Approximately 25,000 pediatric patients are seen annually within the Department of Emergency Medicine at Mount Sinai, which is the referral center for pediatric patients within the Mount Sinai Health System. Many subspecialty patients are referred from outside the system as well.
The Pediatric Emergency Medicine division is fully integrated within our successful emergency medicine department, with strong ties to the Department of Pediatrics. Ten BC/BE faculty with strong academic interests supervise the child-friendly department 24 hours a day in a separate location from the adult emergency department, which has its own nursing staff, child life specialists and social workers at Mount Sinai Main Campus. Two of our sister campuses, Mount Sinai Beth Israel and Mount Sinai Morningside, boast an additional eight BC/BE faculty.
Graduating fellows have taken academic positions in institutions such as Montefiore Medical Center, New York University Medical Center, the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, Hackensack Medical Center, and the Mount Sinai Health System.
Research Opportunities
Fellows will be expected to design and implement a research project during their three-year fellowship which will satisfy the “Meaningful Accomplishment in Research” requirement of the American Board of Pediatrics in order to sit for the Sub-board examination in Pediatric Emergency Medicine.
Fellows entering the training program are not assigned to a research project. From discussions with faculty, educators and clinicians, the fellow is expected to identify a research question and a mentor to assist the fellow in addressing that question. We firmly believe that the project must be of the interest of the fellow or it is not worth pursuing. This mentor must be responsible for providing the ongoing formative feedback that is essential to the trainee’s attainment of competence in clinical care, teaching and scholarship. Past and current topics have revolved around the use of ultrasound within the pediatric emergency department, the use of high-fidelity simulation in education, while others have focused on infectious and immunologic processes.
Fellows are also required to attend monthly research meetings within the Department of Emergency Medicine and attend the Research Design and Statistics course offered by the Research Division within the Department of Emergency Medicine. Fellows are strongly encouraged to present the results of their research at national academic meetings.
Each fellow will have a scholarship oversight committee (SOC) with appropriate expertise in scholarly research endeavors; the SOC will be appointed during the first year of fellowship. The mentor and SOC will ensure global scholarly success as mentioned above.
We expect that fellows will submit their completed research projects to a national meeting for presentation, and if accepted will be supported by our division to present at the conference. Each first-year fellow will attend a national Peds EM fellows’ conference where their research ideas will be discussed with other fellows and nationally-recognized PEM faculty. Several of our fellows have won prestigious research awards at national conferences.
Teaching Opportunities
Fellows will prepare and present instructional lectures to students, residents, nurses, and other medical personnel (e.g., nurses and emergency medical services personnel) on topics related to pediatric emergency medicine. The department offers many additional opportunities to teach, including Pediatric Advanced Life Support classes, Suture/Wound Management and Splinting workshops, and Sim Lab courses for residents and medical students.
In addition, one-on-one teaching skills will be developed as fellows precept residents and medical students on clinical cases in the Emergency Department. Our department hosts residents from pediatrics, med-peds, family medicine and two separate emergency medicine residencies. Teaching activities will be monitored and periodic critique/feedback will be provided. .
PEM Fellows participate in a city-wide Evidence Based Medicine Course and a Teach the Teacher course which focuses on improving feedback and mentorship skills, among others.
Academic Conferences
Fellows attend bi-weekly academic conferences with pediatric emergency medicine faculty. Conference topics include academic review, journal club, case conference, morbidity and mortality review, core pediatric emergency lectures, evidence-based medicine, and simulation-based training. In addition, fellows take part in departmental quality assurance and administrative committees. Fellows also participate in the annual two-day Evidence-Based Medicine conference, attend the national PEM fellows’ conference and are encouraged to attend annual national meetings such as SAEM and PAS. Fellows are also required to participate in annual procedure labs for medical students and residents.
Administrative Experience
Fellows will participate in inter- and intra-departmental meetings as they relate to the Emergency Department and are of interest to the individual fellow. As part of this process, policies and procedures will be developed and reviewed. We encourage the fellow to choose multi-disciplinary committees or project development teams that support their interest within our field. Fellows have many opportunities and resources to perform and evaluate the success of Quality Improvement projects which impact operations in both the Peds ED and Children’s Hospital as a whole.
Ultrasound
Under the direction of world-renowned Drs. Jim Tsung and Bret Nelson, fellows receive in-depth training in ultrasound during orientation and during their Ultrasound rotation. From ocular evaluations to vascular access to musculoskeletal, fellows can expect comprehensive coverage of the subject matter. Ultrasound education continues into regular PEM shifts, as ultrasound is part of the daily practice for the department. Our current ultrasound machine is a state-of-the-art Zonare.
Community-based Opportunities
Current community outreach programs include teaching opportunities at nearby elementary schools as well as the annual Mount Sinai Community Health Fair.