An advanced second year fellowship in pediatric pain medicine: development, implementation, and challenges

Abstract

This article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. BackgroundThere is a growing need for advanced fellowship training in pediatric pain medicine and other subspecialties of pediatric anesthesia. Increasing clinical and educational demands have necessitated the development of a novel pediatric anesthesia pain fellowship at our institution. Principal findingsFollowing an iterative process with a workgroup, we have developed and implemented a novel one-year advanced fellowship program in pediatric pain medicine. We describe our experience developing and challenges faced implementing the program. The fellowship has clinical, education, research and administration components. Elective periods are offered for additional specialized training. To date four fellows have been recruited to the fellowship program.Conclusion We present an overview of a novel pediatric medicine pain fellowship. Initial feedback and reviews suggest the fellowship is meeting the needs of fellows and patients in various pediatric settings. It is hoped that continued work to improve the fellowship will enhance patient care by educating physicians in effective methods of pain management in an increasingly complex subspecialty. By enhancing clinical care, education, research and leadership in pain the ultimate aim of the fellowship program is to alleviate pain and improve outcomes in children.