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Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
Pediatric Endocrinology Training Program

Program and Training > Program Description

Description of NICHD Pediatric Endocrinology Training Program

Introduction

The fellowship in Pediatric Endocrinology is a three-year ACGME-accredited program providing comprehensive training in clinical patient management and guidance in the development of research skills. The fellowship is at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and based at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical Center, in Bethesda, Maryland (NIH-CC).

The NICHD program is based at one of the largest and most sophisticated research institutions in the United States. The clinical center maintains clinical research protocols investigating the treatment of adrenal and pituitary tumors, congenital adrenal hyperplasia, precocious puberty, idiopathic juvenile osteoporosis, Cushing’s syndrome, obesity, and others.

The fellow gains critical skills in the construction and execution of clinical research projects while learning about some of the more rare pediatric endocrine disorders.

Participating institutions include the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) within the NIH, and outside the NIH, those represented by the National Capital Consortium and based at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS), Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC) and National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda (NNMC), Johns Hopkins University (JHU) Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Endocrinology, The Children’s National Medical Center (CNMC) Division of Pediatric Endocrinology, and, finally, the cosponsoring institution, Georgetown University (GU) Department of Pediatrics. GU, JHU, CNMC, WRAMC, and NNMC serve as primary care facilities, and WRAMC and NIH-CC house large tertiary care referral and research centers. These facilities make available to our fellows pediatric endocrine, diabetes, oncology, metabolic, bone disorders, and other pediatric subspecialty clinics and consult services, and general pediatric inpatient and intensive care units. The program has also entered into an agreement with GU and  provides a one-month elective on Pediatric Endocrinology and Clinical/Medical Genetics at the NIH for GU residents. Since 2004, 12 residents (PL-2) per year, from GU spend one month at the NIH-CC wards and clinics.

The fellowship is designed to provide clinical and research exposure that allows for the development of academic Pediatric Endocrinologists with experience in both clinical and/or bench research. The first year of the fellowship is dedicated to the acquisition of necessary clinical skills from all aspects of the principles and practice of Pediatric Endocrinology. It is during that year that the fellows rotate through the NIH-CC and the participating hospitals. The second and third years are focused research years allowing for training in laboratory or clinical research. During these two years, fellows also receive appropriate courses on statistics, biotechnology and laboratory methods, grant and scientific paper writing, and the development and execution of clinical trials.

Pediatric Endocrine fellows maintain a weekly continuity clinic with a variety of patients at the NIH-CC and have the option of attending continuity clinics at the participating institutions beyond their first clinical year.

The NICHD fellowship program in Pediatric Endocrinology is among the largest and most prestigious in the world. More information is at the NIH training site:
http://www.training.nih.gov/

Educational Program

The Pediatric Endocrinology Fellowship at NIH consists of one year of clinical training, and two year of combined clinical training and research training.

Clinical Training Rotations

A typical training schedule for first-year fellows includes the following rotations:

Rotation Duration Program Director
Johns Hopkins University Hospital 8 weeks David Cooke, MD
Georgetown University 6 weeks Douglas Sobel, MD
Walter Reed Medical Center/
National Naval Hospital		 8 weeks Andrew Bauer, MD
NIH Clinical Research Center (CRC) 5 months Constantine Stratakis MD, DSc
Genetics (NIH CRC) 4 weeks Maximilian Muenke MD
Children’s National Medical Center 4 weeks Paul Kaplowitz, MD, PhD

During the second and third years, mandatory clinical responsibilities are limited to a half-day continuity clinic per week and providing inpatient pediatric endocrine consultation on an on-call basis.

Didactic Training

Regularly scheduled didactic courses, seminars, and case conferences enhance clinical experience. These include the following weekly events:

Fellows are encouraged to attend at least one national/ international professional meeting/year during the three fellowship years.

Research Training

Fellows learn how to develop a research protocol, conduct a study, evaluate the results, and create a presentation or a manuscript suitable for publication. Work in a laboratory setting performing state-of-the-art basic science research is closely supervised by internationally known mentors. During the first year, a research mentor is chosen and the project for each fellow and progress on it are monitored by a committee, as recommended by the American Board of Pediatrics (see http://www.abp.org).  With the mentor’s help, a topic of special interest is defined and a research protocol is developed. The second and third years of the fellowship are dedicated to the successful completion of the selected project(s) with minimal clinical duty requirements. See also the following site for more information on research training at the NIH:

NIH Office of Intramural Training and Education: http://www.training.nih.gov

Call Frequency

There is no in-house call. During the first year, pediatric endocrine fellows are on call from home, supported by one of the endocrine attendings. During the second and third years, fellows take call from home when they participate in the pediatric endocrine consult service. Third-year fellows attend one month in the wards of the NIH-CRC and they are on-call from home for the ward for these 4 weeks.

Teaching Opportunities

Third-year fellows are required to take a supervisory role and cover the pediatric endocrine inpatient service at the NIH-CC for one month. During these 4 weeks, the senior fellow supervises first-year fellows, residents, and students and is responsible for teaching rounds and conferences.

Evaluation and Quality Assurance

The fellow meets with the program director, the mentor, and the supervising committee on a regular basis to assess personal goals and objectives, and to review evaluations from the staff. All fellows and other staff participate in regular staff meetings, and quality assurance is monitored both at the program and at the hospital level by regular (weekly and other) meetings.

Application Information/Eligibility Criteria

The Pediatric Endocrinology Program is fully accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. Upon successful completion of the three-year training program, fellows are eligible to sit for the examination of the American Board of Pediatrics. Qualified candidates must have completed PGY-3 level training prior to initiation of the fellowship, and should be eligible for board certification by the American Board of Pediatrics. There are two positions available per year, and applications should be received at least one year in advance. Fellows stay a minimum of three years; selected fellows can stay additional years as senior medical staff fellows, or through other mechanisms. For further information applicants should contact:

Dr. Constantine Stratakis, MD D(med)Sci
Director, Pediatric Endocrinology Training Program, NICHD

Ms. Janet Krasnican
Administrator, Pediatric Endocrinology Training Program, NICHD

Tel: 301-496-6683
Fax: 301-480-0378