The Pediatric Rheumatology Fellowship is three years of training designed specifically to prepare qualified pediatricians for an academic and clinical career in rheumatology. The program provides subspecialty fellows with the background and experience to care for children with a spectrum of rheumatic diseases. This expertise is gained through a balanced, progressive training program that includes clinical, teaching, consultative, research and technical experiences. The program strives to be an educational innovator in the community and utilizes an "open classroom" model and features of an "inquiry-based curriculum" to empower fellows to become lifelong adult learners.
Fellowship Year 1
Nine months of clinical service consists of both inpatient and outpatient experiences. Fellows alternate inpatient hospital service one week at a time. On alternate weeks the fellow sees new and return patients in the outpatient setting 4-5 half day clinics a week (this includes a continuity clinic). The remaining 3 months is dedicated to research while incorporating 2 weekly clinics.
Fellowship Years 2 and 3
There is an emphasis on research with two months of combined inpatient and outpatient clinical service for 2nd-year fellows, and an inpatient clinical month for 3rd-year fellows. During years 2 and 3, fellows have their own panel of continuity patients weekly. Also, they complete at least two clinics a week to ensure a robust clinical experience. All clinics are supervised by attending faculty.
Throughout years 2 and 3, fellows have a weekly panel of continuity patients. Fellows complete at least two clinics per week, ensuring a comprehensive clinical exposure overseen by attending faculty.
Sponsoring Institution - Baylor College of Medicine
- Baylor College of Medicine is one of the premier medical schools with robust training in all specialties.
Primary Training Site - Texas Children's Hospital
Texas Children’s Hospital is an internationally recognized full-care pediatric hospital located in the heart of the Texas Medical Center in Houston, TX. Texas Children’s Hospital is the largest children’s hospital in North America. For 13 straight years, Texas Children’s Hospital has also been recognized as one of the best by U.S. News & World Report. This year, Texas Children’s Hospital is ranked #3 overall and in the top five in eight specialties – including #1 in pediatric cardiology and heart surgery, pulmonology and lung surgery and nephrology.
Program Evaluation and Improvement
Curriculum improvements are made based on fellow input at monthly meetings with the program director, biannual program evaluation committee and during the annual program update.
Clinics
- Autoimmune Encephalitis Clinic - Texas Children's is one of the largest contributors of systemic vasculitis and inflammatory brain disorders patients in international registries.
- Lupus & Vasculitis Clinic - Care for Systemic Lupus and Vasculitis involves a collaborative approach, featuring a multidisciplinary clinic in conjunction with nephrology. Additionally, there are monthly multidisciplinary discussions, uniting multiple specialties and ancillary services including rheumatology, nephrology, gynecology, social work, TCH specialty pharmacy, research coordination for comprehensive care coordination.
- Fellows attend clinic sessions at various community-based clinics and in the medical center.
- Fellows maintain their own panel of continuity patients starting midway through the first year of fellowship.
