Inpatient Advanced Practitioner Fellowship

Overview

This is a unique one-year fellowship program that is dedicated to enhancing the development of early-career Acute Care Pediatric Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants who wish to pursue a career in pediatric hospital-based medicine. Fellows will be exposed to all facets of pediatric inpatient care including rotations in hospital medicine, critical care, pulmonology, infectious disease, gastroenterology, cardiology, oncology and more.

As fully credentialed members of the Medical Staff, Fellows will care for pediatric patients at Children’s Hospital Colorado with mentorship and oversight from experienced Advanced Practice Providers (APPs) and specialty physicians. As members of the University of Colorado, Department of Pediatrics faculty, Fellows in this program will also have unique access to educational and research opportunities.

Fully dedicated to caring for kids at all stages of growth, Children's Hospital Colorado is the region's largest pediatric healthcare network and the only dedicated Level 1 trauma center in our seven state region. We are home to over 400 APPs across all disciplines and care settings.

Mission

Through personalized education and mentorship, equip Advanced Practice Providers with the specialized knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary to succeed in a pediatric inpatient medicine career.

Ideal Candidates

This Fellowship is designed for APPs who have a strong desire to practice in an academic inpatient pediatric setting. This program is designed for APPs who:

• Wish to have additional inpatient pediatrics training, enabling a smooth and immediate transition into their inpatient pediatric career.
• Understands that he or she wishes to work in inpatient pediatrics, but has not identified a specific specialty.
• Wishes to work in a specific specialty, but has insufficient experience or training within that specialty to be competitive for a position.

Application Process

Interested candidates must apply through CU Careers and will be required to submit the items below. Selected applicants will first be offered a virtual interview, followed by on-site interviews for final candidates. We will be recruiting four total fellows divided into two cohorts: two for our October 1 – September 30 cycle and two for our January 1 – December 31 cycle.

Application Documents

• Brief Cover Letter
• Current Curriculum Vitae (CV)
• Two letters of recommendation (at least one must be from a professional reference)
• One-page personal statement discussing why the applicant is interested in pediatric medicine and how this fellowship can advance their career

Key Dates

• Priority Application Deadline: February 28
• Final Application Deadline: March 31
• Interviews: March-May
• Offers: May
• Fellowship: October 1 – September 30 or January 1 – December 31

Physician Assistant Eligibility/Requirements

• Graduation from an APAP (ARC-PA) approved Physician Assistant Training Program.
• Certification from the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants.
• Colorado license will be required prior to start date.
• BLS and PALS certification will be required prior to start date.

Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Eligibility/Requirements

• Graduate of an accredited BSN program.
• APN licensure and a Masters from an accredited Nurse Practitioner program.
• Pediatric Nursing Certification Board certificate or other comparable certification.
• Acute Care Pediatric Nurse Practitioner certification.
• Ability to obtain Prescriptive Authority in the State of Colorado.
• BLS and PALS certification will be required prior to start date.

Curriculum

Clinical Rotations

• Core: Hospital Medicine (3 months), Pediatric Critical Care (3 months), Cardiac Intensive Care (1 month), Pulmonary (1 month), Hematology-Oncology (1 month)
• Electives (1 month each): Infectious Disease, Gastroenterology, Neurology

Didactic

• Dedicated APP Fellowship Lecture Series
• Patient Simulations
• Grand rounds
• Clinical Conferences
• M&M
• Radiology conferences

Competencies

• Monthly and Semi-Annual Performance Evaluations
• Clinical Skills Exams

Capstone Project

Each fellow will be required to complete a capstone project with the help of a physician or APP mentor. The goal of the project is to introduce and involve the APP in a quality or process improvement initiative, development of a clinical care guideline, or educational initiative. At the end of the year, the fellow will be asked to present his or her work in a conference or poster session.

Hours/Work Schedule

This is an intensive program in which Fellows can expect to commit an average of 50 hours per week including required night and weekend shifts. Vacations, holiday schedule and time off will be discussed with final candidates.

Salary and Benefits

Fellows will be hired as University of Colorado, Department of Pediatric faculty at the Instructor Fellow rank. As Faculty, Fellows will be offered a stipend along with full medical, dental and vision insurance. Detailed information can be found at CU Faculty Benefits.

Meet the APP Leadership

Cameron Gunville, DO, MEd
Co-Medical Director, Children’s Hospital Colorado Advanced Practice Inpatient Fellowship
Pediatric Critical Care

Dr. Gunville has served as the Medical Director for the PICU Advanced Practice Team since 2012 and has helped to oversee the program’s expansion to 20 providers during this time. He has a broad education interest and earned his Master’s Degree in Education in 2002 from the University of Notre Dame, and has completed the University of Colorado Teaching Scholar’s Program. With his background in education, in 2012 he helped develop a comprehensive eight-month PICU orientation program for new PICU APPs. With the resources at CHCO, one of the premier children’s hospitals in the country, Dr. Gunville is excited to help develop motivated APPs into excellent pediatric providers of the future.

Jason Zamkoff, MD
Co-Medical Director, Children’s Hospital Colorado Advanced Practice Inpatient Fellowship
Pediatric Hospital Medicine

Dr. Zamkoff has been a Pediatric Hospitalist in San Francisco and here at CHCO for the past 15 years. He is currently the Administrative Site Lead for the MD/APP inpatient ward team on campus. Dr. Zamkoff has mentored a myriad of APPs during his tenure at CHCO, and his passion is the education of fellows, residents and students.

Erika Jekich, PA-C
Co-Director, Children’s Hospital Colorado Advanced Practice Inpatient Fellowship
Pediatric Critical Care

Mrs. Jekich is a Senior Instructor and the Orientation Coordinator for the Pediatric Critical Care Section at Children’s Hospital Colorado. She currently coordinates a comprehensive orientation program for new APPs in the PICU which includes a robust clinical and didactic phase. Her work focuses on APP enrichment and effective integration of APPs with varying experience levels into the critical care team.

Jolie Eirich, CPNP-AC/PC
Co-Director, Children’s Hospital Colorado Advanced Practice Inpatient Fellowship
Pediatric Hospital Medicine

Mrs. Eirich is Director of Hospital Medicine Advanced Practice Program for CHCO. Her work has focused on building orientation, education, and training programs to support transition to practice for and increase utilization of advanced practice providers in hospital medicine.

Christopher Newman, PA-C, FCCM
Director of APP Practice Development at University of Colorado, Department of Pediatrics
Pediatric Critical Care

Mr. Newman is Director of Advanced Practice Strategy for the Pediatric Critical Care section and a Fellow of the American College of Critical Care Medicine. His work centers around workforce planning, productivity and exploring novel approaches to educating, training and deploying advanced practice providers.

Current Fellows

Lauren Rodgers

I graduated from the University of Colorado’s Child Health Associate/Physician Assistant program in May 2019. I am originally from Alaska and moved to Denver when starting my PA education and fell in love with the area, hospitals, and people. Prior to PA school, I obtained my bachelor’s degree in child development from the University of Idaho in 2012.

Pediatric medicine has always been my career aspiration with an emphasis in acute and critical care. Throughout my clinical education it was revealed to me how vital it is to receive structured guidance, education, and training to enter this field and become a confident, successful, and competent pediatric APP. The fellowship provides all of these components throughout a year of didactics and rotations with various specialties to best prepare an APP to enter any specialty within a pediatric hospital.

Kara Stefaniak

I recently graduated from the University of Colorado’s Child Health Associate/Physician Assistant Program. I am originally from Boston and graduated from Bates College with a degree in biology. I was fortunate to rotate through many pediatric inpatient settings as a PA student at CU which solidified my interest in this type of medicine. I appreciate the collaboration and continuous communication on a multidisciplinary team, and enjoy the pace and acuity in this setting.

This fellowship is a unique opportunity to allow me to immerse myself in a challenging hospital based pediatric setting to build a solid foundation that I trust will set me up for success in my career. I love the idea of the diversity of rotations offered, as the knowledge of each specialty ultimately contributes to providing the best overall care to both patients and their families. I could not ask for a better environment to work in early on in my career, with the perfect balance between being challenged every day, but also being constantly supported by both the fellowship leadership and the various health care professionals I get to work with each day at CHCO.

Brenna McGinn, CPNP-AC

Originally from California, I completed my undergraduate degree at Indiana University (go Hoosiers!) in Human Biology. I went on to complete nursing school and ultimately graduated from Marquette University’s Acute Care Pediatric Nurse Practitioner program in May 2019 after several years as a bedside RN in pediatric hematology, oncology, and bone marrow transplant. I fell in love with the complexity and dynamics involved in working with kids and their families during their most critical life events. 

This fellowship has exposed me to a wide breadth of patients as well as providers with incredible intelligence, humility, and a willingness to teach. I have been pushed to critically think on a deep level, adapt to escalating acuity, create broad differentials, pursue advocacy, and consider cost of diagnostic and treatment modalities in relation to patient outcomes. The rotations I have been exposed to have allowed me to gain aptitude and training in multiple subspecialty areas and ultimately given me a strong foundation for my future as an NP.

Karlie Nau, PA-C

I graduated from the University of Colorado’s Child Health Associate/Physician Assistant Program in 2019. Prior to that, I graduated with my Master’s and Bachelor’s in physiology from The University of Colorado Boulder. I was born and raised in Colorado and I feel very grateful to have completed all my training in my home state. 

During PA school, I was involved in the Pediatric Acute Critical Care Track which solidified my passion for critical care medicine and love for Children’s Hospital. It has been a wonderful journey growing from a student in the track to a PA in the fellowship. The fellowship is an unique and comprehensive exposure to a diverse range of specialties within the hospital and a novel way to become a well-rounded provider. I cannot say enough great things about the fellowship and the team, it is one of my greatest honors being able to train alongside such amazing people in a wonderful institution.

Previous Fellows

2018/2019

• Cathryn Senour, PA-C accepted a position in Pediatric Hospital Medicine, University of Colorado & Children’s Hospital Colorado
• Kristen Stendel, PA-C accepted a position in Pediatric Hospital Medicine, University of Colorado & Children’s Hospital Colorado ​

Questions?

Contact us at appfellowship@childrenscolorado.org. Please allow 48-72 hours for a response.