The overarching aim of all fellowship training in the Division, regardless of track, is preparation of the next generation of leaders in the field of adolescent health. It is expected that the graduates of our fellowship programs will be able to apply individual and population perspectives in an ongoing effort to assure equitable, highest-quality care for all adolescents and that they will help strengthen professional and public understanding of positive youth development, adolescent health and illness, and health care services that meet adolescent needs and expectations.
Fellowship:
Three fellowship pathways currently are available within the Division. These pathways are as follows:
- Adolescent Medicine Fellowship Program (2-3 years) for physicians who are board certified or eligible in pediatrics, internal medicine, or family practice.
- Pediatric/Adolescent Gynecology Fellowship (1-2 years) for physicians who are board certified or eligible in obstetrics-gynecology; email Jill Huppert, MD MPH, for more information.
- National Research Service Award (NRSA) Fellowship (2-3 years) for physicians or PhD-level candidates who plan to pursue research careers pertaining to adolescent health.
Annual recruitment has included one to two candidates to the Adolescent Medicine Fellowship, one candidate to the Pediatric/Adolescent Gynecology Fellowship, and one to two candidates to the NRSA Fellowship.
Adolescent Medicine Fellowship Program
The Adolescent Medicine Fellowship Program at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center (CCHMC) is designed to prepare physicians who are board certified or eligible for certification in the specialties of pediatrics, internal medicine, or family medicine for academic careers and leadership within the field of adolescent medicine. Applications from prospective candidates are evaluated on the basis of academic qualifications, letters of recommendations, leadership roles, professional experience with adolescent populations, research experience, and career plans. Top-ranked candidates are invited for interview and assessed for their communication skills and ability to work in an interdisciplinary setting. Candidates selected for the Adolescent Medicine Fellowship Program are expected to meet the fellowship training requirements of their respective specialty boards for eligibility to the certifying examination in adolescent medicine. These requirements call for a minimum of three years of fellowship training for pediatricians and two years for internists and family medicine physicians. The fellowship program is directed by Dr. Michael Spigarelli.
Residency
The aim of residency training in the Division is to provide every CCHMC house officer in pediatrics and combined residency training programs with, at a minimum, a one-month, full-time, ambulatory block rotation in adolescent medicine that is supervised by clinical faculty who are board-certified and experienced in the subspecialty. This rotation incorporates exposure to a variety of care types and settings, including primary care, consultation services, the hospital outpatient center, community satellite sites, and the juvenile detention system. In addition, Division faculty have assumed a leadership role in designing an inpatient adolescent medicine block experience for every CCHMC resident in pediatrics and combined pediatrics/internal medicine that promotes an ability to manage acute illness within the context of adolescent physical growth and psychosocial development.
Medical School
Training at the pre-doctoral level focuses on elective medical student rotations in clinical adolescent medicine and adolescent health-related research. The outpatient clinical experience is designed for the third or fourth-year student who wishes to spend time in the Teen Health Center. The inpatient adolescent medicine experience for medical students is supervised by the attending physician on the adolescent unit. Adolescent Medicine faculty serve as inpatient attending physicians for the resident/student team on the unit eleven months yearly, with four third-year medical students and one fourth-year student assigned to the service each month.
