinum toxin and phenol injections. She is involved in projects to drive quality improvement in patient care and improve patient safety both in the division and hospital wide. She also serves as the director of education for CHOP’s Division of Rehabilitation Medicine.
Dr. Jaffe chose this specialty because it allowed her to combine two of her passions. “I have always had a passion for working with children with disabilities and have a background in bioengineering. When I learned that there was a medical specialty where I could work with kids and use my knowledge of engineering to help those with disabilities, I was intrigued,” she says. “As I gained exposure to rehab medicine, I loved how physiatrists focused on function and the entire patient rather than a single system.”
She particularly enjoys working with younger patients. “I love working with my infant to five-year-old patients because I feel like I can impact the trajectory of their entire life if I help with treatments at a young age,” she says.
She noted that the nature of rehabilitative medicine requires thinking about each child as an individual and working with their unique strengths and challenges. “I see a lot of children with cerebral palsy (CP), and this heterogeneous group really challenges me to think at each visit how I can help every child I meet. I think it is a privilege to be able to share a new diagnosis of CP with a family and help them understand the functional potential of their child,” she says. “I also really enjoy seeing adolescents with conversion disorder, since rehab can be the one thing that finally helps these patients get better!” she adds.
Regardless of a patient’s age or medical need, Dr. Jaffe strives to ensure each patient and their families leaves CHOP with a sense that they and their concerns are taken seriously. “I want my patients to feel like they were seen in a timely manner, felt listened to, had all their questions answered, and that their goals for their child were incorporated into the treatment plan and recommendations,” she says. “I also want families to feel like they can reach me between visits to address changes in their child's condition or concerns that arise.”
Dr. Jaffe earned her medical degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine in Chicago. She advanced her training by completing an internship in pediatrics at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children and a residency in rehabilitation medicine at Thomas Jefferson University, both in Philadelphia. She also completed a fellowship in pediatric rehabilitation at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. Dr. Jaffe also holds a Master of Education in curriculum and instruction and a Master’s Certificate in clinical and translational research, both from the University of Cincinnati.
In addition to her clinical work, Dr. Jaffe is an assistant professor of clinical pediatrics at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania.
Dr. Jaffe’s interest in providing quality care extends to her non-clinical work. In her administrative roles, she divides time working on projects aimed at quality improvement and patient safety. “I'm excited about using quality improvement initiatives to really look at our data to ensure our patients are getting the best and evidence-based care,” she says. As part of that, she is working on several initiatives within the division, including efforts to improve documentation and adherence to evidence-based guidelines for care.
Dr. Jaffe is also passionate about education and is working to create what she hopes will eventually be a new fellowship in pediatric rehabilitation medicine at CHOP.
MD - University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine, Chicago, IL
Pediatrics - St. Christopher's Hospital for Children, Philadelphia PA
Rehabilitation Medicine - Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA
Pediatric Rehabilitation - Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH
Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine – American Board of Physical Medicine and RehabilitationPhysical Medicine and Rehabilitation – American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
MEd in Curriculum & Instruction - University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH
Masters Certificate in Clinical & Translational Research - University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH
Attending Physician
Director of Education, Division of Rehabilitation Medicine
Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
Jaffe Ashlee, Klein Melissa, McMahon Mary, Pruitt David: Quality Improvement Curriculum for Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Residents: A Needs Assessment. American journal of medical quality : the official journal of the American College of Medical Quality 32(5): 541-546, Sep/Oct 2017.
Goldsmith, A.: Handling the Handoff: An Evidence-Based Approach. MedEdPORTAL Publications. 2015.
Goldsmith, A., Michaud, L.: Pediatric Acquired Upper and Lower Limb Deficiency PM&R Knowledge Now. Resource website. September 2014.
Goldsmith, A: Empowering Rehabilitation Residents to Transform Healthcare with Quality Improvement and Patient Safety Curriculum. Health Policy Newsletter. 26(4): Article 2 2013.
Goldsmith, A., Melvin, J.: Developing a Resident Quality and Safety Curriculum. Health Policy Newsletter 25(3): Article 3, 2012.
Wi, Y.N., Ren, Y., Goldsmith, A., Gaebler, D., Liu, S., Zhang, L.Q.: Characterization of Spasticity in Cerebral Palsy. Dependence of Catch Angle on Velocity. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology 52((6)): 563-9, 2010. PMCID: 20132137
Shah, S.S., Frank, G., Diallo, A.O.: Patient Encounters: The Inpatient Pediatrics WorkUp. 1 ed. Lippincott Wilkins and Williams. December 1st 2009.
Bryant, PB and Jaffe,AM: "Spinal Cord Injury and Autonomic Dysreflexia Management" Nelson's Textbook of Pediatrics, 21st ed. Robert Kliegman, Joseph St. Geme (eds.). Elsevier, Page: 3755, April 2019.
Jaffe, A., Alessandroni, K., Branning, E., & DiGerolamo, K.: Watch the Rates Fall: Falling for the Harm Prevention Program Poster Presentation for the CHOP 8th Annual Quality and Safety Day and Nurse Research and Evidence Based Practice Day, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA May/September 2018.
Kimberly DiGerolamo, MSN, RN, PCNS-BC, CPN; Orysia Bezpalko, MPH; Ashlee Jaffe, MD, MEd; Kathleen Alessandroni, RN, BSN, CPN: Tracking Bundle Compliance to Reduce Harm: How We Watched Our Rates Fall. Poster Presentation for the CHOP 7th Annual Quality and Safety Day May 2017.
Jaffe A. "Torticollis: The Full Range of Motion", Pediatric Grand Rounds, Chester County Hospital, West Chester, PA. May, 2019.
Jaffe A. "Pediatric Musculoskeletal Pearls", "Cerebral Palsy: What the Adult Physiatrist Needs to Know", PM&R Resident Lecture Series, Temple University Hospital, Philadelphia, PA. May, 2019.
Jaffe A. "Pediatric Musculoskeletal Pearls", "Cerebral Palsy Essentials for the Adult Physiatrist", PM&R Resident Lecture Series, Temple University Hospital, Philadelphia, PA. Apr, 2018.
Jaffe A. "Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury: Rehab Insights for the Neurologist", Neurology Fellows Lecture Series, St. Christopher's Hospital for Children, Philadelphia, PA. May, 2017.
Jaffe A. "Pediatric Spinal Cord Injury: From Classification to Outcomes", Neurology Fellows Lecture Series, St. Christopher's Hospital for Children, Philadelphia, PA. Apr, 2017.
Jaffe A. "Pediatric Musculoskeletal Pearls", "Cerebral Palsy Essentials for the Adult Physiatrist", PM&R Resident Lecture Series, Temple University Hospital, Philadelphia, PA. Apr, 2017.
Jaffe A. "Identifying the Right Practice Setting to Meet Your Goals: Academic Medicine", AAPM&R webinar. Mar, 2017.
Jaffe A. "Achieving Equity to Sustain the Future of Academic Medicine", AAMC Council of Faculty and Academic Societies and Organization of Resident Representatives 2017 Spring Meeting, Orlando, FL. Mar, 2017.
2019, Good Catch Award
2018, CHOP QI Leadership Course, selected participant
2017, 3rd Place Poster at Nurse Research & Evidence Based Practice Day, CHOP
2013, Resident Award for Exemplary Medical Student Teaching, Thomas Jefferson Medical College
2013, Certificate of Recognition for Scholarly Activity, Thomas Jefferson Medical College, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine
2013, Certificate of Recognition for Exceptional Service to the Department, Thomas Jefferson Medical College, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine
2013, Certificate of Recognition for Medical Student Teaching, Thomas Jefferson Medical College, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine
2013, Resident Award for Exemplary Service to the Department, Thomas Jefferson Medical College
2012, Certificate of Recognition for Medical Student Teaching, Thomas Jefferson Medical College, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine
2012, Certificate of Recognition for Special Projects, Thomas Jefferson Medical College, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine
2012, Certificate of Recognition for Scholarly Activity, Thomas Jefferson Medical College, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine
2011, Certificate of Recognition for Special Projects, Thomas Jefferson Medical College, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine
2011, Patient Safety Officer, Outstanding Participation and Contribution, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia PA
2011, Certificate of Recognition for Medical Student Teaching, Thomas Jefferson Medical College, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine
2008, Chicago Medical Student Council Organizational Leadership Certificate
2007, UIC College of Medicine Class of 1954 Scholarship Recipient
2007, Chicago Medical Student Council Organizational Leadership Certificate
2007, UIC College of Medicine Student Leadership Award
2018-present, Harm Prevention Falls Team Physician Sponsor
2018-present, EPIC Superuser, Division of Rehabilitation Medicine
2018, Sentinel Event Apparent Cause Analysis Committee Physician Leader
2016-present, Office of Clinical Quality Improvement WeeFIM Project Team Leader, Division of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation
2016-present, Pediatric Lecture Block Director, Division of PM&R, University of Pennsylvania
2015-present, Division Quality and Patient Safety Champion
2015-present, EPIC Clinical Documentation Improvement Leader, Procedure & Clinic Notes, Division of Rehabilitation Medicine
2005-present, American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
2005-present, Association of Academic Physiatrists
- 2018, Annual Assembly, abstract reviewer
- 2017-2019, Program Planning Committee