Application deadline

The deadline for applications is September 30 of each year.

Number of fellows accepted each year

Three fellows are selected to train in our program each year.

Clinical experience and training

The Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Center at Boston Children’s Hospital provides an unparalleled, ACGME-accredited fellowship program. Our center has a long history of academic and clinical innovation and excellence. Established over a century ago, the Orthopedic Center is one of the nation’s preeminent centers for the care of children with a wide variety of musculoskeletal disorders. We prepare our fellows for leadership roles in general and pediatric orthopedics.

Boston Children’s Hospital has consistently been ranked as one of the top pediatric hospitals in the nation and continues to be the desired pediatric referral center both nationally and internationally.

James Kasser, MD, works with a patient at Boston Children’s Hospital.

Faculty

• Benjamin Shore, MD, MPH, FRCSC, Program Director
• Peter Waters, MD, Orthopedic Surgeon-in-Chief
• Megan Anderson, MD
• Donald Bae, MD
• Andrea Bauer, MD
• Craig Birch, MD
• Melissa Christino, MD
• Mary Dubon, MD
• John Emans, MD
• David Fogelman, MD
• Mark C. Gebhardt, MD
• Megan Hannon, MD
• Daniel Hedequist, MD
• Carrie Heincelman, MD
• Benton Heyworth, MD
• Grant Hogue, MD
• M. Timothy Hresko, MD
• Lawrence Ira Karlin, MD
• James Kasser, MD
• Young-Jo Kim, MD, PhD, MHCM
• Mininder Kocher, MD, MPH
• Dennis Kramer, MD
• Susan Mahan, MD, MPH
• Travis Matheney, MD, MLA
• Collin May, MD, MPH
• Matthew Milewski, MD
• Michael Millis, MD
• Donna Nimec, MD
• Eduardo Novais, MD
• Samantha Spencer, MD
• Brian Snyder, MD, PhD
• Ana Ubeda Tikkanen, MD, PhD
• Carley Vuillermin, MBBS, MPH, FRACS
• Colyn Watkins, MD
• Kiriaki Claire White, MD
• Yi-Meng Yen, MD, PhD

Clinical training

The curriculum of the Pediatric Orthopedic Surgery Fellowship is broadly divided into two blocks. During the first six-month block, fellows learn the clinical and operative management of trauma and hip, spine, lower extremity, and neuromuscular disorders. During the second six months, fellows are encouraged to tailor their curriculum and educational experience to their future endeavors and interests.

On a weekly basis, fellows have a combination of didactic and case-based learning sessions from 6:30 to 7 each morning.

• Monday: Fellows case-based lecture series (fellows only)
• Tuesday: Core lecture series (residents and fellows)
• Wednesday: Program director update (fellows only)
• Thursday: Journal Club, Chief’s Conference and M&M Rounds (residents and fellows)
• Friday: Indication rounds (residents and fellows)

During the second half of the year, fellows take on extra responsibility in teaching some of the Tuesday sessions and running some of the Friday indication conferences.

Additional conference opportunities include:

• High Risk Spine Conference — review upcoming high-risk cases
• Hip Conference Meeting — review upcoming hip cases and new consults
• Cerebral Palsy & Spasticity Conference — review cases for multimodal treatment
• Sports Medicine Indications Conference and Hand and Upper Extremity Case-based Fellows Conference

Fellows have a full week shared between clinic and operating room responsibilities. A half day a week is reserved for research and administrative duties. Fellows also run a trauma clinic one evening a week on a rotating schedule. Evening and weekend call is 1 in 3 from home. Orthopedic residents in-house take primary call for emergency room and inpatient consultations. Fellows do participate in operative management of trauma cases over the weekend.

Rotation structure

Fellows will have maximum exposure in the areas of congenital deformities, growth disorders, spinal surgery, neuromuscular disease, and trauma.

Each fellow will spend four months on each of the orthopedic surgical teams within the department. There is also significant exposure in subspecialty areas of pediatric hand and upper extremity, sports medicine, and oncology. Through rotation on these teams, orthopedic fellows gain a broad experience in both operative and non-operative treatment of pediatric orthopedic conditions.

Additional fellow responsibilities

In addition to the responsibilities noted above, fellows will cover newborn consults at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

Patient populations

Boston Children’s is a referral center for the Northeast. Patients come from the neighboring states of New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, Connecticut, and New York. We also have a wide national and international referral center, drawing complex cases from around the world.

Research opportunities

Fellows will have broad support from our Clinical Effectives Research Center (CERC) to help them complete their projects during their year at Boston Children’s, including support in the form of IRB generation, research design, database management and statistics. Fellows will participate in one quality improvement project as well as at least one additional clinical research project associated with their subspecialty interest. Fellows will present their research at our annual research day at the culmination of their fellowship year.

Lectures and conferences

• Fracture Conference
• Fellows’ Conferences
• Core Curriculum Conference
• Orthopedic Grand Rounds
• Journal Club
• Chief’s Conference for Case Presentation
• Longwood Orthopedic Grand Rounds
• Surgical Indications Conference
• Annual David Grice Lecture
• Annual Marino Lecture

Benefits and salary

Fellows will receive standard PGY-VI salary and benefits.

Past fellows and current appointments

2020-21 (graduate July 31)

• Lucas Annabell
• Sreeharsha Nandyala
• Shay Seth
• Tracy Townsend

2019-20

• Kristin Alves
• Patrick Curran
• Brett Shannon

2018-2019

• Craig Birch, Boston Children’s Hospital
• Emily Cidambi, Rady Children’s Hospital
• W. Taylor Dodgen, Cook Children’s
• Kemble Wang, Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne, Australia

2017-2018

• Timothy Borden, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
• Thierry Pauyo, Shriners Hospital for Children — Canada
• Colyn Watkins, Boston Children’s Hospital

2016-2017

• Kathryn Fuchs, Shriners Hospital for Children — Portland
• Jill Larson, Lurie Children’s Hospital
• Sami Mardem-Bey, Wake Orthopaedics

Application process

This fellowship is open to those who have successfully completed an ACGME/ACGME-I accredited residency program (or Canadian equivalent) in Orthopedic Surgery, and be eligible for Massachusetts licensure.

The interview season has concluded for the 2023-24 academic year. This program participates in the San Francisco Match; the next cycle will begin in August 2022, for the 2024-25 academic year.

Contact information

For additional questions please contact our fellowship coordinator:

Alaina McLaughlin, C-TAGME
Alaina.McLaughlin@childrens.harvard.edu