Pediatric Pulmonology Fellowship Curriculum

Fellows complete a minimum of 12 months of inpatient service over the three-year fellowship and rotate through three core inpatient teams: the Legacy Team, West Tower Team and Pulmonary Hypertension Team. The first year includes six months of inpatient service, with two months on each team. The second and third years each include three months of inpatient service, with one month on each team.

When not on inpatient service, fellows participate in Continuity and Cystic Fibrosis clinics, elective rotations, dedicated time for educational preparation, quality improvement initiatives, and scholarship/research activities. Fellows also complete structured outpatient experiences in flexible/interventional bronchoscopy, asthma education for first-year residents, and interpretation of pulmonary function tests.

Fellows assume primary responsibility for the evaluation and management of their assigned patients under the direct supervision of an attending pulmonologist, with progressive, graded autonomy throughout training. Hospital follow-up is frequently scheduled with the fellow to promote longitudinal learning and continuity of care across inpatient and outpatient settings. Fellows lead resident teams in the management of patients admitted to the pulmonary service. During consult rotations, rounding is conducted as a fellow–attending pair and tailored to each fellow’s educational goals and clinical development.

When not on inpatient service, time is spent in the continuity and cystic fibrosis clinics, elective rotations, preparing educational presentations, or engaging in quality improvement projects and scholarly/research activity. The fellows also participate in structured outpatient rotations in flexible/interventional bronchoscopy, asthma education for first-year residents, and interpretation of pulmonary function tests. The abundant opportunities to perform outpatient flexible bronchoscopies arise from the lung transplant program.

At the end of the first year, fellows will be asked to select a track to individualize their second and third year electives. The second and third year curriculum enables fellows to reinforce clinical interests and develop potential academic niches. Recognizing that fellows’ interests within pulmonary medicine vary greatly, the curriculum can be tailored to set fellows up for success early after fellowship. Example tracks include academic clinician (with emphasis commonly in critical care, CF, community or sleep) and clinician-educator (with emphasis on teaching or educational scholarship). An individualized learning curriculum director will be assigned to each fellow to help align interests with meaningful learning experiences. 

Fellows maintain their own longitudinal panel of patients throughout all three years of fellowship through both continuity and cystic fibrosis (CF) clinics. Each week, fellows participate in one half-day general pulmonary continuity clinic and one half-day CF continuity clinic. For each clinic session, fellows are paired with one or two dedicated supervising attending pulmonologists. This structure fosters close mentorship while allowing fellows to build meaningful, long-term relationships with patients and families – an essential component of comprehensive fellowship training. 

Over the course of the three-year fellowship, fellows gain extensive hands-on experience in bronchoscopy and develop expertise in the indications, technique and interpretation of flexible bronchoscopy. Fellows routinely exceed the required procedural volume well before the end of their first year, with additional bronchoscopies during the second and third years. In addition, fellows have the opportunity to work closely with our interventional pulmonary team and receive direct exposure to advanced airway and interventional procedures, including endobronchial biopsy, transbronchial biopsy, cryoprobe techniques and other specialized interventions.

During the second year of the program, fellows complete a hybrid inpatient/outpatient rotation dedicated to lung transplant, a community clinic rotation, as well as a subspecialty outpatient clinic rotation in which fellows see patients in a variety of highly specialized pulmonary clinics:

• Aerodigestive
• Life-Threatening Asthma
• Muscular Dystrophy/Neuromuscular Disease
• Sickle Cell
• Pulmonary Hypertension
• Lung Transplant
• Cystic Fibrosis
• Sleep Medicine
• Interstitial Lung Disease
• Tracheostomy/Ventilator Dependent
• Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia

Common elective rotations include Sleep Center, Allergy and Immunology, PICU, ENT and many other areas of interest.

Our program is supported by a large and diverse faculty comprised of leading experts across the full spectrum of pediatric pulmonology. As a result, fellows benefit from mentorship not only from their assigned mentors but also from multiple faculty members throughout the division. By the end of fellowship training, fellows have established meaningful relationships with several subspecialty experts, creating valuable opportunities for career mentorship, professional networking and collaboration that extend well beyond graduation.

We have a long-standing history of high-quality educational conferences, within pulmonary and in joint collaboration with pathology, radiology, ENT and sleep specialists. All of our fellows routinely deliver lectures and presentations during conferences.

The Pediatric Pulmonology academic curriculum is grounded in American Board of Pediatrics (ABP) content specifications, while also remaining highly fellow-driven and responsive to individual learning interests. Fellows have strong representation in shaping the didactic schedule to ensure the curriculum reflects their educational needs and evolving clinical goals. In addition, key orientation lectures are consolidated into the first month of fellowship to provide essential foundational knowledge and core clinical tools prior to full immersion in clinical responsibilities.

The Pediatric Subspecialty Fellows’ College is an innovative and collaborative training initiative established at Baylor College of Medicine in 2011. Its primary mission is to provide a structured educational program for pediatric subspecialty fellows that fulfills ACGME and American Board of Pediatrics (ABP) core curriculum requirements, including quality improvement, patient safety, communication, professionalism and medical writing. In addition, Fellows’ College offers a robust series of seminars focused on key areas such as fellows as educators, academic career development, leadership, research and quality improvement.

These expanded curricular opportunities enhance subspecialty training and help prepare fellows for successful academic and clinical careers. Fellows also benefit from meaningful networking and mentorship through regular interaction with a broad community of trainees, faculty and institutional leaders participating in Fellows’ College.

Grand Rounds is held every Friday at Texas Children’s Hospital and is open to pediatric physicians, residents and fellows of Texas Children’s Hospital/Baylor College of Medicine. Grand Rounds fulfills the need for regular updates on advances in the fields of general pediatrics and pediatric sub-specialties. Educational methods include lectures and question/answer sessions, and are designated as an educational activity for AMA PRA category 1 credit.

The primary aim of the Master Teacher Fellowship Program is to enhance the educational mission of the College by improving the knowledge, skills, and attitudes of individual faculty. Specifically, the fellowship is designed to increase:

• Knowledge of key educational principles and theories
• Skills in lecturing, facilitating, designing and evaluating
• Interest in and ability to serve as an educational leader
• Self-reflection and readiness to benefit from constructive feedback from learners and peers

The Clinical Scientist Training Program is committed to educating and training highly motivated individuals to become successful, independent clinical investigators and future leaders in academic medicine and biomedical research. It is designed primarily for junior faculty and senior sub-specialty fellows at Baylor College of Medicine. The Certificate of Added Qualification is designed for people who are interested in an introduction to clinical research but cannot commit to the time for an in-depth study.