Pediatric Hematology-Oncology Fellowship
Overview
The goal of the Pediatric Hematology-Oncology Fellowship Program is to train fellows in the scientific and clinical aspects of the discipline, preparing them for a career in academic medicine.
Paramount throughout training is the emphasis on excellence of clinical care for children with hematologic or malignant disorders and those requiring bone marrow transplantation. Emphasis is on the development of fellows in the physician-scientist model, for which there are numerous role models among the faculty.
During the fellowship, each fellow is expected to acquire clinical expertise and the procedural skills required for diagnosis and treatment of Hematology-Oncology patients. Of equal importance, each fellow is expected to select a research mentor, and under the guidance of that individual to develop research skills, specifically learning the methods of careful, controlled scientific inquiry. The fellowship is designed as a three-year training program, with a clinical emphasis during the first year and a research emphasis in the latter two years. The fellowship is accredited by the Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education.
Program Aims
- To prepare subspecialty pediatricians to provide patient-centered, comprehensive care for pediatric patients and families with particular focus on promoting patient safety and quality improvement and developing excellent communication skills.
- To provide outstanding opportunities in basic science, translational, clinical, educational, research and quality improvement methodology that prepare trainees for successful careers in academic pediatrics.
- To teach trainees strategies to maintain wellness (of self and others), to build resilience and to minimize burnout.
- To provide opportunities and resources for subspecialty pediatricians that better prepare them for future leadership roles in the health care community.
- To Equip trainees with tools and strategies to promote success in their roles as career-long, lifelong teachers.
- To build and maintain an infrastructure to recruit diverse fellows and provide an inclusive learning environment that promotes and celebrates differences.
First Year
The first year of fellowship training is primarily clinical. It consists of twelve 4-week rotations in four different areas (3 rotations in each): Inpatient Oncology, Bone Marrow Transplantation, Inpatient Hematology/Consult Service, and Outpatient
Clinic. The year begins with a two-week Orientation to the subspecialty, and there is a two week “Winterlude” in February where fellows receive more in depth exposure to topics related to our subspecialty, such as blood banking,
flow cytometry, solid tumor pathology, and hematopathology. Following is a fuller description for each rotation.
Goals and Objectives
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Acquisition of a fundamental knowledge base in Pediatric Hematology, Oncology and BMT
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Development of clinical skills in Pediatric Hematology, Oncology and BMT
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Development of skills in interpreting basic laboratory tests pertinent to Pediatric Hematology, Oncology and BMT
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Development of skills in preparing clinical presentations, discussions of cases, and case reports
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Development of skills in process improvement
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Initiation of research interests
Inpatient Oncology (12 weeks
During this rotation, fellows:
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Round daily with the inpatient multidisciplinary team and develop treatment plans for all patients under the guidance of the inpatient oncology service attending.
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Coordinate the diagnostic work-ups for all new patients and communicate diagnostic and treatment plans with patients and families.
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Develop a working knowledge of current treatment protocols for pediatric malignancies and become proficient at ordering and delivering chemotherapy safely.
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Learn about ongoing research activities through the Children's Oncology Group (COG) and the Experimental Therapeutics Program and learn how to properly obtain patient/parental consent for participation on research protocols.
Bone Marrow Transplantation (12 weeks)
During this rotation, fellows:
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Participate in patient care before, during, and after allogeneic and autologous BMTs.
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Round daily on the inpatient BMT service and develop treatment plans for all patients under the guidance of the inpatient BMT service attending.
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Spend time in the BMT outpatient clinic seeing patients who are coming to clinic for post-BMT follow-up. Fellows also participate in BMT consultations, learn about the indications for BMT and donor selection, and assist in peripheral blood stem cell and bone marrow harvests.
Hematology/Consult Service (12 weeks)
During this rotation, fellows:
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See both common and rare hematologic disorders and learn about the approach to their management.
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Round daily on the inpatient hematology service and develop treatment plans for all patients under the guidance of the inpatient hematology service attending.
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Receive instruction in clinical laboratory techniques, such as interpretation of peripheral blood smears and bone marrows, coagulation studies, phagocyte function testing, hemoglobin electrophoresis for hemoglobinopathies, etc..
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Act as the consultant for all inpatient consultations made to the hematology and oncology services.
Outpatient Clinic (12 weeks)
Two of the outpatient clinic rotations (8 weeks) are spent in the Hematology clinic and one rotation (4 weeks) is spent in the Neuro-Oncology clinic. During this rotation, fellowsParticipate in the various Hematology clinics, seeing patients with a wide variety of hematologic disorders. (Hematology Clinic weeks).
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Participate in the diagnosis and management of patient with central nervous system tumors
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(Neuro-Oncology Clinic weeks).
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Spend one week at the Hemophilia and Thrombosis Center.
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Gain exposure to various subspecialty clinics, including the Orthopedic Oncology clinic, HOPE clinic
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(for childhood cancer survivors) and TACTIC clinic (for adult survivors of childhood cancer).
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Spend a ½ day per week in the Procedure Clinic, practicing their bone marrow aspirate/biopsy and lumbar puncture skills.
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Spend time with our radiation oncologist and with our cancer genetics counselor to gain additional exposure to these critical areas related to our subspecialty.
In addition to the above activities, fellows spend ½ day/week in their Oncology Continuity Clinic, where they see their own patients who are on treatment or have completed treatment for oncologic disorders as well as new patients being seen in consultation or patients coming to clinic for a sick visit. Fellows may also choose to follow hematology, neuro-oncology, or BMT patients longitudinally during this time.
Vacation
21 calendar days of vacation (15 weekdays + 6 weekend days) plus 7 calendar days for meetings/education (5 weekdays + 2 weekend days) are provided. Every attempt should be made to distribute vacation time equally among the different clinical services.
Call
The first year fellows are on call on average one weeknight per week and one weekend per month. Estimated weekend call for 1st year fellows is 12 weekends.
Moonlighting
Moonlighting is not permissible before April of the first year. After April 1st, fellows may moonlight as long as they are able to stay within duty hour regulations. Generally, that means that they cannot moonlight on Sunday through Thursday nights, since that would impact their ability work the following day.
Academic and Research Requirements
During the first year, fellows will begin to explore research opportunities and plan their research project for the final two years of their fellowship. This process begins at the Fall Research Conference (Aspen Retreat) in September, where fellows hear about ongoing research projects within the Section and discuss research ideas with members of the Section and visiting guests. Following the Fall Research Conference, fellows will meet with the program director, the associate program directors, the director of the CCBD research program, and the Section Head to identify areas of research interest and potential mentors. By midyear, the fellow will evaluate potential research projects and meet with prospective research mentors. Extra time will be provided during Winterlude to accomplish this task. It is expected that a research mentor will be selected at the latest by April of the first year. Once a mentor is chosen, the fellow will begin to work with their mentor to develop the background for their project and will form their Scholarship Oversight Committee (SOC). Each fellow will present a brief overview of their proposed project and the members of their SOC at the Spring Research Symposium, usually held in April.
* Mandatory while on BMT Service
** Mandatory while on Hematology Service
Second Year
During the second year, fellows begin work in earnest on their research projects, with 80% protected time for clinical or laboratory research. For those pursuing the laboratory research pathway, emphasis is placed on learning appropriate research techniques and experimental design by bench-side instruction, with the option of formal coursework for additional instruction as needed. Fellows may also pursue clinical research, with the option of pursuing a Master’s Degree in Clinical Science. All fellows are closely guided in their research projects by their research mentor and their Scholarship Oversight Committee
Goals and Objectives
- Development of an understanding of the investigative approach and of the skills necessary to conduct independent research under the guidance of a research mentor
- Development of an in-depth understanding of the diseases and disorders treated by our subspecialty and a rational approach to treatment
- Development of a deeper scientific knowledge in hematology/oncology/BMT
- Development of independence in clinical abilities
- Participation in a process improvement project
Clinics
Although research is the primary focus of this year, 2nd year fellows continue to have clinical responsibilities ½ day per week:
- For the first 6 months of the second year, fellows will continue their ½ day Oncology Continuity Clinic every week. During this time, they will also serve as "Doctor of the Day (DOD)" for walk-in sick oncology patients and new diagnoses during this clinic time.
Starting in January of their second year:
- Oncology Continuity Clinic with Doctor of the Day responsibilities will continue ½ day every other week
- Fellows will select three other clinics to rotate through every six months, which they will attend every other week alternating with their Oncology Continuity Clinic. One of the 6-month blocks must be any Hematology Clinic. Others can be any non-General Oncology Clinic (could be Neuro-Onc, BMT, HOPE, TACTIC, Ortho-Onc, ETP, any other Hem, or custom - example of custom would be endocrine tumor clinic)Upper level fellows also attend the Hematology Consult Clinic approximately 4 times per year, to gain more experience in diagnosing and managing common outpatient hematologic disorders.
Inpatient
Second-year fellows are expected to cover the inpatient clinical service responsibilities for the first-year fellows when they are away on vacation (generally two of the three vacation weeks, depending on the number of fellows in each year) and during the first-year Winterlude.
Call
Estimated weekend call for second year fellows is 9 weekends over the course of the year (dependent on the total number of fellows – could be more or less). Depending on the number of first-year fellows, upper-level fellows (along with faculty) may be asked to cover a defined number of weeknight calls as well.
Moonlighting
Moonlighting on the inpatient hem/onc service and the BMT inpatient service is an available option. Fellows must maintain compliance with duty hour restrictions, accounting for any moonlighting in the calculation of duty hours.
- Meetings and Conferences
- Attendance to at least one national meeting per year is highly encouraged.
- Any of the other meetings as time permits and as suits the fellow’s clinical and research interests.
Research
Research is the primary focus of the second year, with an emphasis on project development and design, research interactions, presentations, abstracts, article submissions, and grant preparation.
Fellows will formally present the progress of their research project twice a year to the faculty and their Scholarship Oversight Committee. The Spring Research Symposium is held at Children’s Hospital Colorado over an afternoon and the Fall Research Conference is held in Aspen over a three-day period.
Available Courses
Fellows without previous basic science research experience who will be entering the lab are strongly encouraged to take the cellular and molecular biology course (CLSC 7500: Practical application of molecular and cell biology techniques for the clinical investigator) offered at the University of Colorado Denver in July. Cost for the course is covered by the fellowship program.
- An introductory statistics course is offered to all second- and/or third-year fellows. It takes place over 6 evening sessions. This course is required unless the fellow is able to provide sufficient evidence that they have successfully completed coursework leading to competence in this area. Cost for the course is covered by the fellowship program.
- As part of their research training, fellows may opt to pursue a Master’s degree or Ph.D. in Clinical Science through the University of Colorado Denver. (see the CCTSI websitefor details of the programs). Cost is covered by the fellowship program.
Third Year
During the third year, fellows will continue work on their research projects in order to generate a work product (first-author paper, favorably reviewed or accepted grant submission, thesis or dissertation, progress report for a complex project) that will meet the requirements for certification by the ABP upon completion of fellowship. Additional clinical experience will be provided as during Year Two. After successful completion of the training period, the participants will be prepared and eligible for certification in the Pediatric Sub-Board of Hematology-Oncology.
Goals and Objectives
- Mastery of an understanding of the investigative approach and the skills necessary to conduct independent research under the guidance of a research mentor
- In-depth scientific knowledge in hematology/oncology/BMT
- An in-depth understanding of the diseases and disorders treated by our subspecialty and a rational approach to treatment
- Independence in the clinical practice of pediatric hematology/oncology
- Demonstration of a firm understanding of how to perform process improvement
Clinical
Although research is the primary focus of this year, 3rd year fellows continue to have clinical responsibilities ½ day per week:
- Oncology Continuity Clinic with Doctor of the Day responsibilities will continue ½ day every other week
- Fellows will continue to rotate through other clinics every six months, which they will attend every other week on the weeks they don’t attend the Oncology Continuity Clinic. As an alternative, fellows can schedule both half-day clinics on the same day every other week. One 6-month block must be any Hematology Clinic. Others can be any non-General Oncology Clinic (could be Neuro-Onc, BMT, HOPE, TACTIC, Ortho-Onc, ETP, any other Hem, or custom - example of custom would be endocrine tumor clinic)
- Fellows will continue to attend the Hematology Consult Clinic approximately 4 times over the course of the year.
Inpatient
Third-year fellows are expected to cover some of the inpatient clinical service responsibilities for the first-year fellows when they are away on vacation (generally one of the three vacation weeks, depending on the number of fellows in each year) and during the first-year Orientation. Some third-year fellows choose to due a week or two of “pretending” time to gain more clinical experience prior to graduation.
Call
Estimated weekend call for third-year fellows is 8 weekends over the course of the year. (dependent on the total number of fellows – could be more or less).
Other Meetings and Conferences:
- Attendance to at least one national meeting per year is highly encouraged.
Any of the other meetings as time permits and as suits the fellow’s clinical and research interests.
Research
Research is the primary focus of the third year, with an emphasis on project development and design, research interactions, presentations, abstracts, article submissions, and grant preparation.
Fellows will formally present the progress of their research project twice a year to the faculty and their Scholarship Oversight Committee. The Spring Research Symposium is held at Children’s Hospital Colorado over an afternoon and the Fall Research Conference is held in Aspen over a three-day period.
Available Courses
- An introductory statistics course is offered to all second- and/or third-year fellows. It takes place over 6 evening sessions. Time and location TBA. This course is required unless the fellow is able to provide sufficient evidence that they have successfully completed coursework leading to competence in this area. Cost for the course is covered by the fellowship program.
- As part of their research training, fellows may opt to pursue a Master’s degree or Ph.D. in Clinical Science through the University of Colorado Denver. (see the CCTSI website for details of the programs). Cost is covered by the fellowship program.
Application Instructions
Our pediatric fellowship will be conducting virtual interviews for this upcoming interview season. We look forward to sharing our programs with you and getting to know more about you. Our planned virtual interview dates are forthcoming.
If you have questions about the online application and interview process feel free to reach out to our program coordinator.
To apply for our fellowship program please visit the Electronic Residency Application System (ERAS).
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 |
Contact
If you require further information about our fellowship program, please contact our fellowship coordinator:
Gentry Greeno
Fellowship Coordinator
Hematology-Oncology
Children's Hospital Colorado
13123 East 16th Avenue, B115
Aurora, Colorado 80045
Tel: 720-777-1002
Email: Gentry.Greeno
1st Year Fellows
Oren Moshe Gordon, MD
Medical School: University of Colorado School of Medicine
Residency: Children's National Hospital
Email: Oren.Gordon
Samantha Jaymes DeMarsh, DO
Medical School: Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine
Residency: Nationwide Children's Hospital
Email: Samantha.Demarsh
Alison Teresa Celello, MD
Medical School: Icahn School of Medicine
Residency: Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
Email: Alison.Celello
Cameron John Baldes, MD, MBA
Medical School: University of Illinois College of Medicine
Residency: Emory University/Children's Healthcare of Atlanta
Email: Cameron.Baldes
2nd Year Fellows
Michael H Edwards, MD
Medical School: University Tennessee College of Medicine
Residency: University of Colorado Pediatric Residency
Email: Michael.Edwards
Katherine Thor Lind, MD
Medical School: University of Colorado of Medicine
Residency: University of Colorado Pediatric Residency
Email: Katherine.Lind
Kaylyn D Utley, MB, BCh, BAO
Medical School: Foreign Medical School
Residency: Maine Medical Center
Email: Kaylyn.Utley
3rd Year Fellows
Eman Elsabbagh, MD
- Medical School: Mansoura University, Egypt
- Residency: University of Chicago Pediatric Residency
- Email: Eman.Elsabbagh
Alexander Rankin, MD
- Medical School: Virginia Commonwealth University School Of Medicine
- Residency: Children's National Pediatric Residency
- Email: Alexander.Rankin
Mary Jane Underdown, MD
- Medical School: Eastern Tennessee State Quillen College Of Medicine
- Residency: Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center
- Email: Mary.Underdown
| 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. |
