Endocrinology Fellowship at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences

Introduction

The pediatric endocrinology fellowship program of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences is a three year ACGME-accredited program designed to train active duty pediatricians for competency and subspecialty board eligibility in pediatric endocrinology. The program exists in affiliation with the combined National Capital Consortium pediatric residency program at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and National Naval Medical Center.

Clinical training in the fellowship program is conducted at several facilities to include:
· WRAMC - outpatient clinic, pediatric inpatient service and pediatric intensive care
· NNMC - outpatient clinic, mother-baby unit, and neonatal intensive care unit
· Outreach clinics - Andrews Air Force Base, MD; Fort Belvoir, VA; Fort Bragg, NC
In addition to these busy general pediatric endocrinology clinics fellows also participate in several multi-disciplinary clinics, to include a Cystic Fibrosis clinic, an inherited disorders of metabolism clinic and a long-term cancer survivor's clinic. Two one month rotations at affiliated institutes are also part of the fellowship experience, one at the at the National Institutes of Child Health and Development, NIH (Bethesda, MD) and one at the Children's National Medical Center (CNMC, Washington, DC). Elective rotations are offered in; Adult endocrinology at WRAMC, NNMC, or Washington Hospital Center, DC, Inherited disorders of Metabolism at the CNMC, Washington DC, and in pediatric endocrinology at the Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore MD.

Objectives

The program is designed to create independent and competent practitioners dedicated to life-long learning. They should be capable of passing the subspecialty boards in pediatric endocrinology and incorporating the scientific process into clinical or academic careers. They would be expected to become future leaders in the military pediatric and medical community.

Format

The fellowship is organized to include both clinical and research time during each of the 3 years of fellowship. To allow adequate time for completion of the research project, the fellowship is organized to have diminished clinical responsibilities during the second and third year but with continued outpatient responsibility to allow for continuity of patient care. Fellows participate in weekly clinical and research conferences as well as regularly scheduled journal clubs in our program, as well as in conjunction with the NCC adult endocrine and NICHD pediatric endocrine fellowship programs. Fellows are also provided ample opportunity to teach the NCC pediatric residents as lecturers in the department morning report lecture series and are encouraged to participate as mentors for the USUHS medical students by participating in the USUHS 1st and 2nd year Clinical Reasoning and Introduction to Clinical Medicine courses.

Research

An intensive research experience is required of all graduates by the American Board of Pediatrics. The program offers training, ideas, encouragement, mentoring, and commitment to assure completion, presentation and publication of a successful project. There are opportunities to participate in both clinical and basic science research with current emphasis on obesity, bone metabolism and the molecular basis of thyroid cancer invasion and metastasis. The basic science laboratory of the Department of Pediatrics at USUHS consists of 2000 square feet of space well equipped for cell culture and molecular biology, to include RNA and DNA extraction, Northern, Western and Southern blotting and polymerase chain reaction analysis. Gene synthesizers, automated nucleic acid sequencers, and protein sequencing are also available. Funding and education opportunities through the Department of Clinical Investigation, WRAMC and the Office of Research, USUHS exist and these departments provide research review services, computerized data analysis, statistical support, and publication pre-review and approval as well as courses on the protection of human research subjects, study design, statistics and molecular biology. The fellowship program builds on the strengths of the research community at USUHS, NNMC and WRAMC, allowing the fellows flexibility in choosing a research project(s) and providing the mentoring necessary for success.

Qualifications and Application

Candidates must be board certified or board eligible in Pediatrics and be active duty members of one of the Uniformed Services (Navy, Army, Air Force, Public Health Service). Applicants must apply through and be sponsored for postdoctoral training by the Graduate Medical Education office of their respective branch of service. Requests for training should list the Pediatric Endocrinology Program of the NCC at USUHS as their site of choice. Application deadlines are usually in September and are determined by the individual services. Where feasible applicants are encouraged to visit the USUHS facilities and arrange personal interviews with faculty members. If a visit is not practical, applicants should contact the program director and submit a recent curriculum vitae to the section office.

Faculty

Andrew J Bauer, LTC, MC, USA - Program Director
Merrily Poth, M.D.
Rita Svec, M.D., COL (ret)

Adjunct Faculty

Vasyl Vasko, M.D. Ph.D, - USUHS, Department of Pediatrics
Diane Hatcher, PNP, Certified Diabetic Educator
Kathryn Camp, MS, RD, CSP - Pediatric and metabolic nutritionist
Cheryl Issa, RD - pediatric nutritionist

A more detailed description of the program and requirements is available through:
Andrew J Bauer, M.D.
LTC MC USA
Program Director, Pediatric Endocrinology, NCC/USUHS
Chief, Pediatric Endocrinology, WRAMC
Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences
4301 Jones Bridge Rd.
Bethesda, MD 20814
Phone: (301) 295-9716; FAX: (301) 295-0190
email: abauer@usuhs.mil or Andrew.bauer@na.amedd.army.mil

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