The UCSF Pediatric Critical Care Medicine Fellowship Program is a a 3-year, ACGME-accredited training program that provides both excellent clinical training as well as strong support for development of an academic career focus through structured mentorship. Clinical training takes place at two clinical sites: UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals. San Francisco and Oakland. Between the numerous research institutes at UCSF, the Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute (CHORI) and multiple other affiliated institutions the opportunities for research or other scholarly activities are extensive. Fellows interested in pursuing an academic career have the opportunity to dedicate an extra year to research or to obtain an advanced degree, funded by the divisional pediatric critical care NIH T32 training grant. We aim to train the future leaders in our field and proudly believe that we offer equally outstanding training for fellows primarily interested in a clinical career and those who want to pursue academic endeavors. The main pillars of our training program are clinical excellence, focus on scholarship, structured mentorship, and dedication to education.

 

The main pillars of our training program are clinical excellence, focus on scholarship, structured mentorship and dedication to education

Clinical Excellence

Fellows develop clinical expertise through rotations at two distinct clinical sites: UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital San Francisco and UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland. UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital San Francisco is located in a newly opened (February 2015), state-of-the-art facility, under one roof with the Betty Moore Women’s Hospital in Mission Bay. Fellows rotate through both a 20-bed Pediatric Intensive Care Unit and a 12-bed Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Unit. UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland has a 23-bed PICU, and is the only designated pediatric trauma center in the Bay Area. At both sites, ICU fellows are part of the primary ICU care team and actively involved in the management of all patients, supervised by attending physicians and supported by residents, nurse practitioners and a wide array of additional support staff. Between the two training sites fellows get exposure to the complete spectrum of pediatric diseases requiring intensive care management, including patients undergoing cardiothoracic surgery, neurosurgery, solid organ transplant and bone marrow transplant as well as VA and VV-ECMO. All subspecialty services are represented, and areas of excellence include pulmonary hypertension, neuro ICU, trauma, sickle cell and acute lung injury/ARDS. Both institutions have busy pediatric emergency rooms and active transport programs. Fellows are the medical control officers providing advice to physicians at referring institutions for all transports coming into the PICUs at both institutions.

Focus on Research and Other Opportunities for Scholarship

Our fellowship program aims to train the future leaders in our field, and regardless of future career goals, puts a strong emphasis on development of expertise in an area of scholarship that is meaningful for future career development. We therefore allot approximately half of the fellowship training time to research or other scholarly activities and have a structured mentoring program to help fellows choose an appropriate project. We define scholarship broadly and have fellows who focus on basic science, translational, clinical and medical education research, systems science, informatics and global health, among others. The Division of Pediatric Critical Care at UCSF is affiliated with the Cardiovascular Research Institute of the University of California, San Francisco, which focuses its research on cardiovascular and pulmonary biology. The Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute (CHORI) is a NIH-funded research institute affiliated with UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland where the emphasis is on clinical and translational research in a variety of fields. The opportunities for scholarship however are not limited to our divisions, departments or even our institutions; several of our fellows have distant mentors that help them pursue their unique career goals. For those interested in a 4th year dedicated exclusively to scholarly work, funding opportunities exist through the divisional NIH T32 training grant. This funding mechanism also allows interested fellows to complete advanced degrees such as a master’s degree in clinical research, medical education or public health. Our fellowship program has an outstanding track record of training successful physician scientists: the majority of our graduates land academic positions and a high percentage secure NIH grant funding after training. (See alumni section.)

Structured Mentorship

Mentoring in our fellowship program starts from the moment an applicant walks in the door for an interview, and often continues after completion of fellowship training. Many of our graduates stay in touch and call for advice on a variety of issues years after graduating from fellowship. Each fellow is assigned a career advisor early in the fellowship to help with choosing a project and mentor. The program director meets with each fellow regularly to ensure that career goals are set and met. Faculty at both institutions are involved in the mentoring process, and career advisors are matched with fellows according to similarity in career goals. All pediatric fellows at UCSF participate in Fellows' College, a professional development program, which provides additional guidance and mentorship as well as a series of seminars offered throughout the year. Fellows have the opportunity to present to the national Research Training in Pediatric Critical Care Medicine (RTPCCM) Network, and get feedback and advice from leaders in our field at other institutions. This network was founded by our division at UCSF to support training of physician scientists in pediatric critical care medicine, organizes quarterly web-based meetings as well as an annual session at the Pediatric Academic Society meeting.

Dedication to Education

While most clinical learning in fellowship takes place at the bedside, we believe that awareness of the scientific and evidence-based underpinnings of diagnostic and management decisions is essential to gaining clinical expertise. We have created a structured educational program that aims to expand knowledge and skills and to prepare fellows to become life-long, self-directed learners. Fellows are therefore active participants in the educational program, which includes hands-on and interactive activities such as simulation-based learning, journal club, case-based discussions and fellow-led M&M conferences. We pay attention to core curriculum and board review, but also to experiential learning through bedside teaching and mock code training. Fellows have multiple opportunities to hone their own teaching skills: by teaching residents rotating through the PICU, by participating as small group instructors in the residency simulation curriculum and by taking part in teaching workshops offered by the UCSF Center for Faculty Educators.

Applying for Fellowship

The fellowship accepts applications through ERAS and participates in the national residency matching program (NRMP) through the annual fall subspecialty match. We start accepting applications for the match on July 15 the previous year. For more information about the fellowship program, contact our program coordinator Cristina Torres at 415/502-8231 ([email protected]) or the fellowship director, Sandrijn van Schaik, MD at 415/476-3731 ([email protected]).

 

Current Fellows 2016-2017

First Year

Alice Ainsworth, MD	[email protected]
Medical School:	University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
Residency Training:	University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
Fellowship Training Years:	2017-2020
Research Project:	TBD
Lindsay Braun, MD	[email protected]
Medical School:	University of Washington, Seattle, WA
Residency Training:	University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
Fellowship Training Years:	2017-2020
Research Project:	TBD
April Edwell, MD	[email protected]
Medical School:	University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
Residency Training:	University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
Fellowship Training Years:	2017-2020
Research Project:	TBD
Kathryn Robertson, MD	[email protected]
Medical School:	University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
Residency Training:	Children’s National Medical Center, Washington, DC
Fellowship Training Years:	2017-2020
Research Project:	TBD

Second Year

Emily Balkin, MD	[email protected]
Medical School:	Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
Residency Training:	University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
Fellowship Training Years:	2016-2019
Research Project:	Mortality and morbidity associated with pulmonary hypertension in pediatric intensive care unit
Edmund Burke, MD	[email protected]
Medical School:	Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT
Residency Training:	New York Presbyterian Hospital, New York, NY
Fellowship Training Years:	2016-2018
Research Project:	TBD
Brian Goudy, MD	[email protected]
Medical School:	University of Minnesota Medical School, Duluth, MN
Residency Training:	University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
Fellowship Training Years:	2016-2019
Research Project:	Differential gene expression of prenatal vs postnatal ductus arteriosus smooth muscle and endothelial cells as measured by RNA sequencing
Jana Krystofova, MD, PhD	[email protected]
Medical School:	Jessenius Medical School of Commenius University, Martin, Slovakia
Residency Training:	Maimonides Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY
Fellowship Training Years:	2016-2019
Research Project:	Arginase activity in a mouse model of brain hypoxic-ischemic injury
Neelima Marupudi, MD	[email protected]
Medical School:	Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, PA
Residency Training:	Emory University, Atlanta, GA
Fellowship Training Years:	2016-2019
Research Project:	VEGF expression in heart and lung tissue in different sheep models
Terry Dean, MD, PhD	[email protected]
Medical School:	Perelman School of Medicine at University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
Residency Training:	Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA
Fellowship Training Years:	2016-2018
Research Project:	The role of Fibrinogen in Post-TBI Neuroinflammation and BBB integrity

Third Year

Helayne Feferman, MD	[email protected]
Medical School:	Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, Kalamazoo, MI
Residency Training:	University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
Fellowship Training Years:	2015-2018
Research Project:	Developing a Screening Protocol for Pediatric Stroke. Mentor: Heather Fullerton, MD
Katie Kowalek, MD	[email protected]
Medical School:	University of Arizona College of Medicine, Tucson, AZ
Residency Training:	University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
Fellowship Training Years:	2015-2018
Research Project:	The Influence of Perspective-Taking in Pediatric Critical Care on Moral Distress. Mentor: Jori Bogetz, MD
Malini Mahendra, MD	[email protected]
Medical School:	University of California, Los Angeles David Geffen School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA
Residency Training:	University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
Fellowship Training Years:	2015-2018
Research Project:	Validation of UCSF’s Pediatric Early Warning Score. Mentor: Adams Dudley, MD, MBA
Amy Romer, MD	[email protected]
Medical School:	University of Chicago Division of the Biological Sciences the Pritzker School of Medicine, Chicago, IL
Residency Training:	Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA
Fellowship Training Years:	2015-2018
Research Project:	BNP: A Potential Biomarker to Predict the Response to Inhaled Nitric Oxide (NO) Therapy in Neonates, Infants and Children. Mentor: Jeff Fineman, MD

Fourth Year

Kari Wellnitz, MD	K[email protected]
Medical School:	University of Texas Medical School at Houston, TX
Residency Training:	University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
Fellowship Training Years:	2014-2018
Research Project:	Effect of Obesity on Vascular Endothelial Function in Single Ventricle Patients Post-Fontan. Mentor: Jeff Fineman, MD
Erika Wong, MD	[email protected]
Medical School:	Albany Medical College of Union University, Albany, NY
Residency Training:	Kaiser Permanente Medical Group (Northern California), Oakland, CA
Fellowship Training Years:	2014-2018
Research Project:	Role of ERK 1/2 Signaling in Sepsis. Mentor: Judith Hellman, MD
Matt Zinter, MD	[email protected]
Medical School:	Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, MO
Residency Training:	University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
Fellowship Training Years:	2014-2018
Research Project:	Pathogen Identification in Pediatric Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant Recipients with Suspected Lower Respiratory Tract Infection. Mentor: Joe DeRisi, PhD

 

Critical care fellowship alumni are listed below by program year and current institutional affiliation:

Timothy Rogers 2014-2017
Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, Oakland, CA

Alison Nair 2013-2017
University of California, San Francisco

Jason Boehme 2012-2016
University of California, San Francisco

Brendan Gallagher 2013-2016
UCSF Benioff children’s Hospital Oakland

Ben Orwoll 2013-2016
Oregon Health & Sciences University

Shan Ward 2012-2016
University of California, San Francisco

Gina Clemens 2010-2014
Washington University, St. Louis, MO

Duncan Henry 2012-2015
University of California, San Francisco, CA

Rebecca Johnson Kameny 2011-2015
University of California, San Francisco, CA

Aaron Spicer 2011-2015
Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA

Poonam Patel 2011-2014
Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, Oakland, CA

Monique Radman 2009-2014
Seattle Children’s Hospital, Seattle, WA

Travis Vesel 2011-2014
Duke University, Durham, NC

Preetha Krishnan 2010-2013
Randall Children’s Hospital at Legacy Emanuel, Portland, OR

Efrat Lelkes 2009-2013
University of California, San Francisco, CA

Martina Steurer-Muller 2010-2013
University of California, San Francisco, CA

Jim Howard 2008-2012
UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital, Oakland, CA

Jaclin LaBarbera 2009-2012
Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY

Gayle Soskolne 2009-2012
Children’s Hospital of Colorado, Aurora, CO

 

To obtain more information about applying for fellowship or if you have additional questions, contact our fellowship program coordinator, Cristina Torres, at (415) 502-8231 or send an email to [email protected]. For benefits and salary information, see http://medschool.ucsf.edu/gme/.

We use ERAS for the processing of applications and will start accepting applications after July 1 for positions starting July 1 the following year. When submitting your application, please also include 3 letters of recommendation addressed to our Program Director, Dr. Sandrijn van Schaik. We participate in the NRMP match and typically schedule interviews in September and October.

Cristina Torres
Fellowship Program Coordinator
University of California, San Francisco
550 16th Street, 4th Floor, Box 0106
San Francisco, CA 94143