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Kempe Center - Fellowship in Child Abuse Pediatrics

View from Denver's City Park  

The University of Colorado School of Medicine Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital Colorado, and the Kempe Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse and Neglect offer a two- to three-year post-residency fellowship in child abuse pediatrics. The goal of the fellowship is to provide physicians who are board eligible or board certified in pediatrics with in-depth and intensive training in child abuse pediatrics that will prepare them for a clinical or academic career dedicated to the field of Child Abuse Pediatrics, which is now a recognized ABP subspecialty. More ABP information can be found at www.abp.org. In addition, the Kempe Center offers the Berger Fellowship, a two-year postdoctoral research fellowship.

The Kempe Center was founded in 1972 by C. Henry Kempe, MD, a former University of Colorado School of Medicine Chairman of Pediatrics. His 1962 publication of the landmark paper The Battered Child, establishing one of the nation's first Child Protection Teams in 1958 and founding of the national center in Denver, are both legacy and foundation for the current University of Colorado School of Medicine child advocacy and protection system of care.

The faculty at The Kempe Center consists of pediatricians, social workers, a pediatric lawyer, epidemiologists, child welfare services researchers, and psychology and psychiatry staff. Children's Colorado clinical staff have many faculty colleagues in the Departments of General Pediatrics, Critical Care, Emergency Medicine, Neurosurgery, and Surgery who provide excellent interdisciplinary care with the team for suspected child abuse victims and their families.

Past trainees continue very active involvement in the field of child abuse pediatrics and have become nationally recognized for their work with abused children as academic faculty, clinicians, and educators.

 

Clinical training during the fellowship includes extensive experience with The Kempe Child Protection Team, a shared multidisciplinary program of Children's Hospital Colorado and The Kempe Center.  The team is the only hospital based multidisciplinary child abuse team in the state, The team evaluates and provides treatment annually for children who are suspected child abuse victims. Physicians, healthcare professionals, families, human services, law enforcement, and others in the Rocky Mountain Region refer to the team for consultation, treatment services, and support. Children's Colorado is the only Level One Pediatric Trauma Center in Colorado with very active Emergency Medicine, Trauma, General Surgery and Neurosurgery, and Burn Unit services.

Fellows participate in the medical diagnosis, consultation, and treatment of children who are admitted to Children's Hospital Colorado for serious injuries resulting from suspected physical abuse or neglect and sexual assault. The team also consults on factitious illness, non-organic failure to thrive, neglect, child deaths, and sexual abuse cases. A weekly clinic evaluates cases of child sexual abuse in an interdisciplinary team approach. Fellows learn how to obtain a detailed child abuse history, how to recognize and diagnose abusive injuries, how to analyze the mechanics of inflicted injury, how to interview families and children in the hospital setting, and how to use diagnostic tests to document abuse. Fellows will attend and participate in forensic autopsies of children who die from child abuse or other injuries and can participate in local child fatality review teams. Clinical call is shared with attending faculty who are based at Children’s Colorado and our teaching affiliate Denver Health Medical Center. Rotations at the Denver County Family Crisis Center and local child advocacy centers are part of training.

Integral to medical evaluation is learning how to work with social service and law enforcement agencies to protect children at risk for abuse, death, or serious disability from abuse and neglect. Fellows learn about the legal systems involved in child protection and child abuse prosecution through didactic lectures, weekly child protection team interdisciplinary review, and direct court experience. The fellows learn state child abuse laws, how to be an effective witness, and how to document and present cases for the legal system. Court testimony by fellows is an expected part of training.

Fellows will interact with the staff psychologist, Child Trauma Program and IMHOFF Clinic for exposure to the mental health outcomes of child abuse and neglect. Fellows can also interact with and participate in other programs of the Kempe Center.

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Fellows are required to complete the Department of Pediatrics fellow education series, which includes didactic courses in biostatistics, epidemiology, and research design. These courses include examinations and projects with pass / fail grades. The cost of the course is covered by the program. Additional training in the CCTSI Clinical Science Graduate Training Program is optional. Fellows are required to design and complete an independent study that can result in national abstract presentation and publication. Ample opportunity exists for presentation of abstracts and lectures at local and national child abuse conferences. Formal courses in biostatistics, epidemiology, and research design offered by the Colorado School of Public Health can be taken by fellows. The fellow is expected to enhance skills reviewed journal, write case in the area quality improvement.


Fellows have a wealth of opportunities to enhance their knowledge and professional growth through many activities. Provision of clinical supervision to medical students, residents, and other trainees is expected. Lectures, hospital seminars, and clinical care conferences within the residency program and in the community are among these teaching opportunities. Through active participation in weekly Child Protection Team meetings, the fellow will gain the ability to function within a multidisciplinary team and interact with many different child welfare colleagues.

Fellows will also have the opportunity to learn how a hospital- or community-based child protection team or child advocacy center operates. Close observation of and participation in the program's operation will allow the fellow to gain an understanding of budget development, clinic management and quality assurance and improvement issues.


Requirements include completion of an approved and accredited U.S. residency program and board eligibility or certification in pediatrics or family medicine. Application for medical license in the State of Colorado must be completed before initiation of training.

Fellows are selected directly through the department, NRMP for this fellowship will begin in 2014. Our Fellowship Application Form is available for download in the Adobe Acrobat Reader (PDF) format. (Note: Most browsers support Adobe PDF files; however, if yours does not, follow this link to download the latest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader). A more detailed fellowship description is mailed to all interested applicants who inquire about the program. Please print, complete and return the application form to our fellowship director. If interested applicants have questions or would prefer a copy of the application mailed, please contact our department.

Andrew Sirotnak, MD
Director, Fellowship in Child Abuse Pediatrics
Children's Hospital Colorado
13123 East 16th Avenue, B-138
Aurora, Colorado 80045
Phone:  720-777-6919
Fax:  720-777-7253
E-mail: Andrew.Sirotnak@childrenscolorado.org

Or:

Erin Dennis, BSBM
Fellowship & Residency Coordinator
13123 East 16th Avenue, Box 251
Aurora, CO  80045
Phone:  303-724-2566
Fax:  720-777-7317
Email:  Erin.Dennis@childrenscolorado.org

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Current Fellow:

Curtis Rashaan Ford, MD

Residency: Children's Medical Center in Dayton
Medical School: University of Colorado School of Medicine
Research Interests: Physical abuse, neglect, and institutional abuse
Curtis.Ford@childrenscolorado.org

Previous Fellows:
Name Year Current Position Location
Susan K. Reichert, MD 1993 Past Director, Child Advocacy Center Bend, OR
Andrew Sirotnak, MD 1994 Professor of Pediatrics CU SOM
Suzanne Starling, MD 1995 Professor of Pediatrics Norfolk, VA
Kent Hymel, MD 1996 Retired, U.S. Air Force Family Advocacy Program;  Director Child Advocacy and Protection Program Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, NH
Dede Arnholz, MD 1997 Clinical Assistant Professor of Pediatrics Kaiser Permaente Group, Denver, CO
Timothy Kutz, MD 1998 Associate Professor of Pediatrics St. Louis, MO
Patti Rosquist, MD 1999 Pediatric Practice Longmont, CO
Tamara Grigsby, MD 2001 Retred U.S. Navy Family Advocacy Program Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
Kathryn M. Wells, MD 2002 Associate Professor of Pediatrics CU SOM/DHMC
Antonia Chiesa, MD 2005 Assistant Professor of Pediatrics CU SOM
Sandeep Narang, MD 2008 Assistant Professor of Pediatrics U of TX San Antonio