Fellowship Program Description

Fellowship Program Overview

Thank you for your interest in the Pediatric Pulmonary Fellowship program at the Stanford University School of Medicine and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford. This program is a 3-year program that trains individuals to become board-certified pediatric pulmonologists with emphasis on clinical expertise and research experience.  The fellowship is accredited by both the American Council on Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) and the American Board of Pediatrics.  The fellowship is supervised by the Division of Pediatric Pulmonary Medicine at Lucile Packard Children’s Stanford as part of the Department of Pediatrics at the Stanford University School of Medicine.  Our division includes 19 pediatric pulmonologists, all of whom participate in clinical activities, teaching and research.  The clinical program includes clinical activity at the 302-bed pediatric hospital with outreach outpatient activities in surrounding counties.  Division members are nationally and internationally recognized for their expertise and we emphasize making fellows an integral part of the team.

In accordance with the American Board of Pediatrics, fellows receive approximately 16 months of combined inpatient/outpatient clinical training during the 3-year program.  Each year is summarized by:

Trainees’ Time Commitment

First year

80% direct patient care

20% Scholarly/educational/research activities

Second year

20-40% direct patient care

60-80% Scholarly/educational/research activities

Third year

10-20% direct patient care

80-90% Scholarly/educational/research activities

The first year emphasizes clinical training and an introduction to research.  The outpatient experience includes participating in Pulmonary, Sleep, Transplant and Cystic Fibrosis Clinics.  The pulmonary division has a fully equipped clinical pulmonary function lab with body plethysmography, spirometry, formal exercise testing and infant pulmonary function testing.  There is also a state-of the-art Sleep Center, which performs approximately 20 sleep studies each week.  Fellows learn interpretation of pulmonary function tests and sleep studies and are also instructed on flexible bronchoscopy and management of lung transplant patients.  Fellows also are active participants in a respiratory physiology reviews on a monthly curriculum.  We have a weekly pulmonary conferences which include clinical case conferences, consensus discussions and/or research “works in progress” discussions.

Clinical Training

The first year of fellowship is largely clinical and includes rotations throughout the intensive care units and opportunities for electives.  The second and third years are designed for the fellows to immerse themselves in hypothesis driven research that takes full advantage of the considerable assets of Stanford University.  As such fellows can engage in scholarly pursuits ranging from bioengineering to health outcomes to genetic determinants of health disparities, Outcome measures for fellowship include publications in peer-review journals, presentations at national meetings and successful acquisition of extra mural funds.  By the time the fellows have completed their fellowship they are ready to sit for the pediatric subspecialty boards and will be able to perform as a competent pediatric pulmonary specialist.

Research Training

A wealth of research opportunities are available in either clinical or cellular and molecular biology through the departments of pediatric pulmonary, allergy/immunology, or critical care. Fellows may also elect to within other related basic science programs such as respiratory physiology, immunology, pulmonary disease pathogenesis, or airway inflammation through other departments at the medical school.

If you are interested in this program, please contact:

MyMy Buu, MD
Clinical Associate Professor
Program Director
mymybuu@stanford.edu

Caroline Okorie, MD, MPH
Clinical Associate Professor
Associate Director
cokorie@stanford.edu

John Mark, MD
Clinical Professor
Past Program Director
jmark@stanford.edu

Marifin Besona
Program Coordinator
mbesona@stanford.edu