Emergency Medicine Track Curriculum

In accordance with American Board of Emergency Medicine requirements, the Pediatric Emergency Medicine fellowship program for graduates of Emergency Medicine residencies is of two years duration.

Each year consists of 13 four-week blocks. The table below lists the various rotations that make up each year of fellowship.

Year 1 Year 2
PEM 7 Blocks PEM 7
Anesthesia 1 NICU 1
Ambulatory Pediatrics 1 Child Abuse 1
Inpatient Pediatrics 1 Elective 4
PICU 1
Labor and Delivery 0.5
Elective 1.5

For the EM-trained fellow, each of the two years of training will include seven months spent in the Pediatric emergency department.

  • Months spent in the ED during the first year are focused on the broadening of pediatric assessment and procedural skills as well as teaching residents through precepting residents.
  • In the second year, the curriculum is focused on increasing clinical and administrative responsibility and independent clinical practice in the emergency department. In the latter part of the second year, the fellow will have the opportunity to do solo overnights (two to three per  block).

Anesthesia rotation is split between Connecticut Children’s and Manchester Memorial Hospital, and is focused on honing airway management skills.

Ambulatory Pediatrics rotation is designed to expose the fellow to well-child care. The fellow will gain greater experience with: the range of normal physical exam findings, development and behavior across ages; anticipatory guidance for various stages of development; and approach to common outpatient complaints and concerns.

Inpatient Pediatrics rotation occurs here at Connecticut Children’s. This rotation is designed to allow the emergency medicine trained fellow to participate in the inpatient care of both general pediatrics patients on the Pediatric Hospitalist service as well as the range of medical subspecialty pediatric patients.

PICU rotation occurs at Connecticut Children’s. Our PICU has 18 beds and offers the full range of critical care services including ECMO and will allow the fellow to participate in the care of critically ill children across the range of medical and surgical pediatric specialties.

Labor and Delivery rotation (two weeks) is based at Hartford Hospital and is focused on gaining greater experience with deliveries and obstetric emergencies.

Neonatology rotation is based in the Connecticut Children’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit located within Hartford Hospital.

Child Abuse rotation is based at Connecticut Children’s where the fellow functions as a member of the Suspected Child Abuse and Neglect (SCAN) team. Fellows assist with ED and inpatient consults, as well as participate in outpatient SCAN clinic activities.

Electives are available in all of the pediatric medical and surgical subspecialties. Additionally, an elective block can be used for dedicated research time.

A unique aspect of our fellowship is the longitudinal Community Pediatric Emergency Medicine rotation, developed through a partnership with Saint Mary’s Hospital in Waterbury, CT. The Emergency Medicine trained fellow will do two shifts per Pediatric Emergency Medicine block at Saint Mary’s, supervised by on-site Pediatric Emergency Medicine-trained emergency physicians. This venue provides the opportunity to learn Pediatric Emergency Medicine in a community hospital setting while also maintaining general EM skills through caring for some adult patients there in addition to children.

EM track fellows will develop and conduct a quality improvement project within the Pediatric ED, with the goal of impacting the quality of care provided in the emergency department. Fellows will also have the opportunity to participate in other scholarly activity during fellowship. This may take the form of a mentored research project. The Pediatric Emergency Medicine faculty includes mentors with experience in point-of-care ultrasound, simulation, injury prevention, behavioral health, sedation, pre-hospital medicine, transport, disaster preparedness, quality improvement, medical education, child abuse, forensic medicine, and toxicology. In addition, fellows have collaborated with mentors in other subspecialties at Connecticut Children’s. Research support available to fellows includes access to professional medical librarians at UConn Health in Farmington, CT, statistical support through UConn Health and the Connecticut Children’s Research Office, and research assistants through the Undergraduate Research Assistant Program (URAP). URAP students are undergraduates at the UConn who are physically present in the emergency department to assist with prospective study enrollment and are also available to help with retrospective study data extraction.

Fellows at Connecticut Children’s across all subspecialties participate in a “Core Curriculum” covering topics such as medical ethics, professionalism, risk management, and teaching development.