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Fellowship Information
Fellowship Information

Boston LEAH offers Fellowships in five disciplines: Adolescent Medicine, Nursing, Nutrition, Psychology, and Social Work. The Fellows learn together via a unique interdisciplinary curriculum taught by our Faculty, and through the interdisciplinary clinical experiences offered by our Adolescent/Young Adult Medicine Practice at Boston Children's Hospital. Specifics about the LEAH Curriculum and each Fellowship are noted below.

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The Interdisciplinary LEAH Curriculum

For first year medical Fellows and all other LEAH Fellows, Tuesday mornings (typically 8AM-1PM) are devoted to interdisciplinary case-based discussions as well as seminars including research methods, advocacy, motivational interviewing, health equity, mental health, psychopharmacology, writing for publication, and teaching. Noon seminars address disordered eating concerns, chronic fatigue, and problematic interactive media use. Fellows, Faculty and Staff from the Division of Adolescent Medicine meet monthly for journal club, morbidity & mortality rounds, QI, and Leadership Lectures. Fellows work together on a Health Equity Capstone project culminating their academic year. Additionally, over the course of the academic year, LEAH Fellows come together with Fellows from other Children's Hospital HRSA-funded programs (Adolescent Substance Abuse Program, Developmental Medicine, & ER/Toxicology) for seminars on substance use in adolescents.

Adolescent Medicine Fellowship

Boston Children's Hospital has an outstanding, ACGME accredited fellowship program in Adolescent Medicine designed to prepare physicians for leadership position in academic medicine and public health.

Applicants to the Adolescent Medicine Fellowship program must be enrolled in or have completed an accredited residency program in pediatrics, med/peds, internal medicine, or family practice. During the first year, the Adolescent Medicine Fellow participates in the interdisciplinary LEAH curriculum in addition to medical and research conferences scheduled each week. Additionally, Fellows are provided ample, supervised outpatient clinical experience in the Adolescent/Young Adult Medical Practice at Boston Children's Hospital and community based sites, and inpatient experience at Boston Children's Hospital. First year Fellows are expected to write a scholarly review for publication on an adolescent health topic of interest to them and submit an abstract to SAHM in August of their second year. This should lay the groundwork for their scholarly project. In the second and third years, the Fellows complete an independent scholarship project in addition to continuing their clinical practice and attending conferences. Fellows are encouraged to take additional coursework in research methodology and health policy.

Fellows in the program are expected to complete the clinical training and scholarship requirements necessary to become eligible to take the Adolescent Medicine Sub-Board examination. The Adolescent Medicine Fellowship is 2 years for med/peds, family practice, and internal medicine candidates and 3 years for those who trained in pediatrics.

Applications will be accepted through ERAS starting July 1 for entrance into fellowship beginning the following July 5. Applicants will be contacted to interview in September and October after all application materials are received, including a personal statement, curriculum vitae, and three letters of recommendation. The fellowship match will take place in November.

We are happy to talk with applicants over the course of the year about our program. For further information please contact the Adolescent Medicine Fellowship Director, Dr. Sarah Pitts, at sarah.pitts@childrens.harvard.edu or 617-355-3732.

Nursing Fellowship

The nurse Fellow participates in seminars, clinical practice, and projects with Fellows from the four other disciplines. The nursing fellowship entails a commitment of 1-2.5 days per week (Tuesdays for the CORE curriculum is essential) starting the first week in September and concluding in mid-June or late August (depending on projects). As described above, the nurse fellow participates in the weekly interdisciplinary LEAH seminars in the morning and clinical care and/ or research activities in the other times depending on her/his educational background and career trajectory. Prior to starting the fellowship, the discipline directors review with the Fellow her/his personal goals and objectives. Based on this review, observational experiences can be arranged for a variety of clinical sites, both at Boston Children's Hospital and in the community. Should a nurse Fellow be involved in a pre- or a post-doctoral program that is more focused on research, additional or alternative learning experiences can be planned. The stipend depends upon the number of days/week and number of months.

Applicants to the ten-month or twelve-month Nursing Fellowship must be at least Master's prepared and have nursing clinical experience that includes adolescent health. Minority candidates are strongly urged to apply.

The completed application packet should include the following: 1) Curriculum Vitae, 2) One page statement of short term (1 yr) and long term (5 yr) career goals in adolescent health, 3) Master's (or doctoral) degree program transcript, 4) Copy of current certification as an advanced practice nurse, 5) 2 letters of recommendation from professionals who can attest to your ability to: a) provide culturally competent clinical care for adolescents and young adults, b) collaborate with multiple disciplines and function as a contributing team member, c) demonstrate professional ethics and respect for others, d) perform as a self-directed learner, and e) successfully engage in scholarly pursuits such as critically reviewing the literature, applying evidence to practice, writing for publication, teaching, and participating in research or quality improvement projects.

The application deadline is April 1. Packets should be submitted to Jennifer Liu Goluszka, LEAH Coordinator, Boston Children's Hospital, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115 and via email to the LEAH Director of Nurse Training, Kelly.Dunn@childrens.harvard.edu. Top candidates will be invited to interview. A decision on the final candidate will be made by mid-May.

For further information please contact our LEAH coordinator, Jennifer.LiuGoluszka@childrens.harvard.edu, or the nursing fellowship director, Kelly.Dunn@childrens.harvard.edu. Pamela Burke, PhD, RN, FNP, PNP, Senior Consultant on the Nursing Fellowship will meet candidates and can answer questions. Her email is pamela.burke@childrens.harvard.edu.

Nutrition Fellowship

Applicants to the twelve-month Nutrition Fellowship should have a strong interest in adolescent nutrition including eating disorders and weight management. The Fellow will work with an interdisciplinary team in a variety of capacities including clinical care, community outreach, web based nutrition education, and research. Preference will be given to a registered dietitian with strong leadership skills and an advanced degree in nutrition. Applications are due on April 1.

The Nutrition Fellow will take part in the interdisciplinary LEAH curriculum described above. During the first month of the fellowship, the Nutrition Fellow will complete medical inpatient and psychiatric inpatient rotations and will receive hands-on training in the outpatient management of teens with diagnoses including eating disorders, obesity, and polycystic ovarian syndrome. After the completion of this initial training, the Nutrition Fellow will be involved in patient care in the Adolescent/Young Adult Clinic 3-5 afternoons per week. The remainder of the time will be spent in LEAH classes and seminars, writing blogs and educational materials for the Center for Young Women's Health, and working on independent projects.

For more information about the application process please contact the Nutrition Fellowship Co-Directors: Lauren Cullity, MS, RD, LDN, Co-Director of the Nutrition Fellowship, at lauren.cullity@childrens.harvard.edu, and/or Katrina Smith, RD, LDN, Co-Director of the Nutrition Fellowship, at katrina.schroeder.smith@childrens.harvard.edu.

Psychology Fellowship

Applicants to the twelve-month (September 1 through August 31) Post-Doctoral Fellowship must have completed their doctoral training in psychology, including a pre-doctoral internship and their dissertation. The training includes direct services in two eating disorder programs (anorexia nervosa/ bulimia and obesity) as well as the provision of outpatient services that address as range of presenting problems. In conjunction with the Psychology Director, each Fellow selects a component of the program on which they will focus during the training year. The program provides mentoring and protected time for the Fellow to prepare an article for publication. As the article based on the dissertation is traditionally co-authored with the dissertation adviser, the fellowship article will be on a topic of interest to the Fellow and mentored by Fellowship faculty (Drs. Pluhar, Freizinger, Jhe and/or others). In addition to participating in the interdisciplinary LEAH curriculum described above, the psychology Fellow is expected to teach mental health concepts to pediatric residents and/or Adolescent Medicine Fellows.

Persons applying for the Psychology Post-Doctoral Fellowship are to first contact the Director of the LEAH Postdoctoral Psychology Fellowship, Emily Pluhar, PhD, who will provide you with the application materials. Dr. Pluhar can be reached at emily.pluhar@childrens.harvard.edu.

Completed applications are to be submitted to Courtney Kellogg, courtney.kellogg@childrens.harvard.edu by early December 2022. The BCH uniform notification date for all postdoctoral psychology Fellowships is in February 2023.

Social Work Fellowship

The Boston LEAH (Leadership Education in Adolescent Health) multidisciplinary training program has a one-year social work fellowship from Sept. 1 to Aug. 31.

Applicants must be post-master's social workers who are licensed or license eligible at a LCSW level or above (initial licensure in Massachusetts), and they must have an interest in working with adolescents. Boston Children's Hospital's LEAH is one of seven training programs in the U.S. devoted to leadership training in adolescent health, and it is sponsored by the Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Bureau of the Health Resources and Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The LEAH program trains a cohort of fellows from five disciplines: social work, medicine, nursing, nutrition, and psychology.

Clinical social work occurs in the context of interdisciplinary care in the Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine's primary care and specialty care programs. The fellow will join and collaborate with a multidisciplinary team of mental health and medical professionals. The fellowship stresses competency in clinical work with adolescents, including assessment and treatment for depression, suicidal ideation, anxiety, trauma, and eating disorders. LEAH Social Work fellows have the opportunity to work with patients for ongoing counseling, provide comprehensive biopsychosocial evaluations particularly for our patients in the eating disorders subspecialty clinic, as well as provide consultation and crisis intervention in the primary care clinic. The fellow will complete a project of their own choosing (research, program development, quality improvement, etc.) based on their specific professional interests.

The program offers intensive interdisciplinary and discipline-specific curricula on Tuesday mornings, including seminars and case-based learning in adolescent health promotion, research, advocacy, public policy, prevention, LGBTQIA+ health, teaching, psychopharmacology, health equity, and more. There is also a weekly mental health seminar dedicated to teaching evidence-based practice and a biweekly eating disorders case conference. Once a month there is a joint session for all fellows and faculty from the Division of Adolescent/Young Adult Medicine, featuring diversity equity and inclusion programming, journal club, morbidity and mortality rounds, quality improvement, and leadership lectures. Fellows will also have the opportunity to attend trainings in other departments within the hospital. Two hours a week are devoted to individual and group supervision.

The fellowship is full-time position, including one evening clinic each week, running from Sept. 1, 2024, through Aug. 31, 2025. Compensation is a full time salary of $60,000 plus benefits. Applications for the Social Work Fellowship in Adolescent Health are due no later than Feb. 1, 2024 and can be found via this link: https://www.childrenshospital.org/clinician-resources/education-and-training/social-work-training-program/fellowships/applications

Top candidates will be invited to interview in late February and March, with final selection in early April. For more information, please e-mail Jennifer.LiuGoluszka@childrens.harvard.edu.

We will be hosting virtual information sessions regarding the social work LEAH fellowship at the dates and times below.

Information Sessions:

Tuesday November 28th, 6pm - 7pm EST

Monday December 11th, 6pm - 7pm EST

To register and receive the zoom link, please email:

Jennifer.LiuGoluszka@childrens.harvard.edu.

 

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