Clinical Informatics Fellowship

At Nationwide, the fellows have a great opportunity to collaborate with a strong data science team working on variety of predictive models and other AI efforts with direct interactions and through a special series in our Clinical Informatics Journal Club and via their Digital Health Journal Club.

Members of the Nationwide Children's CI team and fellows have worked with the Research IT teams to initiate and promote AI innovation through an AI interest group that seeks to educate our community and foster the further development of projects.

Safety

As the delivery of health care becomes more complex, the reliance on effective systems to prevent medical errors is increasingly critical. Evidence shows the application of information technology improves patient safety.

This reduction in errors occurs by:

Explore some of our team's safety projects

Quality

Health care information technology teams are data caretakers, and health care organizations depend on data to accomplish quality initiatives. Data is the heart of any quality initiative. It establishes a baseline, determines what changes lead to improvement, allows for performance comparisons and evaluates procedural changes. We work hand in hand with data analysts to ensure the data we track and use for quality improvement projects reflect the processes and outcomes we desire.

We also are heavily involved in improving and implementing decision support for our providers. We coordinate with clinical divisions to provide the latest clinical guidance to providers at the point of care. This occurs through various means, including pathways, protocols, order sets, alerts and data visualization.

Explore some of the QI projects that our fellows have worked on in the past, as part of their longitudinal Quality Leadership Rotation

Applied Informatics

Our fellowship focus is on applied informatics, focusing on practical application of technology to create innovative solutions for healthcare problems.

Explore examples of applied informatics projects that our fellows and faculty have worked on in the past few years

Any candidate who has completed an ACGME residency and is Board eligible or certified in that specialty can apply for the CI fellowship. The candidate must get their primary board certification to be eligible to sit for the Clinical Informatics Boards after successful completion of the CI fellowship.

MRTP Surgical Resident Eligibility:

Residents in a Surgery residency program are eligible to apply and complete a Clinical Informatics Fellowship as a Mid-Residency Training Program (MRTP), instead of research years or other professional development activities. The MRTP will allow eligible surgical residents to pursue both a surgical residency and a fellowship in Clinical Informatics concurrently. Upon graduation from the ACGME-accredited fellowship in Clinical Informatics, the ABS resident, assuming all other then-current ABPM eligibility requirements are met, shall become eligible to sit for the initial Certification examination in Clinical Informatics. ABPM will not issue an ABS resident a Certification in Clinical Informatics under the MRTP until such time as the ABS resident would take and pass both the ABS Qualifying and Certifying Examinations in Surgery.

Explore Policies from the American Board of Preventative Medicine on Pursing the Opportunity as a MRTP

Learn More About Pursing Both a Surgical Residency and a Fellowship Concurrently from the National Library of Medicine

Application

The CI fellowship application is through ERAS (Electronic Residency Application Service). ERAS is open for applications for candidates in June for positions starting in July a year later.

Our ACGME program ID is 1223814002 - Ohio State University Hospital Program
Clinical informatics (Family medicine) - Columbus, OH

You will need to submit the following documents when applying:

• Medical school transcript
• Board Transcripts (COMLEX-USA or USMLE)
• 3 letters of Recommendation, including one from your Program Director
• Personal Statement
• Curriculum Vitae
• Photo
• ECFMG Status (If applicable)

Interviews: Scheduling and What to Expect

All CI interviews have been virtual since the pandemic and will continue in that format in the near future. We have 3-4 interview dates between July and November and interview about 3-4 candidates in each session which lasts for about 4 hours.

The interview session starts with an overview of the program with details about the curriculum, rotations, block diagram, vacation and conference time. This is followed by 3-4 meetings of 20 minutes each with the Program Director and faculty.

Selection

We participate in the AMIA (American Medical Informatics Association) Match which is held in December. All pertinent deadlines will be on this site. You need to have AMIA student membership to participate in the match.

• Aarti R. Chandawarkar, MD
  Clinical Informatics Fellowship Program Director
  Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics
  Primary Care Pediatrics, Director of the International Adoption Clinic
• Courtney Hebert, MD
  Clinical Informatics Fellowship Associate Program Director
  Associate Professor, Department of Biomedical Informatics
  The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center

Meet Our Faculty

Fellows and Alumni

Meet Our Current Fellows and Past Alumni

Our fellows will be Ohio State employees and will receive stipend based on their post graduation year.

Our fellows, if eligible, will be allowed to practice independently (up to 20% of their time) in their clinical specialty. This clinical work needs to be approved by the program director prior to committing to the specialty and should not interfere with the fellowship activities or violate the ACGME work hours or fellowship policy. The fellow will be reimbursed by the specialty for this clinical time.

1. I am board eligible, but not yet board certified for my primary specialty, am I eligible to apply for the CI fellowship and take the Board exam?
   Any candidate who has completed an ACGME residency and is Board eligible in that specialty can apply for the CI fellowship. The candidate must get their primary board certification to be eligible to sit for the Clinical informatics Boards after successful completion of the CI fellowship.
2. When is the CI Board Exam?
   The CI Board exam is currently offered once a year in October by the American Board of Preventive Medicine. Application opens in spring of your second year and will be approved by ABPM if you have met all the eligibility criteria. Learn more about important dates and events like the board exam
3. What conferences can I attend?
   The fellowship has funding to send the first-year fellows to Epic Inc for Physician Builder Training in their first year along with 2 additional informatics conferences (Epic XGM and AMIA CIC). In the second year, the fellows get to attend Epic UGM and another informatics meeting of their choice. This is based on the current fellowship budget which can change year to year. As of 2025, we have been able to successfully fund all the above conferences. There is an expectation that fellows will have a presentation at most of these meetings.
4. Can I combine my specialty fellowship with Clinical Informatics?
   It is possible to combine certain specialty fellowships with clinical informatics. This is referred to as 'Integrated Training Experience' and is evaluated on a case-by-case basis. If you are interested in considering this, please reach out to us at the earliest so that we can guide you in the steps involved.
5. Can I work clinically in my specialty during the fellowship?
   We strongly believe that our fellows need to continue providing high-quality patient care concurrent with their training in clinical informatics. At the same time, we recognize our fellows are already well-trained to practice in their primary specialty. For these reasons, we encourage our fellows to provide direct patient care at either Ohio State Wexner Medical Center or Nationwide Children’s Hospital during the two-year period, however this is not a requirement of the fellowship. If qualified and appropriately credentialed, they are permitted to separately contract in their primary specialty and receive appropriate compensation for their level of training and experience (i.e., as independently practicing attending physicians) separate from their salary as a fellow.

Aarti Chandawarkar, MD
Program Director
431 S. 18th Street
Columbus, OH 43205
Aarti.Chandawarkar@NationwideChildrens.org

Brittney Holly-Bragg
Program Coordinator
Brittney.HolleyBragg@NationwideChildrens.org
(614) 355-4691