A pediatric anesthesiology fellowship is a 12-month program approved by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). It allows trainees to acquire the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to become perioperative consultants in pediatric anesthesiology. This includes the preoperative evaluation, preparation, and anesthetic management of infants, children, and adolescents undergoing a wide range of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures in operative and critical care settings. Pediatric anesthesiologists also evaluate and treat children with acute and chronic pain disorders. Fellows get an opportunity to improve their medical knowledge, refine their patient care skills, participate in scholarship and research, and grow as a medical professional under the mentorship of pediatric anesthesiology faculty.
Pre-requisites include the successful completion of an ACGME-accredited anesthesiology residency program or Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada or College of Family Physicians Canada-accredited residency program and passing the USMLE or COMLEX Step 3 examination. Upon successful completion of the program, fellows can register for the Pediatric Anesthesiology certification examination offered by the American Board of Anesthesiology (ABA) and become ABA Board Certified Pediatric Anesthesiologists.
Pediatric anesthesiologists care for children and adolescents in a variety of settings, including freestanding children’s hospitals, academic medical centers, community hospitals, and ambulatory surgery centers.
Application Process
Applications for a pediatric anesthesiology fellowship should be submitted through the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS). https://students-residents.aamc.org/training-residency-fellowship/article/finding-and-applying-fellowship-programs-myeras/. The submission process typically starts on December 1st and program accept applications until May 31st the following year. For applications after May 31st, please reach out to the program directly to see if they are accepting applications. Most programs start interviewing applicants in March or April and interview through the summer.
Pediatric anesthesiology fellowship programs are listed on the ACGME website.
https://apps.acgme.org/ads/Public/Reports/Report/1
Please make sure that the ERAS application is completed in full. Letters of recommendation should be addressed to the program director and uploaded through ERAS. Instead of the personal statement on the ERAS application, please answer question 1 listed below and any two questions from 2a – 2d.
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.
In addition to completing the ERAS application, please email your ABA Basic examination report and In-Training Examination reports from your CA-1 and CA-2 year (if available).
Matching Process
Pediatric anesthesiology fellowship programs use the National Resident Matching Program http://www.nrmp.org/fellowships/anesthesiology-match/ To participate in the match, you must register separately through the NRMP website, which opens for registration in June. The deadline for submission of your rank order list is typically in September and the match day is typically in October. Most fellowship programs start in July or August the following year.
The match is a binding commitment. Accepting a spot makes the position unavailable to others and withdrawal creates significant problems for the fellowship program. Program directors offer out of match offers in special situations such as two-year commitments, military, and international applicants. If you accept a position outside the match, you MUST withdraw from the NRMP match in a timely manner as well as notify other programs where you interviewed. Rules for accepting outside the match offers
There is an option for a “Couple’s match” if both partners are in the pediatric anesthesiology match. However, if your partner has chosen a different subspecialty, most program directors will work with you and your partner’s subspecialty program director.
