Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Fellowship Quick Info

Accredited/Nonaccredited: Accredited by ACGME

# of fellow slots each year: 3

Typical academic year start date: July 1st

Funding: NIH training grant, private funding, affiliate funding

Strengths of program:

• Nationally/internationally recognized clinical and basic science investigators with a wide range of research interests and expertise including molecular biology, bone marrow transplant, biology, growth factors, cancer etiology, and health-related outcomes.
• One of the largest blood and marrow transplant programs in the United States with national and international referrals.
• One of twenty Children’s Oncology Group NCI sponsored Phase I centers.
• The University of Minnesota Cancer Center, one of only thirty-five NCI designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers in the United States.
• One of the largest and most active member institutions in the Children’s Oncology Group with many of the faculty holding leadership roles.

Overview of General Schedule:

The fellowship in pediatric hematology/oncology provides an opportunity for pediatricians to become board-certified pediatric hematologists/oncologists.

Year 1 of the fellowship is designed to develop clinical skills through direct inpatient and outpatient care. In addition, fellows supervise and teach pediatric residents in the care of hospitalized pediatric hematology/oncology and blood and marrow transplant patients.  During the first year fellows will be assigned as the primary physician of 10-20 newly diagnosed patients whom they will follow for the three years of the fellowship. Opportunities are provided for fellows to:

• Spend time in research settings to investigate possible research programs for years 2-3.
• Engage in concentrated learning in the areas of coagulation, hematopathology, blood banking, and cell processing, radiation oncology, palliative care.
• See patients one half day each week in the oncology and blood and marrow transplant outpatient clinics.
• Attend weekly research and oncology-related conferences.
• Conduct clinical research projects.

Years 2-3 of the fellowship are devoted primarily to research training.  The program offers two distinct research tracks, focusing on either (1) laboratory research or (2) clinical research. Based on the fellow’s long-term academic career objectives and interests, selection of the research track and specific research projects are made, by the fellow in conjunction with their faculty advisors and future research mentors, prior to the end of the first year of fellowship.

Types of research fellows could pursue (i .g. lab, clinical, community-based, etc.):

It is the belief of all members of the section that basic biological and clinical research is as important in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology/BMT as is the care of those children in the clinic.  The fellowship seeks to train clinicians in such a manner that they are able to propose and answer basic scientific questions, which might not be obvious to either the basic scientist or clinician alone.  Thus, the integration of clinical science and basic laboratory science are of vital importance to this training program.  To this end, fellows are supported in the development of research skills in any one of multiple areas with the goal that the fellow, in the future, will throughout his or her research, contribute to the continued advancement of the field as a whole.

To accomplish this in the relatively short time of the fellowship is difficult and requires a focused effort on the part of the fellow and the division staff.  To this end the fellow may spend one or two months during the first year rotating through various laboratories and working toward the identification of a project/field that he/she will concentrate on during the second and third years.  One NIH training grant to support post-doctoral research training in cancer epidemiology/clinical research is also available to provide additional research opportunities and support.

During the second and third years the fellow will be primarily responsible for his/her research to the virtual exclusion of other non-research efforts (with the exceptions of one morning per week in clinic, required conferences and a limited amount of clinical service).  An opportunity exists for a fourth year of research training in some instances.

It is required that this research project progress towards publishable reports for this original investigation before the conclusion of the fellowship and form a foundation from which the investigator can continue in the future.  It is further expected that local and perhaps national funding be sought during the second and third year as part of evidence of research progress and as part of research "training".  Thus, our overall goal is to produce clinical and basic science research investigators to join the academic ranks.

Dual Degree: Does your program fund Master’s Program? If so, which one(s)?

The option of a fellowship research training program in clinical research which includes obtaining an MS in Clinical Research from the Graduate School or an MPH in Epidemiology from the School of Public Health is a research pathway in our program.  Tuition for this is paid by the program.

Career Path: Where do your fellows go after fellowship?

The fellowship in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology/BMT is intended to prepare physicians for careers in academic Pediatric Hematology/Oncology/BMT.  Our past trainees hold faculty positions in many of the top programs in the country and remain active in clinical, translational or basic research.  Our fellows are highly sought after for positions upon completion of their training.

Do you know of fellowship programs in your specialty that address Med-Peds graduates?

Pediatric Hematology/Oncology is an excellent choice of subspecialty for graduates of med/peds programs as the treatment of adolescents and young adults is a rapidly expanding area of expertise within hematology/oncology.  The majority of our treatment protocols include eligibility of young adults and certainly the care of hematologic diseases such as sickly cell anemia and hemophilia spans the lifetime of the patient.

Additional Information: The practice opportunities in pediatric hematology/oncology are tremendous as are the rewards of successfully treating children with potentially life-threatening diseases.  The field is changing rapidly with new advancements coming to the forefront of clinical care and providing new treatment options making it a very exciting field of medicine for residency graduates to enter.

Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Fellowship Web Site