CoPS Launches Pediatric Subspecialties Descriptions on its Web site!
In an effort to provide more information to medical students and residents about a career in the pediatric subspecialties, the Council of Pediatric Subspecialties (CoPS) has created detailed descriptions of the individual subspecialties on its Web site. Each section was written by a member of the subspecialty and includes information about what that subspecialist does, career opportunities, lifestyle and financial compensation as well as how to identify training programs and how to apply. Helpful links to both general and subspecialty specific Web sites are provided. There is also information about alternative training pathways and requirements for international medical graduates. CoPS believes that this Web site will be a valuable resource for medical students and residents as they consider a pediatric subspecialty. Go to the CoPS Web site and click on subspecialty descriptions.

General Information
For those interested in a pediatrics fellowship, there are many sources to find out the information you need. One of the first places to look for any fellowship is in the January edition of Journal of Pediatrics, which always has a list of available fellowships in pediatrics for the next year, as well as contact information, application deadlines, etc.

Other general areas to go for fellowship information include National Residency Matching Program or FRIEDA. Also, many pediatric hospitals have their own residency and fellowship Web sites, and more specific information can be found there.

General Pediatrics Fellowships
There are several fellowships through the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. This site gives information about the generalist physician faculty scholars program, which prepares junior faculty for research training. To be eligible for this fellowship, you must already be a junior faculty member in an accredited medical school. Other RWJ fellowships can be found at http://rwjcsp.stanford.edu. Residents interested in health care policy can try RWJ or the Institute of Medicine and click on Opportunities and Fellowship. The NIH funds generalist fellowships with an interest in academic research and looking for loan repayment. The NIH also offers funding for general academic pediatrics through the National Research Service Awards. Fellowship positions (for any fellowship) can occasionally be found on the Association of Pediatric Program Directors Web site.

Cardiology
The best and fastest source of pediatric cardiology fellowships is located on the American College of Cardiology’s Web site, which allows you to search a database of fellowships opportunities.

Adolescent Medicine
The Society for Adolescent Medicine has a Web site which lists each of the fellowships in adolescent medicine, and includes contact information, number of positions and accreditation status.

Sports Medicine
Listings for primary care sports medicine fellowships with contact information can be found at www.physsportsmed.com/fellows.htm. This Web site also contains links to other sports medicine groups as well as to the journal “The Physician and Sports Medicine”. The American Medical Society for Sports Medicine also has a list of fellowships on their Web site.

Child Protection
The AAP Section on Child Abuse and Neglect has its own list of fellowships in Child Protection.

Allergy and Immunology
The American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (better known as quad-I) has a complete fellowship directory, as well as other information. The American Academy of Immunology also has several postdoctoral research fellowships on their Web site.

Infectious Disease
Primary clinical responsibilities of a Pediatric Infectious Diseases (PID) specialist are in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of infectious diseases in children. PID specialists have many career choices and many choose a combination of several opportunities. The four primary categories are:

• Academic Medicine – Most PID specialists are employed by medical schools, children’s hospitals or community-based teaching hospitals. This allows a mixture of research, teaching, administration and sometimes epidemiology and infection prevention and antimicrobial stewardship.
• Public Service – Another option is to work for public health agencies such as the NIH, CDC or FDA. The work includes tracking of the epidemiology of ID, monitoring vaccine preventable diseases and investigating unusual or emerging pathogens.
• Private Practice – A small number of PID specialists practice privately and they focus on patient care, diagnosing and treating a broad spectrum of ID in both inpatient and outpatient settings. Some may practice both ID and general pediatrics.
• Industry – ID remains a top subspecialty in demand among drug/vaccine manufacturers and requires expertise in both scientific and management issues.

Click here for a list of fellowship opportunities in pediatric infectious disease.

Other Fellowship Opportunities:

FDA Commissioner's Fellowship Program

The FDA offers a two-year Fellowship Program, which provides an opportunity for health professionals and scientists to receive training and experience at the FDA. Fellows will train at FDA's new state-of-the-art White Oak campus in Silver Spring, Maryland or at other FDA facilities. The Fellowship Program combines rigorous didactic coursework with the development of a regulatory science research project. Under the guidance of an FDA senior scientist Preceptor committed to mentoring, Fellows will explore a specific aspect of FDA regulatory science. This experience can be in a biology, physics or engineering lab, in a clinical review team, in biostatistics, informatics, epidemiology, risk analysis or other aspects of FDA science. Click here for more information.