About the Program
The Pediatric Emergency Medicine-Global Health Fellowship is dedicated to ethically and sustainably improving the health of children and communities worldwide. The program aims to reduce health disparities through education, advocacy, service and research.
The Baylor College of Medicine Pediatric Emergency Medicine-Global Health Fellowship is a four-year, fully integrated dual fellowship that combines a comprehensive Pediatric Emergency Medicine (PEM) fellowship with longitudinal global health experiences. Established in 2005 in response to growing interest in global health and international emergency medicine among PEM applicants, it was the first combined PEM-Global Health fellowship of its kind in the United States. In 2023, it became the first pediatric global health fellowship program to achieve accreditation through the Academic Pediatric Association under this pathway.
The fellowship is embedded within the broader Texas Children’s Global Health Network and aligned with the Global PEM Program at Texas Children's Hospital, providing fellows with access to established infrastructure, partnerships and programmatic work in global child health.
Fellows complete the full PEM fellowship curriculum alongside structured global health training, including dedicated and protected global health time. This time is organized longitudinally across the four years of training, allowing for sustained fieldwork, scholarly activity, and program development. The program is designed for individuals pursuing academic careers in pediatric emergency medicine with a focus on health equity across both domestic and international settings.
Graduates develop expertise in the design, implementation and evaluation of healthcare programs across diverse resource settings, with an emphasis on sustainable systems strengthening. The program currently supports four combined fellows.
The Pediatric Emergency Medicine-Global Health (PEM-GH) Fellowship is part of the Global Health Program within the Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine. The objectives specific to the global health component of the combined fellowship are outlined below. Objectives for the core Pediatric Emergency Medicine fellowship are available on the PEM fellowship website.
The goals for fellows completing the PEM-GH fellowship are adapted from established frameworks in international emergency medicine and emphasize the development of skills to:
- Assess health systems across diverse settings to identify priority pediatric emergency care needs
- Design sustainable, effective and culturally appropriate programs that address identified gaps
- Implement emergency care and global health initiatives in partnership with local systems and integrate them within existing infrastructure
- Evaluate the quality, impact and effectiveness of global health programs
- Apply principles of ethical engagement, health equity, and bidirectional partnership in global health work, with an emphasis on sustainability, local capacity building, and responsible collaboration
Formal fellowship training in Pediatric Emergency Medicine and Global Health at Baylor College of Medicine is supported by:
- Dedicated faculty with expertise in global health, including active clinical, educational and research initiatives within the Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine, the Department of Pediatrics, and across Baylor College of Medicine
- Institutional support for global health activities, including internal funding mechanisms that allow fellows to engage in fieldwork and scholarly projects without reliance on external funding
- Protected time for global health activities, including fieldwork, scholarship and program development
- A structured, integrated curriculum that can be individualized to align with each fellow’s career goals and areas of interest
- Mentored scholarly support, including guidance in project development, implementation, and dissemination
- Administrative and logistical support for international and domestic global health rotations
Integration of Global Health within PEM
Within global health, pediatric emergency medicine is uniquely positioned at the interface between primary care and definitive tertiary care for children. As a result, clinical, educational, and systems-based initiatives at this point of entry have the potential to significantly reduce child morbidity and mortality.
The Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine at Texas Children’s Hospital organizes its work across multiple pillars, with Global Health serving as a cross-cutting pillar that integrates clinical care, education, research, and community engagement. This structure allows global health initiatives to align with divisional priorities while promoting sustainable and system-level impact.
The Global Health pillar includes:
- Education/Training
- Care and Treatment
- Health Services Strengthening
- Innovation/Technology
- Advocacy
- Research
In addition, fellows have the opportunity to engage in work that intersects with other divisional pillars, including:
- Education (curriculum development and training, simulation, POCUS)
- Research (clinical, translational, and implementation science)
- Clinical Operations/Quality & Safety (advocacy and population health)
- Systemwide Operations (disaster preparedness and response)
This cross-cutting pillar model allows fellows to develop skills in program development, systems improvement, and scholarly work while contributing to sustainable, system-aligned global health initiatives.
Curriculum Structure
The Pediatric Emergency Medicine-Global Health (PEM–GH) Fellowship is a fully integrated four-year dual fellowship that combines comprehensive Pediatric Emergency Medicine training with longitudinal global health experiences.
Fellows complete all requirements of the Pediatric Emergency Medicine fellowship while participating in a structured global health curriculum distributed across all four years of training. This integrated model supports sustained engagement in clinical care, education, research and program development in diverse settings.
Key components of the curriculum include:
Approximately 12 months of protected global health time is incorporated longitudinally across the four-year fellowship, allowing for continuity of partnerships, iterative project development, and meaningful field engagement.
Fellows complete the full spectrum of PEM clinical rotations, meeting all board eligibility requirements while integrating global health experiences throughout training.
Fellows complete mentored scholarly work, including research, quality improvement, curriculum development, or health systems initiatives in global child health.
A structured curriculum supports learning in global health ethics, health systems, implementation science and leadership.
Sample PEM-GH Fellowship Timeline
Global health training is longitudinally integrated across all four years of fellowship, allowing for progressive responsibility and sustained engagement in clinical, educational and scholarly work.
| Year | Clinical Focus | Global Health Time | Key Activities |
|---|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | Foundational PEM training | ~2 months | Introduction to global health, initial field experience, and identification of scholarly interests |
| Year 2 | Core PEM with increasing autonomy | ~3 months | Ongoing fieldwork, development of scholarly and programmatic work, and establishment of partnerships |
| Year 3 | Advanced PEM responsibilities | ~3 months | Ongoing fieldwork, project implementation, and leadership in education and systems-based initiatives |
| Year 4 | Senior fellow role | ~4 months | Ongoing fieldwork, project completion, dissemination of scholarly work, and transition to independent practice |
Admissions
We seek applicants who are committed to careers in pediatric emergency medicine and motivated to address health disparities through global health work in both domestic and international settings.
Competitive applicants demonstrate:
- A clear interest in global health, with prior experience in underserved or resource-limited settings preferred
- A commitment to ethical, sustainable, and partnership-based global health engagement
- Interest in academic pediatric emergency medicine, including education, research or program development
- Adaptability, cultural humility, and the ability to work effectively in diverse clinical and systems environments
- Strong clinical performance and readiness to meet the demands of Pediatric Emergency Medicine training
We value applicants who are thoughtful about their role in global health and who seek to contribute to long-term, systems-focused improvements in pediatric care.
Application Information
Applicants interested in the combined Pediatric Emergency Medicine-Global Health (PEM-GH) Fellowship must meet all eligibility requirements for the Baylor College of Medicine Pediatric Emergency Medicine (PEM) Fellowship and have completed an ACGME-accredited Pediatrics or Emergency Medicine residency program.
Applications are submitted through ERAS. Applicants must apply to the general PEM fellowship and indicate interest in the Global Health pathway. Separate program tracks are listed in ERAS (PEM and PEM-GH). After the interview process, applicants may choose to rank one or both tracks based on their interests.
For additional information about the combined fellowship, please contact the Program Director, Nichole R. Davis, M.D., M.Ed., at nxgubbin@texaschildrens.org.
Applicants are also encouraged to learn more about the Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine, the Global PEM Program, and the Department of Pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine.
PEM-GH Combined Fellowship Manuscript
To learn more about how the PEM-GH Fellowship was developed, download the PDF of our PEM-GH Combined Fellowship Manuscript.