491 - Pediatric Acute Care Fellowships: Defining a path to accreditation

Friday, April 28, 2023

5:15 PM – 7:15 PM ET

Poster Number: 491
Publication Number: 491.124

Emily L. Willner, Children's National Hospital, WASHINGTON, DC, United States; Emily Montgomery, Children’s Mercy Kansas City, Lee's Summit, MO, United States; Julio Ramirez, Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, TX, United States; Teresa J. Coco, University of Alabama School of Medicine, Birmingham, AL, United States; Rebecca Burns, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States; Chris Ramsook, Phoenix Children's Hospital, Phoenix, AZ, United States; Amy Pattishall, Emory University/Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, Atlanta, GA, United States; Deena Berkowitz, Children's National Health System, silver spring, MD, United States

Presenting Author(s)

Emily L. Willner, MD, MEd (she/her/hers)

Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Emergency Medicine
Children's National Hospital/George Washington Univ School of Medicine
WASHINGTON, District of Columbia, United States

Background: Pediatric acute care (PAC) fellowships are increasing in number. PAC fellowships offer distinct clinical, procedural, and academic training to pediatric residency graduates seeking to practice in acute care or emergency department (community or academic) settings. No uniform standards exist for PAC fellowships.

Objective:

To further advance the specialty, we used expert consensus to delineate the path to accreditation so fellows can be clear about clinical and academic training goals, to provide fellowship directors a framework for fellowship structure, and to enhance and support the academic engagement of trainees.

Design/Methods:

A stakeholder group of 15 directors of current and planned PAC fellowships from 13 U.S. academic children’s hospitals convened in 2018 and monthly thereafter. This group used iterative processes to identify fellowship priorities, define a mission and vision for PAC fellowship training, and delineate clinical competencies. Academic goals and objectives were defined via modified Delphi process. Using an implicit approach to consensus, and based upon documents maintained by the Academic Pediatric Association (APA) for accreditation of academic general pediatrics and pediatric global health fellowship programs, the group developed clinical and academic program requirements for use in the accreditation process. All group members had the opportunity to participate in discussion, review documents, and provide feedback and refinements during the consensus process.

Results: Consensus was reached on mission statement, clinical and academic goals, and fellowship requirements. Consensus-derived fellowship accreditation documents were developed. A process now exists for accreditation of pediatric acute care fellowships.

Conclusion(s):

We developed and refined critical components for formal accreditation of PAC fellowships via the APA. Goals for 2023-2024 include piloting the accreditation process with 1-3 programs, granting accreditation to at least 2 programs by the end of 2024, and holding the annual Acute Care Pediatric Accreditation Committee (ACPAC) at PAS 2023.