Endocrinology Fellowship

The fellowship curriculum provides a balance of clinical, research and academic experience. Nationwide Children’s Hospital is well positioned to provide a valuable clinical exposure for fellowship training. As the primary referral center for Central and Southeastern Ohio, it provides a robust exposure to evaluating and managing common and rare endocrine disorders. To provide experience in longitudinal care of children with endocrine disorders, throughout the fellowship, fellows see patients in a continuity clinic one half-day per week. Fellows learn to provide care in a collaborative environment working with a dedicated team of providers including pediatric nurse practitioners, physician’s assistants, endocrine nurses, certified diabetes educators, dietitians, and social workers. Fellows also get to experience real world diabetes management at Camp Hamwi, the Central Ohio Diabetes Camp, and providing opportunity to work with children from ages 7 to 18 years. Opportunities for mentorship from faculty both within and outside of division, and from various centers in the Abigail Wexner Research Institute provides a strong clinical and translational research experience. Fellows have opportunities to write grants, present findings at national and international conferences and publish their work in high impact journals. Dedicated time for academics throughout the fellowship program facilitates uninterrupted learning through a variety of tools.

The focus of the first year of the fellowship program is clinical experience, with an introduction to research opportunities. Structured as two-week rotations, fellows spend about 45% time in inpatient, 25% time in outpatient and about 20% time in research rotations. During inpatient rotations, fellows are either on consultation service or the inpatient service with a supervisory attending. Fellows are expected to take primary ownership of these patients. The outpatient rotation consists of fellows attend faculty diabetes and general endocrinology clinics and receive case-based teaching and education. Of the research rotation, 4 weeks will be in the first half, 2 weeks in middle and 4 weeks in second half of the first year. The first is used to explore various research opportunities and identify mentors (with guidance from the program director), with subsequent blocks used to develop the research proposal for the second and third year. There is also a one week clinical laboratory rotation to learn how endocrine assays are performed and what can go wrong.

The second and third years of the program are primarily research-focused so that the fellow can successfully lead and complete a primary project of their choice. Each fellow has a Scholarship Oversight Committee to supervise their research activity and is composed of the fellowship program director and research mentors from within and outside the division. Fellows maintain their half day of continuity clinic per week. Additionally, they participate in several subspecialty clinics one half day per week. These include Metabolic Bone Health clinic, Cystic Fibrosis Related Diabetes, Neuro-oncology survivorship clinic, Bone marrow Transplant clinic, THRIVE clinic (for patients with differences of sex development, gender development), Prader-Willi syndrome clinic, 22q11 clinic, PCOS clinic and type 2 DM clinic. Second year fellows do 4 weeks of inpatient rotation. Third year fellows do 8 weeks of inpatient rotation, half of which will be at the end of the third year in preparation for future attending responsibilities. Second and third year fellows will also work with our well-recognized Pediatric Endocrinology Quality Improvement Program and opportunities exist in a variety of fields including clinical care in diabetes mellitus, endocrine disorders and workflow improvements. There are also opportunities to do electives in adolescent gynecology, adult endocrinology, healthy weight and genetics.

Dedicated conferences for fellows’ education continue throughout the three years of the program, and includes Endocrine physiology lecture series, Disease pathophysiology and clinical management lecture series, Journal clubs (on hot off the press and older but landmark articles), Case discussions, Joint radiology-endocrinology conferences, board reviews, Diabetes conferences, Guest lectures by renowned faculty from outside the division and visiting professors.

Fellows are expected to have a hypothesis driven research project as their main scholarship activity during fellowship. This can be a clinical, translational or basic science research project. Research opportunities are available in the Clinical Research Center of The Ohio State University and the Clinical Study Center of The Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital.

Additional unique resources available to you as a fellow at Nationwide Children’s Hospital will be:

• Access to an Intramural Grant program for funding your research study.
• Opportunity to pursue a number of master’s degree programs through The Ohio State University, including but not limited to Master of Public Health (MPH), Master of Medical Science, Master of Clinical Research and Master in Biomedical Education. The Department of Pediatrics is pleased to offer competitive funding opportunities for fellows obtaining a master’s degree.
• Fellow’s College educational series: a lecture series provided by Nationwide Children’s specifically for fellows. The college consists of three pillars: core curriculum, professional development and scholarship.

Recent/ongoing fellow led research studies:

• Metabolic Syndrome in HIV adolescents
• C4 Gene Copy Number in Type 1 Diabetes
• Central Sleep Apnea in Prader-Willi Syndrome
• Racial Differences in Fat Reactivity in Adolescent Obesity
• Racial Difference in Insulin Secretion in Adolescent PCOS
• C4 Gene Copy Number in Somali Type 1 Diabetes
• Vitamin D and Sickle Cell Disease
• VEGF and ACTH Stimulation
• Transition Readiness in Turner Syndrome
• Fertility Concerns in PCOS
• Imaging correlates of Growth hormone deficiency in patients with Septo-Optic Dysplasia

Publications of studies done/ review articles written during fellowship period:

Hoffman RP, Damilano CP, Hong KMC, Glick BA, Kamboj MK. Glycemic control, depression, diabetes distress among adolescents with type 2 diabetes: effects of sex, race, insurance, and obesity. Acta Diabetol. 2022 Aug;59(8):1083-1089. doi: 10.1007/s00592-022-01902-2. Epub 2022 Jun 1. PMID: 35648254.

Patel N, Klamer B, Davis S, Nahata L. Patient-parent perceptions of transition readiness in Turner syndrome and associated factors. Clin Endocrinol (Oxf). 2022 Feb;96(2):155-164. doi: 10.1111/cen.14584. Epub 2021 Sep 23. PMID: 34553783.

Patel N, Davis S, Nahata L. TRANSITION-RELATED DISCUSSIONS AMONG ADOLESCENT FEMALES WITH TURNER SYNDROME: CURRENT PRACTICES AND ASSOCIATED FACTORS. Endocr Pract. 2021 Jan;27(1):56-62. doi: 10.4158/EP-2020-0287. Epub 2020 Nov 18. PMID: 33475502.

Guarneri AM, Hoffman RP. Non-glycemic Adverse Effects of Insulin. Curr Diabetes Rev. 2022;18(2):e012821190877. doi: 10.2174/1573399817666210129104420. PMID: 33511950.

Heksch R, Bowden S, Hoffman R. Novel function of adrenocorticotropic hormone in the stimulation of vascular endothelial growth factor release in healthy children and adolescents: a proof-of-concept study. Ann Pediatr Endocrinol Metab. 2021 Mar;26(1):46-52. doi: 10.6065/apem.2040110.055. Epub 2021 Feb 3. PMID: 33541031; PMCID: PMC8026337.

Heksch RA, Matheson MA, Tishelman AC, Swartz JM, Jayanthi VR, Diamond DA, Harrison CJ, Chan YM, Nahata L. TESTICULAR REGRESSION SYNDROME: PRACTICE VARIATION IN DIAGNOSIS AND MANAGEMENT. Endocr Pract. 2019 Aug;25(8):779-786. doi: 10.4158/EP-2019-0032. Epub 2019 Apr 23. PMID: 31013155.

Heksch R, Kamboj M, Anglin K, Obrynba K. Review of Prader-Willi syndrome: the endocrine approach. Transl Pediatr. 2017 Oct;6(4):274-285. doi: 10.21037/tp.2017.09.04. PMID: 29184809; PMCID: PMC5682385.

Thompson MD, Cismowski MJ, Trask AJ, Lallier SW, Graf AE, Rogers LK, Lucchesi PA, Brigstock DR. Enhanced Steatosis and Fibrosis in Liver of Adult Offspring Exposed to Maternal High-Fat Diet. Gene Expr. 2016;17(1):47-59. doi: 10.3727/105221616X692135. Epub 2016 Jun 23. PMID: 27342733; PMCID: PMC5611859.

Thompson MD, Cismowski MJ, Serpico M, Pusateri A, Brigstock DR. Elevation of circulating microRNA levels in obese children compared to healthy controls. Clin Obes. 2017 Aug;7(4):216-221. doi: 10.1111/cob.12192. Epub 2017 Apr 10. PMID: 28397375.

To meet the needs of our applicants, our pediatric endocrinology fellowship program participates in the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) and the Electronic Residency Application System (ERAS) for all applications. This program is open to candidates in June and interviews are conducted from June through October each academic year.  Upon completion of the review of all applications by the Program Director and Recruitment Committee, qualified candidates will be invited to interview. For the Academic year 2022-23, all interviews will be conducted on a virtual platform.

Early submission of applications is encouraged as this allows the program and the candidate the opportunity to schedule the most mutually convenient time for an interview. All applicants must be board eligible or board certified in pediatrics through the American Board of Pediatrics (ABP).  All International graduates must hold an unrestricted, J1 VISA. We encourage you to apply if you meet our eligibility criteria and look forward to considering your application.

For questions or further information please contact:

Jody Hepp
Program Coordinator
Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Diabetes
Nationwide Children's Hospital
700 Children's Drive
Columbus, Ohio  43205-2696
(614) 722-4322 
Jody.hepp@nationwidechildrens.org

ERAS® Timeline for the 2023 Fellowship Application Season

NRMP® Fall Match Timeline for July 2023 Appointments

Amit Lahoti, MBBS
Program Director 
(614) 722-4425
Amit.Lahoti@NationwideChildrens.org

Robert Hoffman, MD
Associate Program Director
(614) 722-4425
Robert.Hoffman@NationwideChildrens.org

Jody Hepp
Program Coordinator
(614) 722-4322
Jody.Hepp@NationwideChildrens.org

We offer salaries competitive with other hospitals in the region. Fellows have several other perks including:

• Relocation expenses*
• Reimbursement for fees related to Ohio Medical licensure
• Reimbursement for Pediatric Board exam fee
• Funds to attend professional conferences
• Memberships to American Board of Pediatrics and other pertinent professional societies

Full details about the benefits can be found at here.

• Meet our fellows and alumni

Testimonials From Our Alumni

“The attendings were all amazing and interested in teaching, and I felt very comfortable approaching every one of them for assistance with patients, or any other question from career advice to mentorship with projects.”

“The entire endo team had so much camaraderie, and I learned so much from the nurses, CDEs, dieticians, and social workers as well.  I also have an interest in Medical Education, and I was also able to attain funding through NCH for Masters level classes in Med Ed (which I am now using frequently in my career).”

“I lived in Columbus for 15 years and it is an amazing city to live in. Traffic is minimal and the cost of living is great, it is a growing city with so much to do. I was there before being married and while raising a young family, and we really loved what the city has to offer.”

“I would definitely choose Nationwide Children's for fellowship again and would recommend the program to anyone.“

• American Diabetes Association
• VIDEO: Pediatric Endocrinology, A Lifetime of Personalized Care
• Endocrinology Research and Innovation