The CCMC Fellowship in Pediatric Emergency Medicine is fully accredited by the Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) and is designed for graduates of accredited residency programs in Pediatrics or Emergency Medicine. The program was started in 2000 with a goal of providing a broad clinical background, teaching and administrative experience to general EM physicians.  Since that time, the program has expanded to provide two distinct tracks, training those with either primary residency background for careers in academic or clinical Pediatric Emergency Medicine.   In accordance with Board requirements, the Pediatrics track is of three years duration while the EM track is two years long. 

The Emergency Department (ED) consists of five full time, and three part time staff members who are appointed by Connecticut Children’s Medical Center (CCMC) and the University of Connecticut School of Medicine.  Residents rotate through the ED from the CCMC/UConn Program in Pediatrics and the Hartford Hospital/UConn Program in Emergency Medicine.  CCMC is a tertiary-care referral center for children in Connecticut, as well as neighboring parts of Massachusetts, New York and Rhode Island.  It also serves as the largest pediatric primary care center between Boston and New York.  The hospital provides the full range of pediatric subspecialty care and the ED receives strong consulting support from departments such as Orthopedic Surgery, Oromaxillofacial Surgery, Radiology, Neurosurgery and all of the medical subspecialties.  The hospital is located in a culturally diverse neighborhood and enjoys a mixed patient population including Puerto Ricans, African Americans, Caribbean nationalities, Eastern Europeans, Southeast Asians and Caucasian Americans of all socioeconomic backgrounds.  The ED has an annual census of well over 40,000 patients. 

For the EM graduate, the first year curriculum consists of clinical rotations in anesthesia, critical care, inpatient medicine and general outpatient pediatrics.  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 and prepared lectures.  In the second year, the curriculum is focused on increasing clinical and administrative responsibility and independent clinical practice in the ED but also includes the option of dedicated research time, and required rotations in neonatology, child abuse, and pediatric toxicology, as well as flexible elective months.  The fellow is afforded time as an “acting attending” in the latter part of the second year.  Electives are available in all of the pediatric medical and surgical subspecialties.  The longitudinal Community Pediatric Emergency Medicine rotation, developed through a partnership with Waterbury Hospital and supervised by an on-site PEM-trained emergency physician, provides the opportunity to learn PEM in a general hospital setting while maintaining general EM skills. 

Similarly, the Pediatrics graduate begins the program with four months of the first year spent refining diagnostic and management skills in the pediatric ED.  These months are spread throughout the year in order to maximize the fellow’s exposure to the entire spectrum of illness and injury.  One month of each year of the program is devoted to work on a mentored research project.  One to three additional months of dedicated time are available.

Adult/general emergency medicine training is obtained at our affiliated institution, Hartford Hospital (HH), and includes two months of adult/general emergency medicine, a month of trauma and a month of toxicology.  Hartford Hospital was the first Level 1 Trauma Center in Connecticut and has an annual ED census of almost 80,000.   EMS experience is obtained during rotation at HH and while in the ED at CCMC, where the fellow provides medical control for pediatric ground transports.  The fellow also has the opportunity to participate in field transports with local EMS crews and may accompany LifeStar, the first and only air ambulance in Connecticut.

The second year of training in the Pediatrics track provides time for substantive work on a research project, elective time to obtain additional expertise in other specialty areas, and continuing advancement in the level of responsibility carried while in the pediatric ED.  The fellow is required to precept residents and medical students and gives one prepared lecture each to the EM and Pediatric housestaffs.  He/she also represents the division on one hospital committee.  As the year progresses, the fellow functions as a second attending.  The third year of training is for consolidation of skills and increasingly independent practice in the ED.  Scheduled research time early and, again, later in the year can provide opportunity for hands-on patient accrual and data analysis or for manuscript preparation.