Thank you for your interest in the Pediatric Dermatology Fellowship Program at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). Our goal is for you to complete your fellowship comfortable taking care of even the most complex medical and surgical patients.

Our program provides:

• Exceptional training in pediatric dermatology
• Weekly education conferences with our pediatric dermatology faculty who has won over 30 combined teaching awards
• Opportunity to rotate through interdisciplinary clinics, including genodermatoses, vascular anomalies, epidermolysis bullosa, severe atopic dermatitis clinic, polycystic ovarian syndrome clinic, alopecia and pigmented lesion clinic
• Extensive surgical and laser training including outpatient and OR, including pulse dye, Fraxel, Alexandrite and ND-Yag
• One-on-one surgical training with a pediatric dermatologist in clinic as well as the CHOP sedation unit
• Extensive training in the use of systemic medications and state-of-the-art new therapies
• Opportunity to rotate through a variety of pediatric specialties at CHOP. Fellows do not have to rotate at satellite clinics.
• Participation in clinical research projects
• Weekly dermatopathology conference with a dedicated pediatric dermatopathologist
• A supportive and nurturing environment:
  • We have eight full-time academic pediatric dermatologists, an adult and pediatric contact dermatitis expert, and a pediatric dermatopathologist. Our physicians are hired by the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania with their primary appointment in the Department of Pediatrics and a secondary appointment in Dermatology.

Our dermatology clinic space is in the state-of-the-art Buerger Center for Advanced Pediatric Care, located on the Raymond G. Perelman Campus, across from CHOP Main Campus. We offer the most cutting-edge treatment options, including pulsed dye, UVB light, Nd-Yag, and Alexandrite laser treatments along with a UVB phototherapy unit.

Our physicians and fellows have tremendous nursing and administrative support. Fellows take limited call on weeknights from Sunday to Thursday to optimize learning and maintain a work/life balance. This allows physicians to concentrate on caring for patients, learn the details of pediatric dermatology, and pursue academic research to improve care for children and develop their career.

Innovative therapy, supportive environment

As of March 2017, our dermatology clinic space will move to the Buerger Center for Advanced Pediatric Care located on the Raymond G. Perelman Campus, across from CHOP Main Campus. We offer the most cutting-edge treatment options, including pulsed dye, UVB light, Nd-Yag, and Alexandrite laser treatments along with a UVB phototherapy unit.

Our physicians and fellows have tremendous nursing and administrative support. Fellows take limited call on weeknights from Sunday to Thursday to optimize learning and maintain a work/life balance. This allows physicians to concentrate on caring for patients, learn the details of pediatric dermatology, and pursue academic research to improve care for children and develop their career.

Exposure to complex cases, research

CHOP’s Dermatology Section has more than 15,000 outpatient visits and more than 600 inpatient consults per year. We consult on a wide variety of dermatological conditions including emergent, rare and complicated disorders. While on inpatient consult rounds, fellows are able to focus on learning, teaching residents, and developing autonomy in caring for complicated cases.

CHOP is an internationally recognized quaternary care referral hospital with large neonatal intensive care, pediatric intensive care, and bone marrow transplant units. We often consult in case of diagnosis dilemmas and high-acuity inpatient admissions.

Key fellowship details

• Two pediatric dermatology fellowship positions are available each year
• CHOP’s dermatology service participates in the San Francisco Matching Program
• Fellows are expected to participate in clinical activities and weekly fellowship activities
• Fellows are expected to be involved in a research project and actively pursue publication during their fellowship, with the goal of “jump starting” their academic career

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

Prerequisites for fellowship application

• Completion of recognized dermatology residency program
• Eligibility for Pennsylvania state licensure

Fellowship Curriculum

From 11 a.m. – noon each Thursday, we have one of the following activities:

Book review

We will comprehensively cover the most current and high-yield pediatric dermatology textbook as decided by the group. This is typically done in Jeopardy! style with one physician responsible for presenting the content for the session.

Journal club

There are two separate sessions in which the faculty and fellows will participate:

• A review of the latest bi-monthly Pediatric Dermatology journal, as well as hot topics from the Society for Pediatric Dermatology Forum discussion boards.
• A review of articles from major pediatric and dermatology journals. In addition, the most influential papers from the history of pediatric dermatology will be reviewed in order to expose fellows to the original research that has shaped our field.

Case review  

We review the most intriguing and challenging cases from the department to maximize exposure to more uncommon dermatology diagnoses.

Consult service review

We spend the last 10 minutes of each session reviewing the active and complex inpatient consults. This serves as a sign-out, but also to assure that both fellows are able to learn from the inpatient consults for more complex and rare dermatological disorders.

Grand rounds

The fellows have dedicated time to attend Dermatology Grand Rounds each Thursday from 9 a.m. – 11 a.m. at the University of Pennsylvania Department of Dermatology. Pediatric grand rounds are also held weekly at CHOP and participation from fellows is encouraged.

Once a year, our department hosts a CHOP/Philadelphia Dermatologic Society meeting where patients with complex or rare dermatology diagnoses are presented and discussed with the society.

How to apply

To request an application, please email Program Coordinator Dedra Spencer-Edwards.

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.

For more information

For additional information, please contact our fellowship director:

James R. Treat, MD
Fellowship Director, Pediatric Dermatology
Associate Professor of Clinical Pediatrics and Dermatology
3550 Market Street, 2nd Floor
Email Dr. Treat
Phone: 215-590-2169
Fax: 215-590-4948

Dedra Spencer-Edwards
Fellowship coordinator