The Department of Pediatrics has 77 postdoctoral fellows   in the subspecialty training programs overseen by the various Divisions. The faculty places tremendous value in preparing these young pediatricians to undertake careers as clinician-investigators, teachers, subspecialty consultants, and, more generally, as contributors to the growing body of knowledge in the fields of pediatric medicine and developmental biology. Faculty members view fellowship education as the first and most important step in the transfer of the academic mission to the next generation.

The last ten years have seen a phenomenal change in the style of postgraduate education in the United States. This change has been brought by the recognition that the apprenticeship system on which residencies and fellowships have been based for almost a century often shortchanged education in the interest of clinical service. The result of this recognition has been a series of regulatory guidelines designed to guarantee the integrity of the educational environment against the substantial demands that the changing healthcare landscape has been applying on academic centers. Although the spirit of such guidelines has been welcome by the academic community, the proper balance between exposure to clinical responsibility and protection for learning remains at issue.

Our Department sees opportunity in these developments. Key to realizing this opportunity is the realization that fellowships must accomplish three goals: 1. prepare the future subspecialists both cognitively and technically to practice their new discipline proficiently, 2. provide them with the analytical skills and critical thinking necessary to confront conditions that they have not previously encountered, and 3. engender a solid compulsion to advance knowledge through research and teaching.

To facilitate the pursuit of these goals, every division in the Department has developed a training program that provides both the clinical experience and the environment for fellows to be exposed to research and taught the means to translate inquiry into scholarship. All the subspecialty programs are certified of the Residency Review Committee of the Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education and contain clinical and research experiences in accord with the guidelines set forth by the  American Board of Pediatrics  for subspecialty training. The Department of Pediatrics and the Medical School offer a rich array of seminars, conferences, research opportunities, and  core facilities to complement the activities of the specific program our fellows enter.

The Department of Pediatrics has a well established tradition of encouraging and supporting its fellows to participate in activities nationally and locally to enhance their education. Our fellows have been recognized for their accomplishment and academic potential by receiving a number of awards and fellowship grants from subspecialty and research societies and the American Academy of Pediatrics. Many fellows have also competed successfully for fellowships from the Pediatric Scientist Training Program and for K awards from the NIH or analogous mentored research grants. The Department and the School is deeply committed to helping young talented physicians develop an academic career, and Southwestern Medical School has created its own Physician Scientist Training Program, as well as, a Training Curriculum in Patient-Oriented Research  (TCPOR) to help launch the career of promising fellows in clinical departments. 

Since 2004, the Department has also established an interdisciplinary program for fellow education. The main objective of this program, which is unique in the country, is to develop a departmental repository of educational and administrative resources to enrich the opportunities offered by the individual fellowships. The program is directed by the Vice Chairman of the Department along with a small group of faculty members and fellows, working in consultation with the fellowship program directors  and the assembly of fellows. Central to the program’s activities is a weekly conference, where research presentations by the fellows alternate with curricular activities of general interest, opportunities for social interaction, or general discussions.