Pediatric Endocrinology Fellowship

Overview

The Pediatric Endocrinology Fellowship Program at Mass General for Children includes a year of clinical training followed by two years of research in either basic science, clinical or translational research, epidemiology, genetics, community based research, or health policy research. Fellows follow their own patients with a continuity clinic throughout the three years of training. Our program is structured to meet ACGME requirements for fellowship training.

Aims

• To train local and national leaders in clinical pediatric endocrinology who will practice excellent, patient-centered medicine

• To develop physician-scientists who will thoughtfully evaluate current medical practice and will contribute to improvements in medical care for pediatric endocrine patients

• To promote the skills and attitudes necessary for ongoing pediatric endocrine learning throughout one’s career

Learn more about the Endocrine Program:

• Pediatric Endocrine Program and Diabetes Center
• Research
• Publications (PubMed)
• Meet our fellows
• Alumni

Requirements

We participate in the NRMP Matching Program in the (National Resident Matching Program) specifically in the Pediatric Subspecialty Fall Match (PSFM). To register, please click here and scroll down to "Applicants" for instructions. We accept applications online electronically through the Electronic Residency Application Service. Please go to "Fellowship Applicants" on the left menu for details.

Applications should include the following documents:

• ERAS Common Application Form
• Curriculum vitae
• Personal statement
• 3 letters of recommendation (including one from the residency program director)
• Official medical school transcript
• USMLE transcript
• ECFMG status report or certificate (international medical graduates only)
• Photo

Curriculum

First Year of Fellowship

The first year of fellowship is a year of clinical training and includes outpatient and inpatient responsibilities. In addition, fellows receive training in the six core competencies and are required to demonstrate proficiency in these competencies.

• Clinical Responsibilities: See ‘Clinical Experience’
• Research: See ‘Research Experience’
• Educational sessions:
• Weekly clinical case conferences and journal club attended by the Pediatric Endocrine team, rotating residents and students. This includes a discussion of inpatients led by the fellow on call, and discussion of interesting outpatients.
• M&M conferences 2-4 times per year run by first year fellows
• Weeky physiology review sessions designed and run by fellows
• Practice Improvement Projects: Fellows attend a QI course with residents and fellows across MGH, and then the pediatric endocrine fellows work together each year on a practice improvement project.
• Fellows are given opportunities to write chapters and reviews with faculty, and all fellows work on a clinical research project in the first year of fellowship

Second and Third Years

The second and third years of fellowship are primarily years of research training, which may include basic science, clinical, translational, genetic, community-based, epidemiology, or health policy research.

• Clinical Responsibilities: See ‘Clinical Experience’
• Research: See ‘Research Experience’
• Conferences: As described for first year fellows. In addition, second and third year fellows present at meetings of the mentors’ labs and present their research annually to the Pediatric Endocrine team.

Teaching Activities

• Pediatric Endocrine summer school is taught by faculty and fellows to incoming first year fellows over the summer months
• Didactic: The Pediatric Endocrine Unit offers weekly didactic conferences presented by local faculty. In addition, combined Adult and Pediatric Endocrine Grand Rounds are held once a week. Fellows also have the opportunity to attend didactic conferences and journal club hosted by the Adult Endocrine Units including the Reproductive Endocrine Unit, Diabetes/Thyroid/Neuroendocrine Units, and Calcium Unit.
• Clinical case conferences: Weekly pediatric endocrine clinical case conferences are presented by fellows and faculty. In addition, fellows have the opportunity to attend clinical case conferences in the Adult Endocrine Units.
• Clinical: In addition to clinical training in pediatric endocrinology, first year fellows attend a month of elective which can be tailored to the fellow’s interest and often includes rotations in Genetics and Thyroid Sonography and Biopsy and may also include rotations specific to the fellow’s interests such as Weight Center, neuroradiology, and others.
• Physiology review: The pediatric endocrine curriculum is reviewed at physiology review sessions held weekly and run by the senior fellows.
• Statistical courses: Multiple statistical courses (Introductory and Advanced) are offered by the Clinical Research program and Harvard Catalyst
• Grant Writing and Scientific Writing courses: Ongoing courses are offered by Massachusetts General Hospital and the Clinical Research Program
• Design and Conduct of Clinical Trials:Course offered annually through MGH Clinical Research Program and through Harvard Catalyst
• Ethical Conduct of Research: Ongoing courses are offered by the Clinical Research Program
• Fellows are encouraged to submit abstracts to both local and national conferences, and are encouraged to attend at least one national conference per year.

Clinical Experience

• Continuity Clinic: All fellows participate in weekly continuity clinic, during which they see their own patients, precepted by attendings. Each fellow clinic has 3 fellows, typically one from each year of training, and 2 attending preceptors. During a pre-clinic conference over lunch, cases are discussed and relevant literature is reviewed.
• Attending Clinics: During the first year, fellows also attend 3 other attending clinics per week, in order to broaden clinical experience and experience diverse clinical styles.
• Inpatient Responsibilities: We admit patients to our own service on the pediatric wards, and, more often, we consult on patients on other ward services and patients in the PICU and NICU.
• Call: All fellows share weekend call, for an average of 1 weekend every 5-6 weeks. First year fellows split holiday call and call during the weekdays, such that each first year fellow takes 5 holiday call days and 26 weeks of weekday call during the year.

Research Experience

First year fellows are expected to complete a short clinical research project within the clinical year, which may be a retrospective chart review, a cross-sectional study or a short prospective study.

The second and third years of fellowship are primarily years of research training, which may include basic science, clinical, translational, community based or health policy research. Fellows work with the Program Director and Division Chief to identify an appropriate mentor in their first year of fellowship. The research training experience includes developing, implementing and completing a hypothesis driven research project, and publishing one or more peer-reviewed first authored manuscripts (at least one manuscript or other ‘work-product’ is mandatory for completion of fellowship training).

Opportunities: Fellows have the opportunity to work in research labs of mentors within Massachusetts General Hospital, including those in the Adult Endocrine Unit and the Weight Center, and in other institutions affiliated to Harvard Medical School such as the Joslin Diabetes Center. Research mentors identify opportunities for fellows in training in grant writing, biostatistics, IRB submission, maintenance of protocol approval and scientific writing.

Potential Research Labs include (but are not limited to) the following:

• Neuroendocrine Unit (Mentors: Anne Klibanski, MD; Elizabeth Lawson, MD; Karen Miller, MD; Madhusmita Misra, MD, MPH)
• Metabolism Unit (Mentors: Steven Grinspoon, MD, and Takara Stanley, MD)
• Reproductive Endocrine Unit (Mentors: Stephanie Seminara, MD; Paul Boepple, MD)
• Calcium Unit(Mentors: Henry Kronenberg, MD; Sherri Ann Burnett-Bowie, MD; Joel Finkelstein, MD; Harald Jueppner, MD; Deborah Mitchell, MD)
• Diabetes Research Center-Clinical and Translational Research (MGH) (David M. Nathan, MD; Jose C. Florez, MD, Steven J. Russell, MD, PhD)
• Weight Center (Mentor: Lee Kaplan, MD)
• General Academic Pediatrics (Mentor: Elsie Taveras, MD, MPH; Milton Kotelchuck, PhD, MPH; James Perrin, MD; Jonathan P. Winickoff, MD, MPH)
• Joslin Diabetes Center (Mentors: Lori Laffel, MD; Mary Elizabeth Patti, MD)

Scholarship Oversight Committees meet semi-annually for each fellow to review ongoing research, and provide expertise, research and career guidance.

How to Apply

Thank you for your interest in the Pediatric Endocrine Fellowship at MassGeneral Hospital for Children. We accept applications online electronically through the Electronic Residency Application Service.

Applications should include the following documents:

• ERAS Common Application Form
• Curriculum vitae
• Personal statement
• 3 letters of recommendation (including one from the residency program director)
• Official medical school transcript
• USMLE transcript
• ECFMG status report or certificate (international medical graduates only)
• Photo

ERAS opens for applicants each year in June and programs receive applications in July. Applicants are encouraged to complete submissions by August 15th, which affords ample time for the program to review all applications and schedule personal interviews for competitive applicants. Interviews are held in September and October.

We also participate in the NRMP SMS Matching Program (National Resident Matching Program, Specialties Matching Service). To register, please see instructions for applicants under “Fellowship.”

If you have any questions regarding our program or the application process, please feel free to contact the Pediatric Endocrine Fellowship at nradford@mgh.harvard.edu.