Adolescent Medicine - Fellowship
The University of Colorado School of Medicine (CU SOM) Department of Pediatrics and Children's Hospital Colorado (CHCO) offer a one- or three-year fellowship in adolescent medicine. The fellowship is accredited by the Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education. The goal of the fellowship is to provide physicians who are board eligible in pediatrics, internal medicine, or family medicine with in-depth training in adolescent medicine that will prepare them for a career in clinical or academic medicine.
Program Aims:
To prepare adolescent medicine fellows to provide patient-centered, comprehensive care for adolescent patients and their families, with particular focus on developing excellent communication skills.
To prepare adolescent medicine fellows to provide high quality, evidence-based patient care addressing the acute and chronic physical and mental health needs of adolescents, including assisting in adolescents’ ultimate transition to adult care.
To provide outstanding opportunities in research and quality improvement methodology that prepare adolescent medicine fellows for successful careers in academic adolescent medicine.
To build and maintain an infrastructure to recruit diverse fellows and provide an inclusive learning environment that promotes and celebrates differences.
Clinical training during the fellowship includes extensive experience with primary adolescent health care and specific problems common during adolescence, including abnormalities of growth and development; orthopedic and sports medicine problems; issues relating to sexuality and reproductive health (including the colposcopic examination of abnormal Pap smears); psychosocial, mental health, and substance abuse problems; and the management of teenagers with chronic illnesses and recurrent somatic symptoms.
The CHCO Adolescent Medicine Center has ten faculty members: seven physicians, two mid-level providers, and a research assistant. Consultations are available from psychology, nutrition, and pediatric subspecialty services.
The CHCO Adolescent Health Center serves as the primary referral site for the entire Rocky Mountain Region and has 10,000 patient visits a year. Patients from a variety of socio-economic, ethnic and cultural backgrounds present with a wide range of acute and chronic medical and psychiatric diseases. The Adolescent Health Center has a nationally recognized eating disorders treatment center and adolescent maternity program. The fellow will have the opportunity to teach and supervise medical students, residents, and other trainees in the Adolescent Health Center, to consult on medical and surgical patients admitted to the eight-bed adolescent inpatient unit and the 16-bed adolescent psychiatric unit, and to be an active participant in the eating disorders or adolescent maternity programs.
The Denver Department of Health and Hospitals has two full-time adolescent medicine faculty members. The Teen Clinics at its Eastside and Westside Health Centers have a total of 6,000 visits a year. These clinics, which are part of Denver's nationally recognized neighborhood health program, provide a comprehensive range of acute and preventive care ambulatory services for teenagers who use the public health care system. Both clinics offer extensive experiences with primary adolescent health and medical care and with adolescent reproductive health care.
The Denver School-Based Clinics: The adolescent medicine program established student health care centers at eight middle and high schools as part of The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's School-Based Adolescent Health Care Program. These school-based clinics offer opportunities to learn about health care in an alternative setting, to learn program administrative skills and to learn how to provide effective health education.
Formal Course Work: Fellows may enroll in formal courses offered by the Colorado School of Public Health. Although course work in biostatistics, epidemiology, and research design is required for three-year fellows, the following courses could be taken electively: computer systems, health administration, health promotion and disease prevention, and program planning and evaluation. Individual studies depend on personal interests and needs and could lead to a Master of Public Health. The Colorado School of Public Health Master of Public Health (MPH) provides a broad, multidisciplinary focus on the factors that influence population health - from behavioral risk to environmental exposures, to socioeconomic and health policy. Students acquire knowledge, skills, and practical experiences that prepare them for professional activities, including: epidemiological and health services research; community needs assessment; environmental and occupational health; health policy; health promotion; and administration of public health programs. For fellows this program provides graduate training in public health to enhance their understanding of the preventive measures and underlying causes of disease.
Research Participation: The three-year fellows are expected to participate in a weekly Section research conference and to design, conduct, and complete one independent study that results in both presentation at a national professional meeting and in publication. Each fellow's research activities will be guided by an advisory committee of three faculty members (at least one must be from the Section of Adolescent Medicine) who share the fellow's research interests. We are best equipped to train fellows who are interested in studying problems related to the distribution of adolescent health care services, adolescent pregnancy and parenting, reproductive growth and development, and eating disorders. Three-year fellows are expected to learn basic skills related to the design, implementation, and evaluation of research studies, and to acquire the knowledge required to participate as an active member of a multidisciplinary research team.
Fellows will have opportunities to enhance their knowledge and professional growth through several activities. They will learn how to provide clinical supervision to medical students, residents, and other trainees. The faculty will provide guided direction, so that fellows will gradually be able to assume full responsibility for supervising in an outpatient setting. Fellows are also expected to learn how to teach professional colleagues in small groups and in lecture settings. They are expected to participate actively in and to provide discussion and leadership for daily interactive resident seminars, a weekly case conference, and a monthly journal club. They will also teach large groups of residents as part of the pediatric training program's resident core conference series.
Fellows will have multiple opportunities to learn how adolescent medicine programs operate. They will be invited to attend Section faculty meetings and will be given administrative responsibility for a programmatic component at either the Adolescent Health
Center or a school-based clinic. In addition, they will have the opportunity to work closely with faculty employed by Denver Health and Hospitals to gain firsthand knowledge of the organization and financing of health care services and of quality
improvement programs. On a state level, fellows will be invited to attend meetings of the Advisory Council on Adolescent Health, which is an interdisciplinary group commissioned by the Colorado Department of Health to provide counsel about and advocacy
for Colorado's adolescents. Finally, interested fellows may work on state-wide projects in concert with the State Adolescent Health Program.
Training schedule
First Year
(One-year fellows will only do first year)
70% Clinical Care
30% Research Training and
Academic Development
Second Year
60% Clinical Care
40% Research Training and Academic Development
Third Year
50% Clinical Care
50% Research Training and Academic Development
30% Academic Development
Evening and weekend call is taken from home and is shared with the full-time faculty.
1st Year Fellows
Elizabeth Ann Kinsella, MD
Medical School: Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine
Residency: Indiana University School of Medicine/ Riley Children's Hospital
Email: Elizabeth.Kinsella
2nd Year Fellows
Yasaman Ahmadieh, DO, MPH
Medical School: Touro University College of Osteopathic Medicine
Residency: University of Texas in Austin
Email: Yasaman.Ahmadieh
Francisco Prada, MD
Medical School: Foreign Medical School
Residency: Atlanta Medical Center
Email: Francisco.Prada
3rd Year Fellows
Hannah Canter, MD
Medical School: University of Louisville School of Medicine
Residency: UT Austin Dell Medical School / Dell Children's Medical Center of Central Texas Austin Dell Medical School / Dell Children's Medical Center of Central Texas
E-Mail: hannah.canter
Clifford Costello, DO
Medical School: New York College of Osteopathic Medicine
Residency: The University of Tennessee Health Science Center
Email: clifford.costello
Dear Fellowship Candidate,
The fellowship application process for our program is similar to most adolescent fellowships, which utilizes the ERAS system to apply and the NRMP system for the match. Adolescent Medicine Fellowships participate in the July application process, starting one year preceding the anticipated start date.
*Applicants can submit their application to ERAS https://www.aamc.org/students/medstudents/eras/ starting July 5th.
Fellowship programs can first view applicants on July 19th. Interviews typically occur from mid-August through early October. Rank lists are submitted by mid-late October, with NRMP (match results) occurring the second week of November. Applicants are welcome to inquire about off-cycle start dates outside the typical application and match cycle, though priority is given to the common application process.
ERAS Application Timeline
| Date | Activity |
| Monday, May 31, 2023 | ERAS 2022 season ends at 5 p.m. ET. |
| Wednesday, June 7, 2023 | ERAS 2023 season begins at 9 a.m. ET. |
| Thursday, June 8, 2023 | EFDO will release tokens to fellowship applicants. |
| Wednesday, July 5, 2023 | July cycle fellowship applicants may begin submitting applications to programs at 9 a.m. ET. |
| Wednesday, July 19, 2023 | July cycle fellowship programs may begin reviewing applications at 9 a.m. ET. |
| May 31, 2024 | ERAS 2023 season ends at 5 p.m. ET. |
NRMP Fall Match Timeline
| Dates | Activity |
| Wednesday, August 31, 2023 | Match Opens |
| Wednesday, September 27, 2023 | Ranking Opens |
| Wednesday, November 1, 2023 | Quota Change Deadline |
| Wednesday, November 15, 2023 | Rank Order List Certification Deadline |
| Wednesday, November 29, 2023 | MATCH DAY |
If you require further information about the program, please contact me anytime.
Sincerely,
Eric J. Sigel, MD
Associate Professor of Pediatrics
Adolescent Medicine
Children's Hospital Colorado
13123 East 16th Avenue, B-025
Aurora, Colorado 80045
Tel: 720-777-6133
Fax: 720-777-7339
Eric.Sigel@childrenscolorado.org
| Diversity / Equity / Inclusion |
We are committed to creating a diverse environment for students, residents, fellows, and faculty. We believe that an environment of inclusiveness and respect promotes excellence and that a setting where diversity is valued leads to the training of physicians who are prepared to practice culturally effective medicine and meet the needs of the various populations we serve. Visit our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion webpage for more.... |
| Well-Being / Resilience |
By embracing wellness and improving personal resiliency, physicians can reconnect with the meaning of their work and fend off stress. Reducing or eliminating burnout also has practical implications for the entire department such as improving patient safety, student advancement, and the overall campus environment. |
