Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia is proud of its rich community of Physician Scientists (PSs), and the Pediatrics Residency Program is both an avid supporter and a fortunate beneficiary of this talented group. The Physician-Scientist Program (PSP) is organized to enhance this alliance.

 The PSP looks to recruit top students, often with an established track record of success in the clinical and research worlds, and support their dual interests during and after residency and fellowship training. Support includes keeping the residents’ research interests alive during the rigors of clinical training, connecting with like-minded physician-scientists and mentors throughout the training processes, and streamlining the transition to fellowship training.

Our Pediatrics Residency Program is fully supportive of research-enhanced training, including use of the ARP and IRP pathways. Each trainee, however, has unique professional goals and interests, so the program is tailored to meet these needs by providing four distinct research pathways for PS trainees to select from.

Residents in our PSP are able to transition into any CHOP fellowship using any available pathway that suits their needs.

Traditional (3+3): 6 years

A P-S on this path does 3 years of categorical pediatrics residency training and then applies and transitions to fellowship as would other non-P-S pediatric residents.

• Residency: 3 years (3 clinical)
• Fellowship: 3 years (1 clinical, 2 research)
• Research time: 2 years (during fellowship)

Modified Traditional (3+3): 6 years

A P-S on this path does 3 years of categorical pediatrics residency but dedicates a substantial number of residency elective blocks to research activities that would serve his/her future research goals. This resident applies and transitions to fellowship as would other non-PS pediatric residents.

• Residency: 3 years (3 clinical except for 3 research elective blocks)
• Fellowship: 3 years (1 clinical, 2 research)
• Research time: 2.25 years (0.25 during residency, 2 during fellowship)

Accelerated Research Pathway (2+4):

A P-S on this path does 2 years of pediatrics residency, satisfying all ARP-specific ACGME requirements, and transitions to fellowship after 2 years. As this resident is shortening the residency training program, he/she must be achieving residency competencies through the first two years to continue to this early transition to fellowship. He/she then completes 4 years of fellowship training.

• Residency: 2 years (2 clinical)
• Fellowship: 4 years (1 clinical, 3 research)
• Research time: 3 years (all during fellowship)

Integrated Research Pathway (1+2+3):

A P-S on this path does 3 years of pediatrics residency but 12 blocks of this time are dedicated to research. The clinical rotations must satisfy the IRP-specific ACGME requirements. As this resident is reducing the number of clinical residency training blocks, he/she must be achieving residency competencies through all three years to continue to fellowship training at the end of the 3rd year of residency. The resident applies to and transitions to fellowship as would other non-PS pediatric residents.

• Residency: 3 years (2 clinical, 1 research)
• Fellowship: 3 years (1 clinical, 2 research)
• Research time: 3 years (1 during residency, 2 during fellowship)

Learn more about Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Research Institute. For more information on career opportunities for physician scientists at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, contact:

Michael D. Hogarty, MD
Director, Physician Scientist Development
Associate Professor of Pediatrics
Phone: 215-590-5476
hogartym@email.chop.edu

Related National Training Opportunities for Pediatric Scientists

The Pediatric Scientist Development Program (PSDP) is a two to three-year training program for pediatric fellows that is sponsored by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and involves a national application process. The PSDP is devoted to the developing entry-level faculty for research careers in academic pediatrics, providing intensive training in research relevant to specialty areas of pediatrics. Physicians presently in pediatric training programs who wish to train in basic, translational, clinical, or health services research with an established investigator/mentor are encouraged to apply. Visit https://amspdc-psdp.org/ for eligibility criteria and application deadlines.