Society for Pediatric Anesthesia
We make anesthesia for children safer

Encouraging research, education, and scientific progress in the field of pediatric anesthesia

Member Menu

  • Member Login
  • Forgot Password?
  • Pay Dues
  • Join
Contact SPA and Member ResourcesContact SPA and Member Resources
  • About
    • Mission Statement
    • Bylaws
    • Board of Directors
    • History
    • Past Presidents
    • SPA Myron Yaster Lifetime Achievement Award
    • Distinguished International Scholars
    • SPA Merchandise
  • Sections/Partners
    • Sections
      • CCAS - Congenital Cardiac Anesthesia Society
      • SPPM - Society for Pediatric Pain Medicine
      • PALC - Pediatric Anesthesia Leadership Council
      • PAPDA - Pediatric Anesthesia Program Directors' Association
    • Affiliates/Partners
      • PRAN - Pediatric Regional Anesthesia Network
      • Wake Up Safe
      • Smart Tots
  • Committees/SIGs
        • SPA Committees
          • Communications Committee
          • Committee on Professionalism and Public Advocacy (COPPA)
          • Committee on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
          • Education Committee
            • SPAERS
          • Finance and Membership Committee
          • SPA Global Committee
          • Quality and Safety Committee
          • Research Committee
          • Well-Being
          • Governance Committee
        • SPA Special Interest Groups
          • ACMD
          • Biomedical Informatics
          • Disaster Preparedness
          • SPA-SPPM Integrative Medicine SIG
          • NAPSA
          • Pediatric Ambulatory Anesthesia (PAA)
          • Perioperative Care of Children with Special
            Developmental and/or Behavioral Health Needs
          • Pediatric Craniofacial Collaborative Group
          • Pediatric Critical Care Medicine
          • PeDiR-Airway
          • Pediatric Liver and Intestinal Transplant
          • Pediatric Neuroanesthesia
          • Pediatric Patient Blood Management SIG
          • Pediatric PreOperative Management (P-POM) SIG
          • Simulation
          • SPAIN
          • Sustainability
          • SPA-SPPM Ult-RA POCUS SIG
          • Trainees
  • Membership
    • New Member Spotlight
    • Benefits of Membership
    • Group Memberships
    • Membership Categories
    • Online Application
    • Printable Application
    • Renew Membership
    • Get Involved
    • FAQs
  • Meetings
    • Upcoming Meetings
    • Past Meetings
    • Archived Meetings
    • Other Meetings
    • Exhibitor Information
      • SPA-AAP Pediatric Anesthesiology
      • SPA Annual Meeting
  • Education
    • Questions of the Week
    • Questions Archive
    • Poll of the Month Archives
    • SPA One-Pagers
    • SPA Case Guides
    • Wellbeing Curriculum
    • OpenAnesthesia Collaboration
    • Featured Lectures
    • SPA GME Task Force
    • Anesthetic Management of Syndromes and Rare Diseases in Pediatrics
    • SPA Lecture Series
    • Intensive Review of Pediatric Anesthesia Lectures
  • Resources
    • Pedi Crisis App 2.0
    • Critical Events Checklists
    • MISSION DRIVEN MENTORING PROGRAM (MDMP)
    • Newsletters
    • SPA One-Pagers
    • SPA Case Guides
    • Well-Being Resources
    • Wellbeing Curriculum
    • SPA GME Task Force
    • Jobs
    • Anesthetic Management of Syndromes and Rare Diseases in Pediatrics
    • Visiting Scholars in Pediatric Anesthesia Program (ViSiPAP)
    • Links of Interest
    • International Pediatric Anesthesia Societies
    • Position Statements
    • Mailing List Rental
  • Research
    • Donate to the Patient Safety Education & Research Fund
    • SPA-FAER Mentored Research Training Grant
    • SPA Young Investigator Research Grants
    • SPA Young Investigator Research Grant Recipients
    • MISSION DRIVEN MENTORING PROGRAM (MDMP)
    • Call for Surveys
    • Featured Posters
    • FAER
  • Trainees
    • Call for Abstracts
    • ACGME Pediatric Anesthesiology Fellowship
    • Fellowship Application Process
    • Fellowship Resources
    • Subcommittee in Pediatric Anesthesia Education for Residents and Students (SPAERS)
    • SPA Spotlight Series
    • SPA Trainee Special Interest Group
    • SPA Trainee Webinars
    • Advanced Pediatric Anesthesiology Fellowships
  • Patients
    • Parental Resources
    • FAQs
    • Button Batteries for Parents
You are here: Home / Fellowship Application Process

Fellowship Application Process

Application Process
Typically, residents in anesthesiology will apply to fellowship during their third post-graduate (CA-2) year. However, applicants are also welcome to apply any time after their CA-2 year.

Interested applicants must register and apply through the SF Match. The SF Match is sponsored by the Pediatric Anesthesiology Program Directors’ Association (PAPDA), which is a section of the Society for Pediatric Anesthesia. Applications will be completed, submitted, and distributed through the SF Match Central Application Service (CAS). A complete list of Pediatric Anesthesiology fellowship programs can be found on the ACGME website.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO & ANSWERS TO APPLICANT QUESTIONS

Pre-requisites:

  • Passing scores on the USMLE Step 1, 2, and 3 or COMLEX 1, 2 and 3 examinations
  • Completion or anticipated successful completion of one of the following training programs:
    • ACGME-accredited anesthesiology residency
    • Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada or College of Family Physicians Canada-accredited anesthesiology residency
  • SF Match Application through CAS
    • Three letters of recommendation, one of which must be from the current Program Director
    • Personal Statement (please see below for more information)
    • Medical School Transcripts
    • MSPE
    • CV
    • BASIC and ITE scores (optional)

Personal Statement: Each applicant must answer Question 1 (below) and any two questions from Question 2 (2a – 2d, below).

Question 1: What particular personal qualifications and characteristics will allow you to become an effective consultant in pediatric anesthesiology, and why is it important to you to become a pediatric anesthesiologist?

Question 2: Please choose two of the following questions and answer each one. Please be sure to copy and paste the question you have chosen to answer just above each response.

  • 2a. How will the completion of a pediatric anesthesiology fellowship allow you to further your goals?
  • 2b. Describe what you consider to be your most significant contribution or achievement, including the impact you made.
  • 2c. Being a part of hospital leadership should be important to anesthesiologists. What role do you think you might take within the leadership structure of your future hospital?
  • 2d. Describe a challenging situation in your life or career and what you learned from it.


Matching Process

Beginning in January of 2024, pediatric anesthesiology fellowship programs and applicants will use the SF Match services. The SF Match will support the application, rank list submission, and matching process. With over 40 years of experience, SF Match will provide a single centralized resource for both applicants and programs.

  • Applicants and Programs must register with SF Match
  • Applicants submit applications utilizing the SF Match Central Application Service (CAS). CAS application distribution fees are determined by the number of applications submitted.
  • Applicants and Programs submit confidential rank lists, which are used to determine the match. Only programs where an applicant has applied and interviewed can be ranked in the match.
  • All Programs and Applicants are expected to abide by the SF Match Rules. All match violations will be handled by PAPDA and the SF Match.
  • The results of the SF match are a legally binding commitment between the applicant and the program.

Exceptions to the Match
Match Exceptions are binding, pre-match agreements between programs and applicants that they will rank each other to match in the SF Match. This is essentially the same as “out of match” offers in the NRMP system. The difference is that, although the program and applicant have a binding agreement, they must both submit a rank list for the match. This process keeps the match transparent and allows applicants, programs, and the Pediatric Anesthesiology Program Directors’ Association (PAPDA) to understand the interests and behaviors of both the applicants and programs.

There are four qualifying reasons that a program may offer a match exception:

  • Military applicants, when separately approved and funded by the US Military
  • Applicants who are also accepting an advanced fellowship position (24-months total)
  • Internal program applicant (applicant from a core residency or affiliated program, defined by a Program Letter of Agreement)
  • Couples match, where both applicants are applying to Pediatric Anesthesiology Fellowship

Match Exception Rules

  • A program cannot have more Match Exceptions than the number of positions it has available.
  • Match Exceptions are binding agreements between a fellowship program and an applicant.
  • Match Exception Agreements cannot be used to coerce an applicant in any way.
    • Unless the applicant rejects the offer or accepts a Match Exception at a different institution, the exception offer cannot be withdrawn by the program.
    • Match Exception Agreements must be filed with PAPDA by May 28 at 5:00pm PT to be enforced in the match. A program cannot set any earlier deadline for the applicant to accept their offer, as that could coerce the applicant to accept a position early in the interview process and before they have explored other programs.
    • Once a Match Exception Agreement is offered, the program has essentially committed a spot to that applicant until the applicant decides otherwise. These offers should only be extended to applicants that the program is completely dedicated to recruiting.

Match Exception Procedure:

  • If a program would like to commit one of their spots to an applicant for one of the approved reasons listed above, the fellowship PD will issue a standardized Match Exception Agreement to the applicant.
  • The applicant has until May 28 at 5:00pm PT to independently decide to accept or decline the agreement.
  • If the applicant accepts the Match Exception agreement, it will be sent to [email protected]. Once the agreement is submitted, it will be visible to all members of the PAPDA for transparency in the match.
  • Programs and applicants with a completed Match Exception Agreement must still submit a rank list in the match. After the match is completed, results will be reviewed by the PADPA Executive Board to ensure compliance with Match Exception Agreements prior to publishing the match results.

Any match irregularities will be referred to and reviewed by PAPDA leadership.

2024 Pediatric Anesthesiology Fellowship Match Timeline:

January 8
Applicant Registration
  • SF Match Registration is open until the rank list deadline.
  • Applicants are encouraged to register as early as possible to allow time for review and for interviews.
March 1
CAS Target Date
  • All applications must be submitted through SF Match CAS.
  • This is the Target Date for applicants to complete the requirements for application distribution.
  • This is NOT a deadline.
  • Each individual program determines when they will stop accepting new applications.
  • Some programs accept applications at any time; others may set a deadline. It is the applicant’s responsibility to contact training programs for individual deadline dates.
January through June

Interviews

  • See specific program for interview dates.
  • PAPDA encourages virtual interviews for all programs.
May 28

Exception Deadline

June 11 – 12:00pm PT

Match Deadline

  • ALL rank lists must be submitted by 12:00 PM (noon) PT / 3:00 PM ET. After the deadline rank list choices will be locked and no changes can be made.
June 25 – 9:00am PT
Match Results
  • Match results are made available to programs, applicants, and medical schools. Log in to your SF Match account to view match results.
June 26

Post-Match Vacancies

  • Any vacancies that remain after the match will be announced on the Immediate Vacancies page. Vacancy listings are managed by individual programs.
August of following year
Training Begins
  • Pediatric Anesthesiology fellowship training begins.
  • Although variable, most programs start on August 1

From sfmatch.org/specialty/pediatric-anesthesiology—fellowship/Timetable

Upcoming Meeting Information

SPA 39th Annual Meeting
October 10, 2025
Grand Hyatt San Antonio River Walk
San Antonio, TX

Meeting Guide
Registration
Hotel Reservations

 

 

Join SPA
Renew
Donate
Get Involved
Upcoming
Job Postings
  • Member Login
  • Forgot Password?
  • Pay Dues

Copyright © 2025 · Outreach Pro On Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in