Fellowship Details & Requirements

Patient and Family Care

The fellow should demonstrate compassionate, appropriate, and effective care based on existing evidence in pediatric palliative medicine and aimed at maximizing the well-being and quality of life for patients with chronic, complex, and/or life-threatening conditions and their families. The fellow should provide care in collaboration with other subspecialists and within an interdisciplinary team.

Medical Knowledge

The fellow should demonstrate knowledge about established and evolving biomedical, clinical, population and social-behavioral sciences relevant to the care of patients with life-threatening conditions and to their families and relate this knowledge to the palliative care practice.

Practice-Based Learning and Improvement

The fellow should be able to investigate, evaluate and continuously improve personal practices in caring for patients and families and appraise and assimilate scientific evidence relative to palliative care.

Interpersonal and Communication Skills

The fellow should be able to demonstrate interpersonal and communication skills that result in effective relationship building, information exchange, emotional support, shared decision making, and collaboration with patients, patients’ families and professional associates.

Professionalism

The fellow should be able to demonstrate a commitment to carrying out professional responsibilities, awareness of his or her role in reducing suffering and enhancing quality of life, adherence to ethical principles, sensitivity to a diverse patient population and appropriate self-reflection.

Systems-Based Practice

The fellow should be able to demonstrate an awareness of and responsiveness to the larger context and system of health care, including hospice and other community-based services for patients and families, and the ability to effectively call on system resources to provide high-quality care.

Rotation Schedule:

Fellows complete 16 weeks of inpatient palliative care with 1:1 or 1:2 attending coverage. On call is scheduled on the afternoons of the clinic day and until 10pm.

Rotation Duration

Pediatric Palliative Care Inpatient Service - 16 weeks
Adult Palliative Care Consult Service - 4 weeks
Adult Palliative Care Inpatient Service - 4 weeks
Pediatric Neuro-Oncology - 4 weeks
Pain Management Outpatient Clinic - 2 weeks
Hospice Outpatient - 10 weeks
Pediatric Palliative Care Inpatient at Memorial Hermann TMC - 4 weeks
Pediatric Rehab at TIRR Memorial Hermann - 4 weeks
Pediatric Outpatient Clinic - Weekly
Elective: Child Life, Integrative Medicine, Research/QA, Adult ICU, Adult Sarcoma, or self-designed - 4 weeks

Didactics

• Lecture Series and Board Review Prep 
  Weekly protected time to participate in didactics and structured board review sessions. 
• Annual Assembly of Hospice and Palliative Care 
  Funded opportunities to attend the premier national conference on hospice and palliative care, featuring workshops, symposia, and networking events.
• Annual Onco Talk Pediatric Oncology Seminar 
  An annual communication skills training seminar grounded in the VitalTalk framework, tailored to palliative medicine, and oncology.

• Oral and poster abstracts accepted at ASPHO, Supportive and Palliative Care Clinical and Research Symposium, UT Health Research Day,  and AAHPM
• Published as first author in Children, The Journal of Immunology, Pediatric Blood & Cancer, and Cognition 

2025

Shady Gad, M.D.

2024

Amanda McCarthy, M.D.
Emily Rav, D.O.   

2023

Rhonda Idemmili, M.D., M.P.H.

Bonny Bowen, R.N.
Clinical Nurse, Outpatient, Pediatric Supportive Care

Keyana Williams, M.Ed.
Pedi Educ & Creative Arts

Nicole Rosburg, M.S., C.C.L.S.
Child Life, Adolescent & Young Adult Life Program

Zachary Gresham, M.A., M.Ed.
Arts in Medicine

Melissa Melo, B.S.
Board-Certified Music Therapist

Kate Gazouleas, B.S.
Associate Program Manager

Exceptional training that makes us unique

Dedicated pediatric interdisciplinary teams: Primary oncology team, palliative care faculty, nurses and advance practice providers, social workers, chaplain, child psychologists, dieticians, educators, pharmacists, and child life specialists.

 Innovative clinical research and mentorship: Karen Moody, M.D., Program Director, recently awarded NIH R01 funding for a study that will potentially change practice standards to improve outcomes for children and their families, particularly those who reach end of life.

Phase I/II Clinical Trials: Providing palliative care and psychosocial support to patients facing complex medical decision making.

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.