The Division of Pediatric Endocrinology provides opportunities for training in all aspects of clinical pediatric endocrinology and a broad array of basic and applied areas of endocrine research. The Division has one of the few NIH Training Grants for Pediatric Endocrinology. This grant, which is specifically designed to train individuals for careers in Academic Pediatric Endocrine Research, provides salary support for U.S. Citizens or Permanent Residents. Citizens of other countries who are not Permanent Residents of the U.S. may also apply for the program, but they must find their own external sources of funding.
Most fellows are Pediatric Physicians (M.D.'s) who have finished an approved Residency training program in Pediatrics. The usual 3 year fellowship consists of 6 months of inpatient clinical work and 30 months of research and outpatient clinical work, leading to eligibility to sit for the sub-specialty board examination in Pediatric Endocrinology administered by the American Board of Pediatrics. The six months of inpatient work consists of two aspects. The first is training in clinical investigation of pediatric endocrine disorders through patients admitted to the UCSF Pediatric Clinical Research Center; the second is providing inpatient consultations and care to patients admitted with pediatric endocrine disorders. The 30 months of research is pursued in the laboratory of one of the faculty members, and may entail clinical investigation, whole animal physiology, cell biology, molecular endocrine genetics, or a combination of these, depending on the individuals fellow's interests and career plans. During this time, fellows attend a general pediatric endocrine outpatient clinic and the pediatric diabetes outpatient clinic (each one-half day per week). In selected cases the fellowship may be extended for a fourth year to provide a more thorough research training experience. Fellows and faculty attend weekly clinical conferences, a journal club and research conferences. There is also a weekly Endocrine Grand Rounds series that features both local and guest speakers from Medicine, Pediatrics, OB/GYN and Basic Sciences, a weekly Reproductive Endocrinology Seminar series and monthly joint Pediatric/Adult endocrine rounds. In addition fellows may take courses in the graduate division in cellular and molecular biology, statistics, and in design of clinical research protocols.
In addition to Pediatric Physicians preparing for careers as Pediatric Endocrinologists, the Division also welcomes MD's and PhD's who do not have clinical training in pediatrics but who are interested in scientific careers related to Pediatric Endocrinology. Relevant issues include (but are not confined to) fetal development of endocrine cells and tissues; tissue-specific regulation of endocrine related genes; neuroendocrinology; all aspects of pubertal maturation; hormonal regulation of growth and its disorders; bone development and growth; regulation of steroid hormone synthesis; connections between pediatric and adult endocrine disorders; sexual differentiation; and broad aspects of developmental biology and genetics. Thus non-pediatricians interested in careers in virtually any aspect of endocrinology may be eligible for support as described in the first paragraph above. More details about research training opportunities in the Division are found in each Faculty member's description of Research Interests.
The UCSF Pediatric Endocrine Program has been training fellows since 1966; during this time 159 people have done fellowships in this program. Their current positions may be summarized as follows:
Professors |
51 |
Associate Professors |
33 |
Assistant Professors |
20 |
Instructors/Research Associates |
7 |
Private Practice |
21 |
Industry |
16 |
Receiving Further Training |
9 |
Deceased |
2 |
Total |
159 |
Thus our program has been highly successful in placing its alumni in academic positions.
For Further information or to apply to our program write to:
Walter L. Miller, M.D.
Director, Pediatric Endocrine Training Program
Department of Pediatrics
513 Parnassus Avenue, Suite S-672-D
University of California, San Francisco
San Francisco, CA 94143-0434
phone: 415-476-2598
email: wlmlab@ucsf.edu
Updated April 10, 2008