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. 2021 Nov;25(7):e14065.
doi: 10.1111/petr.14065. Epub 2021 Jun 13.

The current state of pediatric transplant hepatology fellowships: A survey of recent graduates

Amy G Feldman  1 , James E Squires  2 , Evelyn K Hsu  3 , Steven Lobritto  4 , Saeed Mohammad  5 ; SPLIT Education Committee, the Pediatric Transplant Hepatology Fellowship Program Directors
Affiliations

The current state of pediatric transplant hepatology fellowships: A survey of recent graduates

Amy G Feldman et al. Pediatr Transplant. 2021 Nov.

Abstract

Background: The number of programs offering a PTH fellowship has grown rapidly over the last 10 years. This study aimed to describe the clinical, didactic, procedural, and research experiences of recent PTH fellowship graduates. In addition, we sought to understand graduates' post-fellowship professional responsibilities and their perception about the utility of the PTH fellowship.

Methods: An anonymous survey was distributed from February to October 2020 through REDCap to all recent graduates (2015-2019) of an ACGME-approved PTH fellowship program. The survey consisted of 49 questions focused on the PTH fellowship experience. Results were summarized using descriptive statistics.

Results: Thirty-eight of 43 graduates (88%) responded to the survey representing 12 PTH fellowship programs. The didactic experience varied; 97% received pathology lectures, 81% radiology lectures, 54% organ allocation lectures, 54% procedural lectures, 57% immunology lectures, and 43% live donation lectures. During the PTH fellowship, the majority of fellows performed >10 liver biopsies (82%) and >5 variceal bandings (58%); however, 63%, 32%, 8%, and 8% never performed paracentesis, variceal sclerotherapy, variceal banding, and liver biopsies, respectively. The majority of fellows (95%) completed a research project during PTH fellowship. Currently, 84% of graduates are employed at a transplant academic institution. All graduates recommended the fellowship.

Conclusions: There is variability in the didactic, clinical, and procedural training among PTH fellowship programs. Although uniformly viewed as a beneficial fellowship year, there is an opportunity to collaborate to create a more standardized training experience.

Keywords: liver transplantation; pediatric medical training.

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Conflict of interest statement

AF has funding from Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Grant/Award Number 1K08 HS026510-01A1. EH has a research grant through Abbvie for Hepatitis C treatment in Children. For the remaining authors, no conflicts.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Evolution over the past two decades of training in PTH
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Post fellowship job responsibilities of PTH fellowship graduates
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
PTH fellowship graduates’ beliefs about why the fellowship was beneficial
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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    1. UNOS Designated Transplant Program Criteria. https://optn.transplant.hrsa.gov/media/2785/membership_requirements-for_.... Accessed December 3, 2020.
    1. American Board of Pediatrics. Entrustable Professional Actitivites for Pediatric Transplant Hepatology. https://www.abp.org/sites/abp/files/pdf/thep_epa_1.pdf. Accessed December 4, 2020.