Subspecialty training in Pediatric Gastorenterology at Saint Christopher’s Hospital for Children is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).  The program director, Dr. Alan Baldridge, can be contacted at alan.baldridgemd@tenethealth.com .    

Overview  

Training in Gastroenterology at Saint Christopher’s Hospital for Children fosters the development of academic leaders in clinical care, education and research.  Clinical excellence is achieved through direct patient care experiences under the supervision of faculty dedicated to patient care and teaching.  Nine months of clinical training occur in the first year of training and three in the second.  A month of training in the second year is dedicated to perfecting procedural proficiency.  During the third year of training a month of supervisory experience will prepare you for the transition to attending physician.  The first year fellow will facilitate teaching of the pediatric residents with direction from attending faculty by researching the medical literature, organizing case based learning conferences, and directed teaching regarding current patient care.  During the second and third year of training, conference organization and lecture presentation are expected on a more independent level.  Presentation at local and national meetings will follow completion of the research training.  Research training will be provided in either clinical or basic research at Saint Christopher’s Hospital for Children, Hannehmann Hospital, or Drexel University.  Each fellow will be provided with an independent scholarly oversight committee to insure progression and mastery of the skills and credentials needed to become an academic Pediatric Gastroenterologist.  

Clinical Opportunities  

Clinical training is provided in general Gastroenterology, Hepatology, Nutrition, and Liver Transplant.  Outpatient training is provided by one half day weekly in general Gastroenterology and one half day weekly of Hepatology ongoing throughout the three years of training.  Inpatient training consists of care for patients on the Gastroenterology Service and consultative services provided throughout the hospital.  Procedure training is ongoing throughout the first year of training and is reinforced during one month of procedure training during the second year.  Current clinical programs that focus on multidisciplinary patient care and research include:  Healthy Weight Awareness, IBD center, and Liver Transplantation.  

Teaching Opportunities  

The fellow is responsible to provide literature, didactic and case based teaching to medical students, residents, and peers at local, regional and national levels.  Training in literature review and educational presentation will be provided at weekly teaching conferences and journal clubs.    

Research Opportunities  

Fellows will be expected to participate in research during the training period.  Initially the training will consist of didactic learning regarding the techniques of research, project planning and development and statistics.  The fellow will have the opportunity to select a main research interest and begin preliminary reading and knowledge acquisition to begin data collection.  The second year of training will be dedicated to data collection.  The third year will provide for data collation, presentation and publication.   

Faculty  

The faculty in the Division of Gastroenterology are graduates of outstanding fellowship programs, provide excellent clinical care, participate in ongoing research, and actively contribute to the teaching of medical students, residents, and continuing  medical education.  

Eligibility  

Applications will be considered from physicians actively involved in or successfully graduated  from  an   ACGME-accredited  pediatrics residency training program.  Pennsylvania law requires all fellows to have successfully completed all three steps of the USMLE prior to the onset of their training.  Copies of the scores of each step examination, letters of support from physicians familiar with the applicant’s clinical and related work should be sent to the program director.  International   medical graduates are invited to apply after successful completion of the Educational Commission for Foreign  Medical Graduates (ECFMG) process and have a valid certificate number. Copies of these documents must  be provided with the application.  Where applicable, the candidate must  have a valid visa.  After reviewing all of the information,  the staff will contact applicants to arrange an interview.     

How to apply  

To request an application please contact:  

Alan D. Baldridge, M.D.
Saint Christopher’s Hospital for Children
Section of Pediatric Gastroenterology
Annex Building
2045 Front Street at Erie Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19134  

215-427-6673
fax:  215-427-6672  
alan.baldridgemd@tenethealth.com