The CHLA pediatric orthopedic surgery fellowship is an academic training program that uniquely prepares fellows for the independent surgical and non-surgical care of children with orthopedic conditions.
Learn More About the Program
During the 12-month program at the Jackie and Gene Autry Orthopedic Center at CHLA, fellows spend time in both clinical and surgical settings working intimately with our nationally renowned pediatric orthopedic team in subspecialties including:
- Bone and soft tissue tumors
- Cerebral palsy
- Clubfoot
- Complex foot deformities
- Gait analysis
- Hip disorders
- Limb deformity
- Spinal deformity
- Trauma
- Upper extremity
Upon completion of the training, fellows understand the fundamental pathophysiology, surgical techniques, and clinical practice of pediatric orthopedics.
Fellowship Aims
- Provide excellent surgical and clinical training for orthopedic surgeons in the care of pediatric orthopedic conditions.
- Improve the intangibles associated with being an excellent physician including sense of responsibility, attention to detail, planning, mental preparation, confidence, empathy, communication with staff and patients.
- Equip our fellows with the skills and vision for a career filled with curiosity and a habit of life-long learning.
- Provide opportunities to participate in research.
- Establish mentoring relationships that extend beyond the fellowship into the fellow’s career.
Program Structure
Operative Experience
- Approximately 75% of a fellow’s clinical time is spent in the surgical setting. Each week, fellows have the opportunity to review cases scheduled for the following week from all attendings and select three operative days in which they would like to participate.
- Fellows have the opportunity to customize their experiences while also participating in diverse types of cases to attain a general, solid foundation in pediatric orthopedics. This format allows fellows to develop a focus within pediatric orthopedics based on their interest and/or intended future practice. It also assures that the fellows have opportunity to participate in less common, more complex cases for the most comprehensive surgical experience possible. Progress is monitored on a monthly basis.
- The first 3 months of fellowship are organized into multi-subspecialty rotations to provide initial structure, promote exposure to all aspects of pediatric orthopedics, and give the fellows the opportunity work with each of the attendings early in the year.
Outpatient Clinic
- Approximately 25% of the fellow’s time is spent in the outpatient clinic.
- Fellows participate in attending clinics, working directly with patients and the team to formulate treatment plans.
- In addition, fellows run their own clinic for 1/2 day twice per month. At the beginning of the fellowship, they handle patient follow-ups and less complex cases, gradually working with new patients and more complex cases as the year progresses.
Didactics and Conference Schedule
- Tolo Days Conference and Reunion (Fall) – This is a two-day visiting professorship and alumni reunion with a combination of big picture topics, subspecialty talks, and social activities in honor of Dr. Vern Tolo.
- John C. Wilson Visiting Professorship (Spring) – The two-day visiting professorship that includes one day of CHLA only activities and one day of a combined visiting professorship with the UCLA and Shriner’s programs.
- Annual Alumni Education & Ski-Retreat (Winter): A weekend getaway in Mammoth, CA that combines education talks and winter fun.
- Fellow Conference – Weekly conference dedicated to fellow education. Predominant formats include subspecialty case conference, journal club, Tolo teaching rounds, and leadership discussions. Many of these conferences occur at an attending’s home, coffee shop, or restaurant with the dual purpose of deepening the fellow’s understanding of pediatric orthopedics and fostering meaningful relationships between faculty and fellows.
- Thursday Morning Preop/Postop Conference – Weekly departmental conference with preoperative and postoperative review of all cases. During this conference, there is discussion surrounding indications, surgical approaches, and surgical decision-making. Once per month, this conference also includes our M&M conference.
- Daily Didactic Lecture Series - 30-minute attending led lectures covering all aspects of pediatric orthopedics. This lecture series follows a three-month rotation schedule. Fellows attend these lectures during the first three months of fellowship.
- Monthly Research Meetings – Many of the services such as hip, trauma, and spine have monthly research meetings to facilitate research at CHLA.
Inpatient Consults
- Inpatient consults (i.e. DDH, clubfoot) that occur during the day (7am – 5pm) are initially staffed by fellows, giving them the opportunity to serve in the attending physician role with these patients. Fellows are encouraged to discuss inpatient consults with an attending and ask for assistance as needed, especially when operative treatment is necessary.
Call
- For the first several months, fellows are on back up call and come in for cases when the faculty surgeon has an operative case to get exposure to each of the faculty’s approach to call.
- After the initial orientation period, fellows may enter the attending call pool and take approximately one call per week. For the first two months of attending call, the fellows have a faculty who is on call with them.
- As CHLA is the only Level 1 pediatric trauma center in the region, this program provides a unique opportunity for fellows to build confidence and skills in managing pediatric trauma cases with ongoing support and assistance from faculty physicians.
Research Opportunities
- Fellows have opportunities to participate in active research projects or they can design their own research concept and see it through to fruition.
- Dedicated CHLA Research staff include: 4 research coordinators, 4 research fellows/assistants
- Currently, there are 200 open studies
- 43 manuscripts published 2022
- 62 podium presentations in 2022
- 4/10 Most Downloaded Papers in JPO
- In some cases, clinical fellows have published more than 10 papers as a result of research participation during their fellowship year.
Meet Our Doctors
Meet Our Fellowship Alumni
Highlights
- Fellows have choice of cases, clinics, and subspecialty experience
- Extensive, hands-on operative experience
- Collegial work environment with family atmosphere
- Robust educational program including preop/postop conference, attending-led didactic lectures, two visiting professorships, national conferences, and a dedicated weekly Fellow’s Conference
- Monthly breakfast with fellowship director to discuss fellowship experience and future plans
- All subspecialties represented including hip (including exposure to hip preservation), spine deformity sports, trauma, neuromuscular, general pediatric orthopedics, complex foot deformity, lower extremity deformity, hand, and tumor
- Attending call with graduated responsibilities and faculty support
- Independent 1/2 day fellow clinics twice per month
- Your operative cases with faculty backup (previous fellows have booked elective cases from their own clinic such as removal of implants, hemi epiphysiodesis, Achilles tenotomy, tendon transfers, and even open reduction for DDH)
- Motion Analysis Lab
How To Apply
All interested applicants are encouraged to apply through the San Francisco Match Program (SFMP) by registering for the SFMP and selecting the Pediatric Orthopedic Surgery Fellowship Match.
Program Fast Facts
Fellows per year: 3 (POSNA accredited)
Duration: 1 year
Postgraduate Training Required: Orthopedic Surgery Residency
Salary: $84,712 with opportunities for moonlighting
Benefits Include: Health and dental insurance; 15 days paid vacation plus 6 personal days; educational stipend for meeting attendance