Education

Daniel Lesser, MD
Director, Pediatric Pulmonary Training Program

The Rady Children’s San-Diego/University of California, San Diego fellowship program provides clinical and scholarly training with the goal of developing future academic leaders in the field.

Application Process
We participate in the National Residency Match Program pediatric specialties fall match. Registration begins in July and interviews run July through November. Please submit your application via the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS).

Clinical Training

Pediatric pulmonary fellows complete a substantial amount of their clinical training during the first year of the fellowship. Approximately seven months of the first year are spent on the inpatient wards. Rady Children’s serves the majority of children in San Diego, Riverside and Imperial counties requiring inpatient care. Fellows provide care to children affected by the entire breadth of pediatric respiratory disorders.

During the inpatient rotation, fellows care for patients on the pulmonary service, provide consultations and perform bronchoscopy. The fellow also conducts rounds with the UC San Diego pediatric house staff and contributes to the education of both residents and medical students. Training in outpatient care is accomplished via a continuity clinic in which patients referred from the community are assigned to be seen by the fellow. The continuity clinic is continued throughout fellowship, enabling fellows to develop long-term relationships with families while observing the evolution of pediatric respiratory disease. In addition, fellows gain additional experience in outpatient care by attending various specialty clinics on cystic fibrosis, neuromuscular disease and sleep disorders.

Throughout the first year, fellows are also trained in the performance and interpretation of pulmonary function testing, polysomnography and respiratory clearance techniques. Some flexibility is built into the clinical training, and fellows are encouraged to develop clinical expertise within a particular area of pediatric respiratory medicine.

Research Training

The world-class biomedical research community at UC San Diego offers fellows a myriad of opportunities to become involved in scholarly work. Within the first year, fellows will determine an area of academic interest and identify a faculty mentor. By the completion of the first year, the foundation for the fellow’s scholarly project will have been established. The second and third years of post-doctoral training afford the fellow adequate time to make a significant contribution in their chosen area of interest. The scholarly work culminates with a written work-product and presentation to the Division of Pediatric Respiratory Medicine, with the goal of producing peer-reviewed publications and presentations at national scientific meetings.

The Division is pleased to offer fellows the opportunity to receive research training under the guidance of physician-scientists who are leaders in the field:

Gabriel G. Haddad, M.D., Physician-in-Chief at Rady Children’s and Chair of the UC San Diego Department of Pediatrics, heads an active laboratory focused on investigating the biological consequences of hypoxia.
Xin Sun, Ph.D., heads a research program is to understand the genetic control of lung organogenesis in mammals.

Fellows also have the opportunity for mentorship and collaboration with other physician-scientists in the UC San Diego Department of Pediatrics and throughout the university. For more information about our fellowship program, contact Cristina Del Muro, fellowship coordinator, at the phone number or email below.

Teaching Conferences

Pulmonary Fellowship Teaching Conferences

Pulmonary Fellow Conference – Various forums are employed during this weekly conference with focus on clinical training.

Case discussion – the inpatient fellow or senior fellow present a patient from the inpatient pulmonary service followed by a brief discussion of aspects of disease pathophysiology.
State of the Art – Fellows choose a topic to present an up-to-date, evidence based discussion.
Faculty Didactics – Pulmonary faculty discuss their field of expertise with focus on fellow learning objectives.
Journal Club – Fellows choose a topic to present a critical appraisal of a research paper.

Lung Club Physiology Conference – fellows rotate topics to design an interactive session to teach co-fellows and faculty respiratory physiology.

Western States Pediatric Pulmonary Case Conference – Web-based case conference amongst western pediatric pulmonary centers. The conference is “headquartered” at UC San Diego in collaboration with the University of Arizona Pediatric Pulmonary Center.

Radiology / Pathology Conference – A discussion of chest imaging and pathology amongst pulmonologists, radiologists, and pathologists.

Pulmonary Research Conference – A review of divisional research projects and overall research mission.

Pediatric Fellow Research Seminar Series –Pediatric fellows from all divisions present research proposals and results to co-fellows and faculty.

Education Courses

Enquiry Program – Fellows receive training and then participate in quality improvement projects. This course is designed specifically for pediatric residents and fellows, and each fellow is assigned a QI mentor.

CREST (Clinical Research Enhancement through Supplemental Training) – optional courses offered through UC San Diego to enhance training in clinical research.

Pulmonary Function Testing and Physiology – A mini-seminar offered by Dr. Matejka Cernelc- Kohan to discuss practical aspects of pulmonary function testing with emphasis on physiologic principles that guide interpretation.

Contact Us

Cristina Del Muro, Fellowship Coordinator
3030 Children’s Way, MS 5070
San Diego, CA 92123-4227
Phone: 858-966-5846
Fax: 858-966-6491
Email: cdelmuro@rchsd.org