Penn State Hershey Children's Hospital - Pediatric Hematology Oncology

Pediatric Hematology Oncology Fellowship

The Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Fellowship program is an ACGME accredited training program. The goal of our program is to train fellows to become excellent and independent pediatric hematologist/oncologists prepared for an academic career incorporating clinical care, research, and education.

The Pediatric Hematology/Oncology experience at the Penn State Children’s Hospital provides a broad multidisciplinary exposure to the many facets of care. The program cares for patients from birth through young adulthood. We have 700 admissions per year to the Pediatric Hematology/Oncology inpatient service and over 7300 outpatient visits per year. Last year we saw 100 new oncology patients, 400 new hematology patients and did 18 stem cell transplants. There are active programs in stem cell transplantation, neuro-oncology, hemostasis/thrombosis, and sickle cell disease. Inpatient facilities consist of a 16 bed hepa-filtered unit with private rooms and ability to do pulse oximetry monitoring. There are a total of 43 pediatric inpatient beds, 12 PICU beds, and a 32 bed neonatal ICU.

The fellowship training program consists of 3 years. The first year is primarily a clinical year. Rotations are 4 weeks and are divided between inpatient hematology/oncology, stem cell transplant, and outpatient rotations. The first year fellow is responsible for the daily management of inpatient hematology/oncology patients as well as hematology consultations from the inpatient units. The Stem Cell Transplant rotation consists of both inpatient and outpatient experiences. The outpatient rotations will have time allotted for ancillary services such as blood banking/transfusion medicine, hematopathology, radiation oncology, and special coagulatin. There is also time built into outpatient rotations for exploring research options. Each fellow has a continuity clinic that begins early in the first year and is ongoing throughout the 3 years of training. Fellows are expected to attend their continuity clinic even while on inpatient rotations. There are 4 weeks of vacation/CME time each year.

The second and third years of training are primarily dedicated to research and scholarly activity. The fellowship program provides ample opportunity for both clinical and basic science research including the opportunity to pursue a masters degree in health evaluation sciences. There are a large number of basic science research opportunities available in labs in the Pediatric Hematology/Oncology division, the Penn State Cancer Institute and the College of Medicine.

Melanie A. Comito, MD, Program Director
Associate Professor of Pediatrics
Division of Pediatric Hematology/ Oncology

Conferences
How To Apply

Pediatric Tumor Board
Pediatric Tumor Board meetings are held twice monthly and a requirement for the fellowship program. These are multidisciplinary meetings that include participants from pediatric hematology/oncology, radiology, pathology, surgery, and radiation oncology. Fellows play an active role in presentation for the tumor board.

Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Academic Conference
This is a weekly conference that is also a required component of the fellowship program. These conferences cover clinical journal club, research updates, protocol review, and board review talks.

Pediatric Experimental Therapeutics Lectures
This is a monthly conference presented by faculty from the Pediatric Branch of the National Cancer Institute. This is a web-based lecture available to our program. These are required conferences for our fellows.

Schwartz Rounds
This is a monthly conference conducted by the Penn State Cancer Institute. Schwartz Rounds is a multidisciplinary forum where caregivers discuss difficulty emotional and social issues that arise in caring for patients. Pediatric Hem/Onc fellows are often asked to be part of the panel of presenters. This is a required conference for our fellows.

Pediatric Stem Cell Transplant Conference
This is held weekly and consists of a program quality review as well as review of patient care both inpatient and outpatient. Once a month, there is a journal club on a stem cell transplant. This is a multidisciplinary conference.

Pediatric Neuro-Oncology Tumor Board
This conference is held monthly and reviews all new pediatric brain tumor patients as well as patients undergoing active treatment. This conference is attended by pediatric oncology, pediatric neurosurgery, radiation oncology, neuropathology, and neuroradiology.

Cancer Center Conference
This is a multidisciplinary conference held monthly that presents basic science and translational research topics in relationship to current clinical care.

All applications are taken through ERAS.

All applicants must have completed a pediatric residency from an American Board of Pediatrics approved training program prior to entry into the three year fellowship.

Applications will be reviewed once your ERAS application is complete. Once reviewed, we will invite qualified applicants for an interview. All applications are considered without regard to race, religion, gender, or national origin.

International medical graduates must hold a currently valid certificate from the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates in order to be considered for the match. You may contact the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates, ECFMG, for your application materials and eligibility requirements. Please write to ECFMG-ERAS Program, P.O. Box 13467, Philadelphia, PA 19104-3467, USA, or point your Web browser to www.ecfmg.org to download their form.
• We accept J-1 & H-1B visas.

For information, contact:

    Sally A. Hollowell, C-T.A.G.M.E.
    Residency & Fellowship Program Coordinator
    Department of Pediatrics
    Penn State Hershey Children’s Hospital
    Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center
    500 University Drive, H085
    P.O. Box 850
    Hershey, PA 17033-0850

    E-mail: shollowell@hmc.psu.edu