Pediatric Nephrology Fellowship Program

The CHOP Pediatric Nephrology Fellowship Program is a three-year program designed to train pediatricians by providing the necessary clinical and research skills to enable them to pursue an academic career in pediatric nephrology. Our training program accepts 3 fellows per year.

Rushelle Byfield, MD

Rosanna Fulchiero, DO

Wendy Hsiao, MD

Jonathan Levinsohn, MD, PhD

Dayna Mazza, MD

Uche Nwaogazie, MBBS

Tara Sardesai, MD

Amy Strong, MD

Leonela Villegas, MD

Program director

Erum Hartung, MD, MTR
215-590-2449
hartunge@email.chop.edu

Associate program director

Stephanie Clark, MD, MSHP
215-590-2449
clarks@email.chop.edu

Division chief

Madhura Pradhan, MD
215-590-2449
pradhan@email.chop.edu

Program coordinator

Jamie Jarrett
215-590-2449
jarrettj@email.chop.edu

Year one

During the first year of training, the fellows will rotate through three services: Inpatient, where they are responsible for the care of nephrology patients admitted to the inpatient service; Consult, where they are responsible for consultations from other services; and Outpatient, where they will spend time in the dialysis unit, transplant clinic, multidisciplinary clinics, and other electives. The fellows are always supervised by an attending physician. By the end of the first year, the fellows will be competent in performing percutaneous renal biopsies and prescribing acute dialysis (peritoneal dialysis, hemodialysis, continuous hemofiltration) and chronic dialysis. The fellows will attend outpatient Nephrology continuity clinic once a week. Every patient seen by the fellows is discussed in clinic with an attending physician, and cases are reviewed once a week in our outpatient meeting. The fellows are expected to present cases at appropriate conferences and give lectures to residents and medical students. Night and weekend call is divided evenly between fellows in all years of training.

Inpatient service: 14 weeks
Consult service: 14 weeks
Outpatient dialysis: 6 weeks
Outpatient transplant: 6 weeks
Outpatient continuity clinic: 5 weeks
Elective/board prep: 3 weeks
Vacation: 4 weeks

Years two and three

The fellows will begin research training and may choose a project in clinical, translational, or basic science. Most fellows also pursue didactic training with a Masters or Certificate program at the University of Pennsylvania. Clinical responsibilities will be limited to an outpatient continuity clinic once a week, peritoneal dialysis clinic once a month, transplant clinic once a month, and on-call responsibilities. Upper year fellows will cover the inpatient and/or consult services if the first-year fellows are absent. In year 3, fellows may supervise residents and junior fellows in a capacity similar to an attending, with continuous support from a staff nephrologist, if interested.

Inpatient service: 1 week
Consult service: 1 week
Outpatient dialysis (1/2 day per month): 1 week
Outpatient transplant (1/2 day per month): 1 week
Outpatient continuity clinic (1/2 day per week): 5 weeks
Scholarly activity (classes, research, QI, teaching): 39 weeks
Vacation: 4 weeks

All fellows are expected to complete a research project in order to sit for the Pediatric Nephrology Subspecialty Board Examination. This usually requires submission of a first-author manuscript related to the research. Many opportunities exist for clinical, translational, or basic science research mentorship with accomplished physician scientists at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. An NIH training grant to cover the cost of tuition for a Master’s program is available for eligible fellows. All fellows are also expected to participate in a Quality Improvement project.

Former fellows and current institutions: 

Brenda Cooperstone, MD, Wyeth Labs
Mary B. Leonard, MD, Stanford Medicine/Lucile Packard Children's Hospital
Kevin Meyers, MBBCh, Perelman School of Medicine/Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
Katherine Dell, MD, Case Western Reserve University/Cleveland Clinic
Hyunbo Holly Shim, MD, Pediatrics, Private Practice
Diana Karpman,MD, PhD, Head of Pediatric Nephrology, Lund, Sweden
Madhura Pradhan, MD, MBBS, Perelman School of Medicine/Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
Jacqueline Miller, MD, Senior Vice President, Therapeutic Area Head, Infectious Diseases, Moderna
Mette Nyland, MD, Head of Pediatric Nephrology, Denmark
Ann Salerno, MD, University of Massachusetts Medical School/UMass Memorial Medical Center
Andres Greco, MD, Pediatrics, Private Practice
Shamir Tuchman, MD, U.S. Food and Drug Administration
Lawrence Copelovitch, MD, Perelman School of Medicine/Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
Elizabeth Brown, MD, UT Southwestern/Children’s Medical Center Dallas
Christine Sethna, MD, Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell/Cohen Children’s Medical Center
Olivera Marsenic Coulores, MD, Stanford Medicine/Lucile Packard Children's Hospital
Ryan Raffaelli, MD, U.S. Food and Drug Administration
Michelle Denburg, MD, Perelman School of Medicine/Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
Christopher LaRosa, MD, Perelman School of Medicine/Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
Ulf Beier, MD, Perelman School of Medicine/Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
Matthew Sampson, MD, Harvard Medical School/Boston Children’s Hospital
Rebecca Ruebner, MD, John Hopkins Medicine
Tamar Springel, MD, Chief Medical Monitor for insurance company
Divya Moodalbail, MD, Kaiser Permanente
Danielle Soranno, MD, University of Colorado School of Medicine/Children’s Hospital of Colorado
Smitha Vidi, MD, UT Southwestern/Children’s Medical Center Dallas
Joann Spinale, MD, Rutgers/Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital
Sonal Bhatnagar, MD, AI duPont Nemours/Jefferson University
Stephanie Clark, MD, Perelman School of Medicine/Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
Sheena Sharma, MD, Chief Medical Monitor for insurance company
Aadil Kakajiwala, MBBS, Washington University School of Medicine/St. Louis Children’s Hospital
Anuradha Gajjar, MD, Weill Cornell Medicine
Caroline Gluck, MD, Nemours
Daniella Levy-Erez, MD, Schneider Children’s Hospital, Israel; Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (adjunct professor)
Melissa Meyers, MD, Children’s National Hospital
Celina Brunson, MD, Children’s National Hospital
Abdullah Ehlayel, MD, Children’s Hospital of New Orleans
Selasie Goka, MD, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
Eloise Salmon, MD, CS Mott Children’s Hospital
Rebecca Scobell, MD, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Eric Benz, MD, Children’s Hospital Colorado

Weekly

Monday

• Noon - 1:00 p.m. – Fellows’ Core Teaching

Tuesday

• 12:30 - 1:30 p.m. – Nephrology Inpatient Conference
• 2:30 - 4:00 p.m. – Post-Transplant Patient Review

Wednesday

• 8:00 - 9:00 a.m. – CHOP Pediatric Grand Rounds
• 12:30 - 1:30 p.m. – HUP Renal Transplant Conference
• 5:00 - 6:30 p.m. – Urology/Nephrology/Radiology Rounds

Thursday

• 12:30 - 1:30 p.m. – Nephrology Outpatient Conference
• 1:00 - 2:00 p.m. – HUP Renal Grand Rounds

Friday

• 12:30 - 1:30 p.m. – Nephrology Renal Grand Rounds

Our fellowship program participates in the ERAS universal application process. Please visit the ERAS website for an application and information about our program.

The following information should be uploaded into the ERAS program:

1. Completed on-line application
2. Current photograph (released only after interview is offered)
3. Personal statement
4. Three letters of recommendation
5. Dean's letter (MSPE)
6. Medical school transcript
7. Parts 1, 2 and 3 of the USMLE, taken within the 7-year time frame as required by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, or equivalent scores
8. If a graduate of a medical school outside the United States, Canada or Puerto Rico, valid ECFMG certificate or one that does not expire prior to the start of the fellowship
9. If a not a citizen of the United States or permanent resident, copy of current, appropriate visa

The fellowship directors review completed applications. Selected candidates will then be invited to interview.

Tobacco-free hiring policy

To help preserve and improve the health of our patients, their families and our employees, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia has a tobacco-free hiring policy. This policy applies to all candidates for employment (other than those with regularly scheduled hours in New Jersey) for all positions, including those covered by the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Job applicants who apply after July 1, 2014 will be expected to sign an attestation stating they’ve been free of nicotine or tobacco products in any form for the prior thirty (30) days. They will also undergo a cotinine test as a part of the Occupational Health pre-placement drug screen administered after the offer of employment has been accepted but before the first day of hire.

Exemptions: Attending physicians (excluding CHOP physicians in the Care Network), psychologists, principal investigators and/or Penn-based faculty are exempt from this process to better align with our colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine.

General information

We offer a 4-year combined internal medicine and pediatrics (med/peds) fellowship program with our neighboring institution, the University of Pennsylvania. The med/peds fellow will spend their first year as a clinical adult Nephrology fellow at the University of Pennsylvania, their second year as a clinical pediatric Nephrology fellow at CHOP, and their third and fourth year focused on research with some continued clinical responsibilities in both adult and pediatric Nephrology. All four years will be supervised under both the CHOP and Penn program directors. At the successful conclusion of training, the med/peds fellow will be eligible for board certification with both the American Board of Pediatrics (ABP) and American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM).

Specific information by year/rotation

Penn adult clinical year 1

Consult service: 30 weeks
Dialysis: 2 weeks
Transplant: 4 weeks
Nightfloat: 4 weeks
Elective: 8 weeks
Vacation: 4 weeks

CHOP pediatrics clinical year 2

Inpatient service: 14 weeks
Consult service: 14 weeks
Outpatient dialysis (may include adult experience): 6 weeks
Outpatient transplant: 6 weeks
Outpatient continuity clinic (may alternate with adult clinic): 5 weeks
Elective/board prep: 3 weeks
Vacation: 4 weeks

Research years 3 & 4

*Clinical activities divided between adult and pediatric Nephrology.
Inpatient service: 1 week
Consult service: 1 week
Outpatient dialysis (1/2 day per month): 1 week
Outpatient transplant (1/2 day per month): 1 week
Outpatient continuity clinic (1/2 day per week): 5 weeks
Scholarly activity (classes, research, QI, teaching): 39 weeks
Vacation: 4 weeks

Program leadership

Penn program director

Amanda Leonberg-Yoo, MD

Penn associate program director

Jehan Bahrainwala, MD

Penn associate program director

Rachel Hilburg, MD

Penn program coordinator

Laura Watabu

CHOP program director

Erum Hartung, MD, MTR

CHOP associate program director

Stephanie Clark, MD, MSHP

CHOP program coordinator

Jamie Jarrett

How to apply

Residents interested in applying to our med/peds fellowship program should apply to Penn Nephrology via ERAS at season opening. If selected for an interview, they will meet with both Penn and CHOP program faculty. At the conclusion of interview season, the resident will rank Penn via the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP). If matched with Penn, this also means a match with CHOP, and CHOP will set aside a fellowship slot for the following academic year.