Message from the Director

Welcome to the Children’s Hospital of Orange County’s (CHOC) Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Fellowship Program website. The information in this site will serve as an introduction to our program. The fellowship program is a three year program encompassing a clinical year followed by two years of clinical and basic research. (See “Rotations”)

CHOC’s Pediatric Cancer Institute diagnoses over 120 new oncology patients annually and participates in Children’s Oncology Group studies. CHOC’s Pediatric Stem Cell Transplant Program is accredited by the Federation for Accreditation of Cellular Therapy (FACT) and is performing approximately 30-40 hematopoietic stem cell transplants per year. The oncology division participates in numerous clinical trials and has an on-site stem cell laboratory.

CHOC houses the MCHB/CDC Federal grants for Region IX Hemophilia Treatment Centers. Our Hemophilia Treatment Center cares for over 400 patients with bleeding disorders with many new diagnoses each year. As a member of the Thalassemia Consortium Research Network, CHOC treats a large population of patients with significant thalassemic conditions. A special feature of our Comprehensive Sickle Cell Anemia Treatment Center is the close collaboration with the Newborn Screening Program and the Sickle Cell Foundation.

Our faculty includes six oncologists and three hematologists. They are supported by physician assistants, nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, clinical research staff, and secretarial support. Members of the faculty include internationally- and nationally-recognized experts in various aspects of pediatric hematology/oncology. (See “Find a CHOC Doc”)

The philosophy of our program emphasizes the patient as the best teacher. Therefore we stress teaching before, during, and after patient care rounds as well as didactic sessions that are patient/case oriented.

A vital aspect of our fellowship program is education. Fellows have a weekly core lecture series on topics in hematology/oncology and participate in other didactic conferences including tumor board and hematology case conferences.

Fellows are paid according to the hospital pay scale for trainees based on their post-graduate year. This salary is competitive and considers the high cost of living in Southern California. (See “Salary & Benefits")

Note: Fellowship applications should be submitted through ERAS.

Information on recent fellowship graduates can be found by going to “Graduates” link.

Please feel free to e-mail me or call our office, if you have additional questions. My e-mail address is djn0@choc.org and our office number is 714-532-8744.

Diane J Nugent M.D., Director
Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Fellowship Program