UCI/CHOC Pediatric Emergency Medicine Fellowship
Our mission is to prepare our fellows for careers as outstanding clinicians, leaders in academic medicine, and contributors to research that will advance the field of pediatric emergency medicine (PEM).
Long Live Childhood

Pediatric Emergency Medicine Fellowship

Thank you for your interest in the University of California Irvine/CHOC Children’s Hospital (UCI/CHOC) Pediatric Emergency Medicine Fellowship Program. We couldn’t be more excited to share with you information about our ED and fellowship program. Please click on the link desired to find out more.

  • Contact Us
  • UCI/CHOC Pediatric Emergency Medicine Fellowship Program
    1201 W. La Veta Ave.
    Orange, CA 92868
    Nichole Hinesley
    Fellowship Coordinator
    UCI.CHOC.PedsEM@choc.org

Learn about CHOC Emergency Department

CHOC Children’s Hospital Emergency Department sees >100,000 patients per year. We are the only Level 1 pediatric trauma center in Orange County and treat >1000 trauma patients a year. CHOC ED is also an EMS designated base station for our county. We have 44 beds in the ED, with 334 in-patient beds, 30 PICU beds, 12 CVICU beds, and 92 NICU beds. We have a high level of acuity, with 11% of patients treated in the ED requiring admission. The Division of Emergency Medicine at CHOC has on staff 20 PEM physicians, that work alongside our incredible ED staff comprised of Magnet recognized nursing, medical technicians, pediatric ED pharmacists, child life specialists, and mental health emergency services staff.

If you would like to learn more about our CHOC ED visit our web site.

Learn about CHOC PEM Fellowship

Our mission is to prepare our fellows for careers as outstanding clinicians, leaders in academic medicine, and contributors to research that will advance the field of pediatric emergency medicine (PEM). The University of California Irvine/CHOC Children’s Hospital (UCI/CHOC) Pediatric Emergency Medicine Fellowship Program is a three year ACGME-accredited program that provides great exposure to the clinical practice of pediatric emergency medicine while strongly supporting scholarly work in the field. Pediatric residency trained fellows will complete a 3 year fellowship and emergency medicine trained fellows a 2 year fellowship.

Rotations

Rotations are structured for fellows to have continuity and foster growth within the pediatric emergency department (ED) throughout their fellowship. Most of the clinical rotations will be done at CHOC. All fellows will complete a pediatric anesthesia rotation their first year. For their critical care rotations, each fellow will do a pediatric intensive care (PICU) rotation their first year, and building on this knowledge, a cardiovascular intensive care (CVICU) rotation will be completed their second year. Adult emergency medicine (EM) rotations will be done at UC Irvine Medical Center. Long Beach Memorial Medical Center is the site for Obstetrics rotations. Dedicated research time will occur through all years of fellowship training. During their research blocks, fellows will work 1.5 pediatric ED shifts a week. This is to ensure that fellows do not have long spans of time without pediatric ED shifts thus maintaining faculty and staff relationships and progression of increased ED responsibilities and patient care. Fellows will be given 4 weeks of vacation each year, in 2 week blocks. Elective time is sprinkled throughout the fellowship to allow fellows to choose additional training most beneficial to them. Electives include: Orthopedics, ophthalmology, radiology, cardiology, endocrinology, infectious disease, otolaryngology, ultrasound, toxicology, and other options per fellow interests/needs with program director permission.

Teaching Curriculum

We are committed to providing excellent interactive teaching designed to engage the learner using various teaching modalities. Conferences provided throughout your training include the following:

  • CHOC Fellows Core Lecture Series- monthly, 2 hours
  • PEM Core Lecture Series- monthly, 3 hours
  • PEM Simulation Lab- every other month, 1 hour
  • PEM Procedure Lab- 3 times a year, 1-2 hours
  • PEM Quality Improvement- 3 times a year, 1 hour
  • PEM Journal Club- 3 times a year, 2 hours
  • PEM Toxicology Conference- 3 times a year, 2 hours
  • PEM Board Review- monthly, 2 hours

Scholarly Activities

As a fellow you will design, carry out, and complete a pediatric emergency medicine scholarly project by the end of your fellowship. To support our trainees through their academic endeavors, we will hold a PEM research roundtable quarterly (1-2 hours), and fellows will also meet with their scholarly oversite committee twice per year.

Fellows will also participate in a Quality Improvement or Patient Safety project. You will be instructed in quality improvement processes and have the opportunity to participate in inter-professional quality improvement experiences.

Click here for more information on CHOC’s cutting-edge pediatric research and clinical trials

Pediatric Residency Trained Fellow Schedule:
PGY4-Pediatric Trained

  • 4.5 months Pediatric ED
  • 2 months Adult ED
  • 1 month PICU
  • 1 month Pediatric anesthesia
  • 3 months Research
  • 0.5 month Elective
  • 1 month Vacation

PGY5- Pediatric Trained

  • 4 months Pediatric ED
  • 1 month Adult ED
  • 1 month CVICU
  • 1 month Obstetrics
  • 0.5 month EMS
  • 4 months Research
  • 0.5 month Elective
  • 1 month Vacation

PGY6- Pediatric Trained

  • 4 months Pediatric ED
  • 1 month Adult ED
  • 5 months Research
  • 2 months Elective
  • 1 month Vacation

Emergency Medicine Residency Trained Fellow Schedule:
PGY4-EM Trained

  • 6.5 months Pediatric ED
  • 1 month PICU
  • 1 month NICU
  • 1 month Pediatric anesthesia
  • 1 month Pediatric outpatient clinics
  • 0.5 month Research
  • 1 month Elective
  • 1 month Vacation

PGY5-EM Trained

  • 6 months Pediatric ED
  • 1 month CVICU
  • 0.5 month Forensic pediatrics
  • 1 month Pediatric outpatient clinics
  • 2 months Research
  • 1.5 months Elective
  • 1 month Vacation

Our CHOC ED Clinical Faculty

Carla Alcid, MD
Raymen Assaf, MD
Tyler Ayalin, MD
Nelson Bansil, DO
Seth Brindis, MD, Chair of Pediatric Emergency Medicine
Megan Dickson, MD
Jasmin England, MD
Edward Ferenczy, MD
Sandip Godambe, MD, PhD. CHOC Chief Medical Officer.
Claudia Gold, MD
Sarah Gomez, MD
Daniel Gromis, MD. Ultrasound Mentor.
Theodore Heyming, MD. Division Chief of Pediatric Emergency Medicine.
Gregory LaSala, MD. Medical Toxicology Mentor.
Natasha Li, MD. PEM Fellowship Associate Program Director.
Sonia Mehta, MD
Lilit Minasyan, MD
Divya Mirchandani, MD
Cynthia Orantes, MD
Raina Paul, MD. PEM Quality Improvement Mentor.
Mary Jane Piroutek, MD. PEM Fellowship Program Director.
Daneil Rogan, MD
Maureen Saint Georges, MD
Joshua Siembieda, MD
Michael Valente, MD
Eva Yuan, MD. PEM Simulation Mentor.

Learn about our Hospital

Diversity Equity and Inclusion

The UCI School of Medicine and the UCI Graduate Medical Education Committee’s mission is to establish an inclusive culture and diverse workforce to promote excellence in medical education, research, and patient-centered care. We strive to have representation, which reflects our diverse community, with different race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, language, veteran status, disability, and socio-economic identities in the general workforce, as well as in leadership roles.

The UCI/CHOC Pediatric Emergency Medicine Fellowship Program is committed to equity in the recruitment and retention of fellows, faculty and administrative staff. Our aims are to:

  1. Promote diversity of our fellows in our ACGME-accredited training program to more accurately reflect our Southern California community.
  2. Mentor and retain fellows of diverse backgrounds as UC Irvine or CHOC faculty, thus establishing a more diverse workforce and supporting their career pathways towards leadership roles in academic medicine.

How to Apply

Applications are accepted through the Electronic Resident Application System (ERAS) and we participate in the National Residency Match Program (NRMP).
To apply, please continue to the ERAS website.

Please keep in mind the following important dates:
ERAS opens July
Application Deadline for UCI/CHOC August 30
UCI/CHOC Interview Dates August-November