Fellowship Details & Requirements

Eligibility requirements include but are not limited to:

1. Successful completion of USMLE STEP 1, 2 and 3
2. Successful completion of an ACGME accredited General Pediatrics residency,
3. ECFMG certification, if applicable
4. Along with employment requirements as per MD Anderson Graduate Medical Education policy

Please refer to our GME eligibility requirements and the FRIEDA guidelines for a complete list.

Applicants must also submit required materials, including a current curriculum vitae, a personal statement, three letters of recommendation (one letter being from the director of the residency program), and a recent photograph. \

A sample contract for prospective trainees may be viewed here.

The fellowship aligns its goals  and objectives with the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education's (ACGME) six core competencies to ensure comprehensive training and development of fellows in the field of pediatric hematology-oncology.

Patient Care

Our program emphasizes providing fellows with comprehensive training in state-of-the-art clinical care for pediatric patients with hematological diseases and oncological conditions. Fellows will gain hands-on experience in both inpatient and outpatient settings, participating in the diagnosis, treatment, and long-term follow-up care of patients.

Medical Knowledge

Through structured educational activities, including lectures, journal clubs, and case conferences, fellows will acquire a thorough understanding of the pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management of hematological and oncological disorders in pediatric patients. Fellows will also engage in research endeavors to deepen their medical knowledge and contribute to advancing the field.

Practice-Based Learning and Improvement

Fellows will develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills through active participation in patient care, research projects, and scholarly activities. They will receive mentorship from experienced faculty members to continually assess and enhance their clinical practice and research endeavors.

Interpersonal and Communication Skills

Fellows will refine their communication skills to effectively interact with patients, families, and interdisciplinary healthcare teams. They will learn to convey complex medical information in a clear and empathetic manner, fostering meaningful relationships with patients and facilitating collaborative care.

Professionalism

Our program instills values of professionalism, integrity, and ethical conduct in fellows, preparing them to uphold the highest standards of patient care, research integrity, and professional responsibility. Fellows will learn to navigate challenging ethical dilemmas and demonstrate respect, compassion, and cultural sensitivity in their interactions with patients and colleagues.

Systems-Based Practice

Fellows will gain insight into the healthcare system's structure and function, learning to navigate complex healthcare environments and advocate for optimal patient outcomes. They will collaborate with interdisciplinary teams to improve patient care quality, safety, and efficiency, while also understanding the socioeconomic and cultural factors influencing healthcare delivery.

By integrating these core competencies into our fellowship program, we aim to produce highly skilled and compassionate pediatric hematology-oncology specialists who are equipped to excel in clinical practice, research, and leadership roles within academic medicine. Our fellows will emerge from the program with the knowledge, skills, and professionalism necessary to make meaningful contributions to the field of pediatric hematology-oncology and provide exceptional care to patients and their families.

The fellowship is a three-year program with an optional additional one-year component for fellows interested in advanced training.  The first year is dedicated to an in-depth clinical training experience.  Fellows gain inpatient and outpatient experiences on:

• hematological diseases
• leukemia/lymphoma
• neuro-oncology
• solid tumor
• bone marrow transplant
• long term follow-up services
• radiation oncology
• hematopathology
• blood banking
• palliative care

Fellows are involved in the supervision and training of residents both through scheduled talks and direct patient care.  Fellows also participate in the presentation of weekly Patient Care Conference and multidisciplinary case conferences.  An oncology core curriculum conference for first year fellows of all disciplines is an institutional requirement.  In addition, lectures/journal club/board reviews further the fellow’s education.  Forty weeks of the first year are spent at MD Anderson, where the emphasis is on oncology and 10 weeks at the University of Texas Health Science Center- Hermann Hospital, emphasizing nonmalignant hematology.  Memorial Hermann Hospital is part of the Texas Medical Center and is a 10-minute walk from MD Anderson.

In keeping with our recognition of the shifting emphasis toward greater research skills among pediatric hematologist-oncologists, the second and third years of the fellowship are oriented to gaining basic research skills through clinical, translational and laboratory-based research.  Each fellow selects primary research mentor. With the approval of the Program Director, Division Head and Research Sponsor, the sponsor agrees to serve as the Fellow’s mentor and to provide sufficient resources, space and guidance to provide a challenging, rigorous and demanding research experience. The Division of Pediatrics is active in translational research where laboratory-based investigations are brought to clinical trial.  In addition, the division has developed an active Adolescent and Young Adult Program (AYA) which addresses not only the medical, but psychosocial need of teenagers and young adults.

The New Agents Program in the Division of Pediatrics is dedicated to identifying making available to our patients new and investigational agents that might not be available to them otherwise.  Research opportunities exist not only in the Division of Pediatrics and throughout MD Anderson but also throughout the Texas Medical Center. Fellows are required to present their findings in a seminar, and to be eligible to sit for the American Board of Pediatrics’ Hematology/Oncology sub-specialty Board, the fellow must author a manuscript of their research findings.

To increase expertise and help develop decision-making opportunities, the fellow will have his/her own continuity clinic that is held one day each week in the second and third years of the fellowship.  This experience allows the fellow to participate in the long-term care of a selected group of patients throughout their fellowship.

Outpatient Clinical Rotations

• Fellows rotating in the outpatient clinic are expected to take an active role in providing outstanding patient care. 
  
• Fellows are expected to see as many new patients as possible during their outpatient rotation and are responsible for dictating the PME (primary medical evaluations) on those that they have seen on the same day that patient is seen. 
• Fellows are expected to see all “drop-in” patients to the clinic associated with their outpatient rotation.  The fellow should provide initial assessment in the triage area, clinical management, check-out the patient to the appropriate attending faculty and provide a plan and disposition. 
• During the leukemia/lymphoma and procedure rotations, the fellow is expected to be proficient with bone marrow aspirates and biopsies, lumbar punctures and intrathecal chemotherapy administration.  Procedures are required to be logged into the New Innovations system.  Please don’t forget to record the supervising faculty for your procedure. 
• Fellows are encouraged to observe as many faculty as possible “breaking the initial cancer diagnosis” to a family, discuss plans of therapy/obtain informed consent/give end of life talks/obtain DNR so that they can develop their own style.  By having these talks with families, faculty can supervise the discussion and provide feedback to the fellow.  
• Fellows are expected to have completed all required orders and follow up forms prior to leaving for the day.  Follow-up communication should include the clinic nurses and midlevel providers since they are also important members of the multidisciplinary team. 
• Fellows are expected to also participate in the Pediatric Survivor Clinic with Dr. Ater so that they can learn about long-term follow-up issues associated with the rotation, such as long-term issues with sarcoma survivors. 

Inpatient Service

• Fellows rotating on the inpatient service are expected to coordinate patient care under the supervision of the attending physician as well as supervise and teach house staff.         
• The inpatient fellow is responsible for seeing patients in the EC.  If EC patients require ICU care, the case should be discussed with ICU staff.  If the patient can be triaged to the clinic, the patient should be discussed with the doc of the day.  Patients who require admission will be discussed with the floor attending. 
• Fellows are expected to coordinate patient discharges and provide communication to the primary oncology team so that appropriate follow-up is done. 

Continuity Clinic  

Our fellows each have protected time for their continuity clinics which consists of a full day clinic during their first year followed by a ½ day of clinic during the second and third year of fellowship.  During clinic they do not have any other assigned responsibilities and this allows full integration with their clinic patients.  The continuity clinic structure which is designed and highly rated by our trainees allows fellows to have immersive outpatient clinic experiences within all our specialized clinics while working with subject experts as their preceptors.  These clinics include advanced practice providers who are integral in the continuity and help provide further subject area expertise. 

Throughout the entire training fellows form very close relationships with patients, families, and the comprehensive clinical teams.  They serve an integral role in the care of our patients.

On Call Duties:

At the MD Anderson Children’s Cancer Hospital Campus fellows participate on on-call duties as a part of their educational experience and enhancement.  These calls are structured with concepts of ‘back to bedside’ as per ACGME (Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education) mission and with the goal of poising fellows to step into the role of clinical leader.

Specialized faculty are readily available for clinical discussion, education and decision making. 

An in-depth training course in clinical research, called the clinical research curriculum, is offered by UT Houston. This is an extensive two-year research training program designed specifically for the fellow or junior faculty. For those interested in developing an academic career in clinical research, UT Houston also sponsors a Master’s in Clinical Research. Fellows must complete the first year of the clinical research curriculum and then apply for the master’s program which will be an additional two years of study.

In the past year, our fellows have won significant grants.

Foundation Grant

Investigator: Jiasen He, M.D., 2024 Fellowship Grant Recipient. Mentor Candelaria Gomez-Manzano
Combining Virotherapy and Anti-GD2 CAR T cells for Diffuse Midline Glioma
Organization: ChadTough Defeat DIPG Foundation
Amount: $300,000 | Duration: 2024-2027

Young Investigator Award    

Investigators: Irtiza Sheikh, D.O., (Principal Investigator and now Assistant Professor of Pediatrics) and Michael Green (Co-Investigator)
Use of recombinant IL-2 to rescue CAR T cell dysfunction 
Organization: Conquer Cancer Foundation/ASCO
Amount: $50,000  |  Duration: 08/01/2023 – 07/31/2024

Fellows in the past year have won significant grants.

Recent Faculty & Fellow Publications

A balancing act: Blinatumomab use in a rare occurrence of Philadelphia chromosome-positive B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia in an adolescent patient with Down Syndrome.

Publication: Pediatric Blood Cancer.

Authors: Rav ES, Wahba A, Patnaik A, Toruner G, Hittle A, Toepfer L, Roth M, Cuglievan B, Nunez C, McCall D.

Venetoclax for Acute Myeloid Leukemia in Pediatric Patients: A Texas Medical Center Experience

Publication: Cancers (Basel)

Authors: Trabal A, Gibson A, He J, McCall D, Roth M, Nuñez C, Garcia M, Buzbee M, Toepfer L, Bidikian A, Daver N, Kadia T, Short NJ, Issa GC, Ravandi F, DiNardo CD, Montalban Bravo G, Garces S, Marcogliese A, Paek H, Dreyer Z, Brackett J, Redell M, Yi J, Garcia-Manero G, Konopleva M, Stevens A, Cuglievan B.  

Once-daily Compared with Twice-daily Enoxaparin Maintenance Therapy Appears Safe and Efficacious

Publication: Journal of Pediatric Hematology Oncology

Authors: Gibson A, Montanez N, Addy K, Hashmi SS, Brown D, Rodriguez N, Menon N, Srivaths L.88888888

Translational advances in the treatment of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia: narrative review of current and emerging molecular and immunotherapies

Publication: Translational Pediatrics

Authors: Munir F, He J, Connors J, Garcia M, Gibson A, McCall D, Nunez C, Dinh CN, Robusto L, Roth M, Khazal S, Tewari P, Cuglievan B.

Post-Transplant Cyclophosphamide after Matched Sibling and Unrelated Donor Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation in Pediatric Patients with Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Publication: International Journal of Molecular Science

Authors: Sheikh IN, Alqahtani S, Ragoonanan D, Tewari P, Petropoulos D, Mahadeo KM, Popat U, Shpall EJ, Khazal S.

Renal Cell Carcinoma Unclassified with Medullary Phenotype in a Patient with Neurofibromatosis Type 2

Publication: Current Oncology

Authors: Sarkar S, Throckmorton W, Bingham R, Msaouel P, Genovese G, Slopis J, Rao P, Sadighi Z, Herzog CE.

Our trainees have the opportunity to work alongside leading pediatric cancer experts at our Children's Cancer Hospital and institutions across the Texas Medical Center. Additionally, our trainees receive exceptional support from the fellowship leadership team: 

The fellowship includes an optional component for additional advanced clinical research training in pediatric hematology/oncology specifically designed for outstanding fellows who are pursuing a career in academic medicine. This program will provide advanced clinical research training for pediatric hematology-oncology fellows and prepare them to be highly competitive for faculty positions.  The advanced training program will:

(1) Provide extended protected research time under the mentorship of a senior, independent investigator at MDACC.  The goal is to allow the fellow to develop nationally recognized expertise in an area of research in pediatric hematology-oncology and to develop adequate experience and preliminary data to allow them to establish independent research programs with extramural funding.

(2) Providing the fellow the opportunity to experience intense clinical activity in one area of pediatric hematology-oncology and equip them to be national experts one of the following areas:

• hematopoietic stem cell transplantation
• leukemia/lymphoma
• non-neural pediatric solid tumors
• pediatric neuro-oncology

The advanced training component lasts 1 year.  During this time advanced fellows participate in patient care, education and research activities.

The advanced trainee is expected to participate in several research courses administered by the Graduate School of UT Houston.  These courses include Biostatistics and Clinical Trial Design.

In addition to gaining unparalleled education and training experience, MD Anderson trainees have access to exceptional resources and benefits to help them build meaningful careers and lead fulfilling lives.

Institutional benefits and support

GME trainees’ salary stipends are updated every year based on the ACGME’s recommendations, and because our trainees are considered workforce members, they also enjoy MD Anderson’s employee benefits, including health insurance, retirement planning, disability insurance and six weeks of parental leave.

Our GME House Staff Senate offers trainees the opportunity to experience a leadership role in a medical field career, and the institution’s Academic Mentoring Council provides avenues to secure tailored academic mentoring from faculty. Our GME trainees benefit from the extensive support offered to our research trainees, too; they are invited to participate in grant application workshops, apply for pilot grants to support their research ideas and receive monetary awards for securing extramural grant funding.

Trainee wellness is also of utmost importance at MD Anderson.

Our trainees have access to MD Anderson’s employee networks, fitness center and other wellness resources provided by the institution. Additionally, our Graduate Medical Education Committee (GMEC), which provides oversight of our accredited programs, regularly assess our trainees’ needs and implements various initiatives, such as providing free call meals and discounted parking to GME House Staff, to address those gaps. The committee even has a subcommittee entirely dedicated to supporting the wellness of our trainees.

Our efforts to ensure a welcoming and supportive education and training experience have been commended nationally. In 2023, the Office of Graduate Medical Education received the DeWitt C. Baldwin, Jr. Award, a prestigious national award that recognizes our institution for its respectful and supportive environment for delivering medical education and patient care.

Beyond MD Anderson

MD Anderson’s location has many benefits, too. Our main campus is nestled inside the Texas Medical Center, the world’s largest medical center which boasts about 10 million patient encounters each year. Many of our faculty are involved in interorganizational research collaborations, both within the TMC and across the nation, exposing trainees to groundbreaking advancements in medical care in real time.

Most importantly, the city of Houston is a great place to call home and raise a family. We are one of the most culturally diverse cities in the nation. More than 145 different languages are spoken across the city, placing us behind only New York and Los Angeles. In fact, about 30% of the city’s population speaks a language other than English at home. And, paychecks here stretch farther than most U.S. metro areas, thanks to our low cost of living.

Visit our Why Houston page to learn more about our city’s affordable housing, fine dining, entertainment scene, nationally renowned museums and other great attributes.