Overview and mission

The Adolescent Medicine Fellowship Program prepares pediatric internal medicine, pediatric medicine and family practice physicians for academic careers as leading clinicians, scholars and teachers. The fellowship is a three-year program sponsored by the Craig-Dalsimer Division of Adolescent Medicine at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

This innovative fellowship is designed to prepare academic leaders in adolescent medicine. The program uses the resources of CHOP and the graduate departments at the University of Pennsylvania. Because CHOP and UPenn are located next to each other, there is a strong "one-University" philosophy, and the program provides an ideal setting for a creative, multidisciplinary fellowship experience.

The history, expertise and compassion that make Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia unique are also what makes it the best place for medical trainees.

Fellowship program leadership

Craig Dalsimer Division of Adolescent Medicine
Director, Fellowship Training Program
Oana Tomescu, MD, PhD

Assistant Program Director
Gladyne Confident, MD

Program Coordinator
Emily Seiler

Program details

First year

The principal responsibility of the fellow during the first year is the development of clinical skills in adolescent medicine. The first-year fellow spends 70 percent of his or her time in clinical activities. This includes three months as the fellow on the inpatient adolescent service, coverage of the inpatient adolescent consultation service, three sessions weekly in both our Adolescent Specialty Care and Adolescent Primary Care clinics, and one or two sessions weekly in other elective clinical activities.

Elective clinical activities may include rotations through the Student Health Service at Penn, the Center for Sports Medicine and Performance, Adolescent Psychiatry Service, adolescent substance abuse treatment center, Renfrew Eating Disorder Center and various subspecialty clinics.

The remaining portion of the first year is spent on the development of a research project in adolescent medicine, identifying a research topic and beginning to prepare a research proposal. The fellow is encouraged to participate in coursework on research design and statistics and areas of personal interest.

Curriculum and sample rotations

Clinical services

• Outpatient: General Adolescent/Family Planning Clinic (one half day per week)
• Outpatient: 3550 Market Adolescent Specialty Care Center (one half day per week)
• Outpatient: Subspecialty adolescent practices — rotating electives in OB/GYN, psychiatry, internal medicine, endocrinology, sports medicine, eating disorders, juvenile justice, student health, homeless shelter, dermatology, infectious diseases, substance abuse, and HIV and other organ-system subspecialties
• Inpatient: General Adolescent Service (12 weeks)

Teaching

• Present didactic presentations during inpatient months for pediatric residents and medical students.
• Work with clinic preceptor to develop at least two clinical presentations in the outpatient area.
• Clinical precepting of medical students and residents on the inpatient service.

Research

• Attend research conferences.
• Begin coursework as needed for research skills training.
• Develop and submit to the program director, research director and fellowship committee a research proposal under supervision of a selected research mentor.
• Assemble Scholarship Oversight Committee and establish research mentor.

Administration and health policy

Choose qualitative improvement project question and do evidence-based review.

Second year

The second year is devoted equally to clinical work and academic/research coursework. The fellow completes a proposal and begins data collection. One or two graduate-level courses may be taken each semester.

Curriculum and clinical rotations

Clinical services

• Outpatient: General Adolescent/Family Planning Clinic (one-half day per week)
• Outpatient: 3550 Market Adolescent Specialty Care Center (one-half day per week)
• Outpatient: Subspecialty Adolescent practices — rotating electives in OB/GYN, psychiatry, internal medicine, endocrinology, sports medicine, eating disorders, juvenile justice, student health, homeless shelter, dermatology, infectious diseases, substance abuse, and HIV and other organ-system subspecialties
• Inpatient: General Adolescent (eight weeks)

Teaching

• Prepare and present at least two adolescent health topics or journal clubs as part of the General Adolescent Health divisional conferences.
• Prepare and present two adolescent health topics for trainees or faculty seminars in two other disciplines.
• Continue didactic educational efforts on inpatient and outpatient services.

Research

• Attend research conferences.
• Under supervision of research mentor and Scholarship Oversight Committee, conduct proposed research project.
• Attend graduate coursework for research methods as needed.

Administration and health policy

• Participate on hospital committee or committee/board of local or state advocacy group related to adolescent health.
• Conduct quality improvement project.

Third year

The third year is heavily focused on academic activities (70 percent). The fellow completes data collection and concentrates on data analysis, abstract submission, research presentation and manuscript preparation.

Curriculum and clinical rotations

Clinical services

• Outpatient: General Adolescent/Family Planning Clinic (one half day per week)
• Outpatient: 3550 Market Adolescent Specialty Care Center (one half day per week)
• Inpatient: Adolescent unit (four weeks)
• Electives: To be negotiated with program directors

Teaching

• Prepare and conduct sessions for the General Adolescent Health divisional conferences, resident conferences and interdisciplinary student/faculty seminars for a total of four topics.
• Precept residents and students in one adolescent clinic with attending physician.

Research

• Completion of data collection, data analysis, manuscript and abstract preparation, presentation at national meeting, submission of manuscript to peer-reviewed journal.
• Preparation of grant proposal for new project.

Administration and health policy

• Continue membership in advocacy group and/or hospital committee.
• Work with attending physicians to understand practice structure and management.
• Complete grant application under direction of faculty mentor, including budgeting, human subjects and hiring documents.
• Complete and present quality improvement project.

Research expectations and opportunities

The acquisition of skills in research methodology and critical evaluation of the medical literature is an important goal of the fellowship. Each fellow is expected to complete at least one scholarly project during the fellowship. In most cases, this is a research project of the fellow’s design, conducted under the guidance of a faculty mentor and scholarship oversight committee.

Conference schedules

• Mondays, 10:30 a.m.-noon – Fellows conference. Each Monday, this conference alternates between a fellowship director meeting, case discussion, research meeting and didactic speaker.
• Thursdays, 9:30-11:30 a.m. — Mandatory divisional conferences which alternate between medical management/inpatient updates, research seminar, Journal Club and professionalism/ethics meetings.
• Thursdays once a month, 10:30-11:30 a.m. — Division conference: The first Thursday of every month; the division meeting is attended by senior fellows only.
• Thursdays, 12:30-1:00 p.m. — Pre-clinical case conference: Before our fellow’s clinic we discuss a case or topic that has come up in the previous weeks' clinical care.

The fellow is also encouraged to attend fellow association conferences and lectures in other specialty areas when rotating through those areas or at the discretion of the fellow and fellowship director.

How to apply

The Adolescent Medicine Fellowship Program participates in the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS), thorough the Association of American Medical Colleges. The fellowship application is available on the ERAS website for positions beginning each July.

Requirements

The three-year fellowship seeks physicians who:

• Have completed two, three or four years of training in an accredited residency program
• Are board-eligible in pediatrics, internal medicine, medicine-pediatrics or family practice

Instructions for application

To apply for the Adolescent Medicine Fellowship Program, the following should be completed and uploaded to the ERAS program:

1. ERAS online application.
2. Three supporting letters of reference.
3. A letter from the Dean of your medical school and a medical school transcript.
4. Curriculum Vitae.
5. A separate, single-page describing your personal goals for your fellowship in adolescent medicine. This should describe your principal objectives, interests and career aims in further detail.
6. Parts 1, 2 and 3 of the USMLE taken within the seven-year time frame as required by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or equivalent scores.
7. If a graduate of a medical school outside the United States, Canada or Puerto Rico, a valid ECFMG certificate or one that does not expire prior to the start of the fellowship.

Interviews

We interview eligible applicants between August and early October.

Other requirements

To carry out its mission, it is of critical importance for the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) to keep our patients, families and workforce safe and healthy and to support the health of our global community. In keeping with this, CHOP has mandated all workforce members (including trainees) on site at any CHOP location for any portion of their time be vaccinated for COVID-19 as a condition of employment.

This mandate also applies to workforce members or trainees performing work for CHOP at non-CHOP locations. Additionally, all workforce members based in or regularly scheduled to work at any New Jersey location are mandated to be both vaccinated and boosted for COVID-19, with booster timing consistent with applicable guidelines. The CHOP COVID-19 vaccine mandate is in alignment with applicable local, state and federal mandates. CHOP also requires all workforce members and trainees who work in patient care buildings or who provide patient care to receive an annual influenza vaccine. Employees may request exemption consideration for CHOP vaccine requirements for valid religious and medical reasons. Please note start dates may be delayed until candidates are fully immunized or valid exemption requests are reviewed. In addition, candidates other than those in positions with regularly scheduled hours in New Jersey, must attest to not using tobacco products.

Children's Hospital of Philadelphia is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, religion, national or ethnic origin, disability, protected veteran status or any other protected category. CHOP is a VEVRAA Federal Contractor seeking priority referrals for protected veterans.

CHOP is committed to building an inclusive culture where employees feel a sense of belonging, connection, and community within their workplace. We are a team dedicated to fostering an environment that allows for all to be their authentic selves. We are focused on attracting, cultivating, and retaining diverse talent who can help us deliver on our mission to be a world leader in the advancement of healthcare for children.

We strongly encourage all candidates of diverse backgrounds and lived experiences to apply.