The World’s Most Dedicated Never Give Up

There’s a reason St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is recognized as a great place to work. Because at our world-class pediatric research hospital, every one of our professionals shares our commitment to make a difference in the lives of the children we serve. There’s a unique bond when you’re part of a team that gives their all to advance the treatments and cures of pediatric catastrophic diseases. The result is a collaborative, positive environment where everyone, regardless of their role, receives the resources, support and encouragement to advance and grow their careers and be the force behind the cures.

New pathogens, threats such as COVID-19 and influenza pandemics, and emerging antimicrobial resistance over the past 2 decades have dramatically increased the need for pediatricians with subspecialty training in Pediatric Infectious Diseases. Currently there are few or no Infectious Diseases practitioners in many countries, in part because of limited numbers of training programs outside of the United States and Canada, and in part because of barriers to participation in North American training programs. The latter include a relatively lengthy duration of training (3 years), which may significantly disrupt personal and professional life, an emphasis on training in scholarly activities, and, in some cases, the inability or unwillingness to accept international medical graduates. Accordingly, there is a need to expand and reshape training for global practitioners to allow them to gain special expertise in the management and prevention of infections in children and adolescents. The St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Department of Infectious Diseases Fellowship training program in Pediatric Infectious Diseases for Global Practitioners was inaugurated in 2023.
The training program is 1 year in duration. During their training, the ID residents participate in a formal didactic experience and direct patient care experiences, including antimicrobial stewardship, infection prevention and global pediatric medicine.
Prerequisites for training include:
a. Satisfactory completion of 3 years of postdoctoral training in pediatrics in an Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME)-accredited pediatric residency program, an RCPSC-accredited or CFPC-accredited pediatric residency program located in Canada, or the local equivalent. The St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and University of Tennessee Graduate Medical Education Committees (UT GMEC) and/or a Subcommittee of these must review and approve applications.
b. All residents must have passed USMLE Step 1, 2CK and Step 3 examinations or equivalent examinations (COMLEX- USA or MCCQE).

Educational Program (Basic Curriculum)

Clinical and research components.

Inpatient rotations are performed at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital, and the University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center. Outpatient consultation is provided in patients’ primary care clinics or dedicated Infectious Diseases and Solid Organ Transplant clinics. The outpatient clinic also provides longitudinal continuity care for patients with chronic infectious diseases and allows residents to observe the course of illness and the effects of therapy. Antimicrobial stewardship experiences include opportunities to observe and participate in stewardship activities in the inpatient and ambulatory setting and to participate in committee meetings and educational activities. During Infection prevention rotations, fellows may observe Infection Control and Prevention teams, manage patients with exposure to communicable disease or who are colonized or infected with organisms of epidemiological concern, assist in outbreak investigation, participate in Infection Control and Prevention Committee meetings, and contribute to policy development and educational efforts. There is no research component of training.

Trainee’s supervisory and patient care responsibilities.

Trainees are mentored and supervised at all times by attending physicians. Residents take home call while on the clinical service, sharing call with residents participating in the traditional pediatric infectious diseases residency.

The program adheres strictly to ACGME clinical experience and education hours standards. Trainees can teach medical staff, junior subspecialty residents, general pediatric residents and medical students and interact with a wide variety of health care providers in departments outside of Infectious Diseases.

Didactic sessions and teaching methods used to ensure program goals and objectives are met.

Fellows participate in several conferences, including:

Clinical Case Conference – Presentation of clinical cases followed by a review of medical literature pertaining to specific questions raised by the case.
Infectious Diseases Research Seminar - Results of recent research.
Journal Club – Presentation of a research article followed by a review of study design and statistical issues raised by the case.
ID Board Review - Monthly didactic lecture series
Pediatric Grand Rounds
St. Jude Grand Rounds
Kiosk of Cases – Weekly case-based learning

Support is provided for trainees to attend a scientific meeting (typically IDWeek or the Pediatric Academic Societies Annual Meeting) during their residency. Encouragement to participate in the St. Jude/PIDS conference as this has a Global Health component.

Supervision and Evaluation

Each patient has an identifiable, appropriately credentialed and privileged attending physician who is ultimately responsible for that patient’s care. Fellows and faculty members inform patients and families of their respective roles in each patient’s care. Supervision may be exercised through a variety of methods, according to the activity and ability of individual fellows. Fellows may be supervised by faculty members or licensed independent practitioners. The privilege of progressive authority and responsibility, conditional independence and a supervisory role in patient care delegated to each fellow is assigned by the program director and attending faculty. Based on the needs of the patient and the skills of the fellows, faculty members functioning as supervising physicians delegate portions of care to fellows. Fellows serve in a supervisory role of junior residents, based on the needs of each patient and the skills of the individual resident. Fellows may be designated by the program director or attending faculty as a supervising physician when they have demonstrated the medical knowledge, competency skill set, and supervisory capability to teach and oversee the work of junior trainees.

Fellows are evaluated using multiple different tools and techniques. These include: 1) global assessments of performance on rotations, 2) multisource (360) evaluations from nurse practitioners, patients, and other clinical and program staff, 3) self-reflection, and 4) semi-annual evaluations. These evaluations are available in the fellow’s New Innovations portfolios and are reviewed with the Program Director semi-annually. Other performance measures are recorded in the portfolios as well, including duty logs and conference attendance. Of note, this fellowship does not meet American Board of Pediatrics General Eligibility Criteria for Certification in the Pediatric Subspecialties or eligibility requirements in Pediatric Infectious Diseases.

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

Upon successful completion of the training program, fellows will have a comprehensive understanding of the pathophysiology of pediatric infectious diseases, will be competent in the clinical diagnosis and management of these disorders and will have developed research competence in a selected area of interest. The fellow will be prepared to be an effective consultant for the care of children with infectious diseases.

Fellows will:

·Gather essential and accurate information about patients, make informed diagnostic and therapeutic decisions, and organize and prioritize responsibilities to provide patient care that is compassionate, appropriate, safe and effective for the treatment of infectious diseases and the promotion of health

·Demonstrate knowledge of established and evolving biomedical, clinical, epidemiological and social-behavioral aspects of infectious disease and apply this knowledge to patient care

·Demonstrate the ability to investigate and evaluate the quality of patient care, to appraise and assimilate scientific evidence, and to continuously improve patient care, based on ongoing self-evaluation, incorporation of formative feedback and life-long learning

·Demonstrate interpersonal and communication skills that result in the effective exchange of information and collaboration with patients, families and the public across a broad range of socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds, and with other health care professionals

·Recognize the strengths, deficiencies and limits in one’s knowledge, expertise and emotions and appropriately seek help when needed; accept that uncertainty is a part of clinical medicine

·Systematically analyze one’s own practice and implement changes with the goal of practice improvement; Work in inter-professional teams to enhance patient safety and improve patient care quality

·Demonstrate a sense of duty and accountability and a commitment to carrying out the professional responsibilities of a consultant, adhering to ethical principles and displaying humanism, compassion, integrity, sensitivity and responsiveness to a diverse patient population

·Demonstrate an awareness of and responsiveness to the larger context and system of health care; effectively utilize other resources in the system to provide optimal health care, incorporating considerations of cost awareness and risk-benefit analysis; advocate for quality patient care

·Demonstrate the ability to identify gaps in scientific knowledge, plan and undertake investigations to address these gaps

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital has a diverse, global patient population and workforce, built on the principles of diversity, equity and inclusion. Our founder Danny Thomas envisioned a hospital that would treat children of the world—regardless of race, religion or a family’s ability to pay. Learn more about our history and commitment.

Today, we continue the mission to advance cures and means of prevention for pediatric catastrophic diseases through research and treatment. As we accelerate this progress globally, we believe our legacy of diversity, equity and inclusion is foundational to success. With the commitment of leaders at all levels of the organization, we strive to ensure the St. Jude culture, leadership approaches and talent processes are equitable and culturally responsive. View our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Report to learn about the hospital’s roots in diversity, equity and inclusion, where we are today and our aspirations for an even better future.

St. Jude is an Equal Opportunity Employer

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