Pediatric Pulmonary Fellowship
Pediatric Pulmonary Fellowship
The three-year Pediatric Pulmonary Fellowship trains fellows for pediatric pulmonology careers.
The Nationwide Children’s Pediatric Pulmonary Fellowship strives to develop excellent clinicians who are well prepared for a successful career in academic medicine. Trainees with a strong background in hospital and outpatient based pediatric care who have excellent collaboration and communication skills will thrive in our program. Trainees can expect to work with patients and colleagues from diverse socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds, preparing them to work in an increasingly heterogeneous world. Ultimately, our faculty is eager to support the development of future colleagues who have a love of our specialty and are confident in their ability to provide outstanding patient care and promote innovation in the field during their future careers.
The three-year Pediatric Pulmonary Fellowship is structured as follows:
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18 months clinical experience
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Six months of inpatient service
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Six months of consult service
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Six months of “focused” experience including
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One month of sleep medicine
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Five months of elective study – options include respiratory therapy, pharmacology, allergy/immunology, pediatric transplant, radiology/pathology studies, palliative care and others
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18 months dedicated to research
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Distribution of month to month scheduling flexible, to meet needs and priorities of fellow
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Time and funding allotted for national meetings
Upon successful completion of the program, the fellow will have met the training requirements for Pediatric Pulmonology certification by the American Board of Pediatrics.
What You Need to Know
Pulmonary Training
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Remarkably varied patient population cared for in both hospital and outpatient settings - Inpatient and outpatient care experiences allow development of expertise identifying and treating common, and rare, clinical challenges seen in the Cystic Fibrosis population
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Pulmonary inpatient service cared for on pulmonary specialty floors – with respiratory therapy and experienced nursing support
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Pulmonary consult service follows patients referred from wide breath of services, including ENT, general pediatrics, hematology/oncology, critical care, gastroenterology, psychology and others – reflecting the breadth and depth of Nationwide Children’s Hospital itself
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Pulmonary Fellow’s Clinic allows fellows to follow their own patient populations (comprising a spectrum of clinical issues, from complex patients often identified during hospital stays, as well as more “straightforward” patients referred by local primary care physicians)
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Diverse patient populations include patients with:
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Cystic fibrosis
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Infantile wheezing
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Severe asthma
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Bronchopulmonary dysplasia
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Chronic mechanical ventilation
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Neuromuscular disease
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Thoracic dystrophy disorders
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Complex pulmonary/airway disorders
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Aspiration syndromes
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Pulmonary malformations
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Pulmonary disease related to immunocompromised states
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Many others
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State-of-the-art diagnostic techniques
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Flexible bronchoscopy with dedicated lab and respiratory therapists
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Infant pulmonary function testing
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Controlled ventilation HRCT
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Aggressive and innovative radiology department supports multiple other diagnostic and therapeutic endeavors
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Pediatric Pulmonary Sleep Laboratory
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Bronch simulator
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Faculty and Fellows
Fellow Testimonials
“I love our fellowship program because it feels like a family, it is a very supportive environment for learning, and you get great training from being at such a large institution and seeing such a wide range of pulmonary conditions.
I'm originally from Boston but Columbus has won me over! It's a hidden gem in the Midwest with friendly people and all the big city opportunities (great restaurants, concerts, shows, sports, and festivals), but smaller city conveniences (good cost of living and not too much traffic). Boston has better seafood, of course, but the bagels here are top notch!”Michelle Gillespie, MD
“I was excited to come to Nationwide as it is THE children's hospital for the area and therefore sees both volume and complexity of patients. Already in my first 2 months, I have seen and learned so much more that I would have imagined! So far NCH has proven itself to be a great place to train in terms of quality of experiences but also in the quality of the people! It is special having a great team of co-fellows, junior faculty, and seasoned attendings to lean on for support. Also, living in Columbus is not so bad - there are plenty of good eats, great drinks, and family friendly activities to do every weekend, all at an affordable price!”
Melinda Amornwichet, MD
“I like the variety of patients and pathologies we get to see at Nationwide Childrens Hospital, and I love my co-fellows. I enjoy German Village, and I love going out to eat, hanging at breweries and watching the seasons change.”
Lusine Unanyan, DO
“As a fellow, you need to experience seeing a diverse group of patients in the subspeciality you are training in, and you see that here, in Nationwide. I enjoy seeing the wide spectrum of patients, from cystic fibrosis to ILD, PCD and our complex trach/vent kids. I love performing bronchoscopies and Nationwide Children's gives us plenty of opportunities to master our bronchoscopy skills. Lastly, I enjoy how our pulmonary department is so cohesive with our sleep medicine department, which is a field I want to subspecialize in too!
As for Columbus, I enjoy the food, specially, the desserts shop here. I also love how affordable it is to live here.”Terace Thomas, MD
“One of my favorite aspects of the pulmonary fellowship is the ability to work with a variety of mentors at different stages in their career who have trained at institutions. Being able to see how different attendings chose different management plans allows me to work on developing what my clinical style will be. I also appreciate the program leadership's quick responses to feedback from fellows and their willingness to work with us on any issues that arise (both inside and outside of work!).
Columbus is a great city to live and work in-having The Ohio State University in town means we get lots of concerts, sporting events, and other entertainers. It’s a big enough city that there are endless amounts of restaurants to try out and lots of different neighborhoods to line I, but not so huge that you must deal with traffic! I’ve enjoyed exploring different walking trails with my dog and finding new happy hour deals. I also enjoyed going to the Columbus Crew soccer games last fall and am hoping to go to more this year!”Kyndall Smith, MD
Research
Research education and training are vital to the mission of Nationwide Children's Hospital and The Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital. As a top-ten free-standing pediatric research center and an academic affiliate of The Ohio State University, The Research Institute has an outstanding faculty, dedicated to training and mentoring the next generation of scientists in pediatric research.
Research at Nationwide Children's Hospital
Advocacy
Advocacy training fosters and encourages interest in child advocacy by early involvement and exposure to its many aspects such as addressing social determinants of health, community collaboration, health finance, health policy and legislative advocacy.
Application
Applications for the Pediatric Pulmonary Fellowship Program must be submitted via the Electronic Residency Application Program (ERAS), which opens for participation in July of each year. Nationwide Children’s Pulmonary Fellowship Program participates in the NRMP match process.
Requirements for Pulmonary Fellowship Application:
- USMLE scores
- Three letters of recommendation
- CV
- Personal statement
When your completed application has been received and reviewed, you will be notified of the action taken and if you will be offered an opportunity to interview for a fellowship position. Interviews will be conducted starting in August for the fall match cycle.
Prerequisites:
- Board-eligible or board-certified in pediatrics through the American Board of Pediatrics. Information relative to board eligibility is available at the American Board of Pediatrics website.
- Non-resident applicants must hold an unrestricted J-1 Visa.
If you have specific questions, please contact the program director:
Stephen Kirkby, MD
Director, Pediatric Pulmonary Fellowship Program
Nationwide Children’s Hospital
700 Children’s Dr.
Columbus, OH 43205
Stephen.Kirkby@NationwideChildrens.org
Additional Resources
Contact
For more information, please contact:
Stephen E. Kirkby, MD
Program Director
Stephen.Kirkby@NationwideChildrens.org
Lisa Ulrich, MD
Associate Program Director
Lisa.Ulrich@NationwideChildrens.org
Courtney Gushue, DO
Associate Program Director
Courtney.Gushue@NationwideChildrens.org
