Clinical
The cumulative educational objective of the two-year training program is to provide trainees with the necessary knowledge, skills and experience to serve as consultants to pediatric subspecialists, pediatricians, family practitioners, obstetricians and gynecologists. Graduates should be able to provide consultation for patients of diverse backgrounds from birth up to age 25 years with gynecologic concerns as well as adults born with reproductive congenital anomalies and differences in sex development. The PAG graduate should also learn to work with a multi-disciplinary team of specialists in the care of individuals with complex conditions.
The fellow will learn the evaluation and management of common problems in gynecology as well as uncommon and more complex conditions, such as congenital anomalies of reproductive tract, differences of sexual development, pediatric and adolescent pelvic masses and gynecologic malignancies, gynecologic disorders in medically complex patients, reproductive endocrinopathies, transgender care, sexual abuse and vulvar conditions.
The educational objectives for the fellowship are designed to be graded such that as fellows advance in training, the learning objectives will involve more complex and multi-disciplinary care of PAG patients. Procedural objectives are similarly designed to become more complex as fellows advance through training. In addition, the fellow will obtain necessary skills to perform clinical outcomes-based research in PAG, as detailed further below. Fellows will spend approximately 70% of their training in clinical work and 30% of their training engaged in research and scholarly activities.
Clinical training will primarily occur at Children’s Hospital Colorado, within the section of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology. Approximately 10% of the time will be allotted to training in Adult Gynecology at the University of Colorado, including transitional care of complex adolescents to adulthood.
Research
In addition to the clinical program, the fellow will obtain research skills and experience in pediatric and adolescent gynecology through our research program. Our fellowship research program is guided by three pillars: education, experience, and mentorship.
Education:
Our program’s 12-part research didactic series reviews the fundamentals of ethical research conduct, alongside study design, conduct, and analysis. Working closely with our Co-Directors of Research, Kendra Hutchens, PhD and Stephen Scott, MD, MPH, fellows will gain research and grant writing skills to prepare them for independent and collaborative research careers. By the end of the series, fellows will be able to synthesize existing research and evidence to support their research questions, describe different types of clinical research study designs, identify the best designs to answer their research questions, and apply their training to study conduct, data analysis, and reporting.
Experience:
Using their fellowship research startup funds, fellows will develop and lead the conduct of a novel research project (primary research project) providing hands-on clinical research experience. Fellows will learn to navigate IRB and study start-up requirements and apply the knowledge they gained from the didactic series to study implementation. The goal of fellows’ primary research project is to produce data for submission to a national or international conference and manuscript submission to a peer-reviewed journal. Fellows will have grant writing experience and will graduate from our program with a clear research agenda to guide their career.
Mentorship:
Our research program emphasizes mentorship to help fellows navigate research challenges, develop additional skills, and to set and achieve their research goals in a supportive environment. Fellows will receive structured, consistent mentorship from Drs. Hutchens and Scott. Additionally, fellows will work with an experienced and engaged faculty mentor to collaborate on existing research projects in their area(s) of interest and to serve as a mentor on their primary research project.
