About Us

Adolescent Medicine Fellowship Program

MAIN (Program Overview/Mission/Vision/Aims)

The Adolescent Medicine Fellowship is available to Pediatric, Family Medicine, or Internal Medicine trained physicians from any branch of the military service. It is a three year fellowship for pediatricians, with one year dedicated towards research, and a two year fellowship for internists and family physicians.

The fellowship endeavors to provide a diverse clinical and educational experience that produces Adolescent Medicine Subspecialists and military officers who are engaged in supporting the needs of both active duty and dependent adolescents and young adults, and serve as future leaders in optimizing our healthcare system for our military community.

During the course of training, fellows will receive a well-rounded educational experience that encompasses areas of clinical care, scientific investigation, academic medicine, and healthcare systems. The focus of the program is to ensure graduating fellows are ready to independently provide high quality evidence-based health care for our population. As part of this process, fellows also must understand the basic fundamentals of research and quality improvement/patient safety systems as a way to positively affect the health care system. Fellows will be mentored through scholarly activity projects and processes to develop lifelong learning and self-reflection practices as part of the overarching goal of understanding the healthcare system as a whole. The program is also heavily invested in cultivating fellows as educators skilled in understanding the concepts of teaching and mentoring others in a variety of environments. Underscoring all learning activities throughout fellowship training is the nurturing of professionalism and leadership skills that develop our fellows as leaders both as a physicians and military officers ready to support the medical and military mission as clinic chiefs, medical directors, or battalion/flight commanders.

By the end of fellowship, graduates are consultative experts in a multitude of areas to include: sexually transmitted infections including management of post and pre-exposure HIV prophylaxis, sports medicine and concussion diagnosis and management, reproductive health, mood disorders, sexual minority and transgender care, substance abuse, and eating disorders. In addition, graduates are fully capable of providing primary and preventive health care services to adolescents and young adults dependents and active duty service members.

The fellowship can support three fellows per PGY year. Our board pass rate is 100% since the fellowship began in 2004.

Curriculum/Rotations/locations/Partnering Institutions

Over the course of training, fellows have the opportunity to rotate in several unique settings including the local school clinic, juvenile detention center, substance abuse center, inpatient psychiatric ward, sports medicine clinics, the Air Force Academy, Basic Military Trainee clinic, military transgender health clinic, eating disorder program, HIV clinic, in addition to the Ft Sam Houston Adolescent Medicine primary care clinic. Fellows will also take a leadership and expert consultative role in several multidisciplinary clinical experiences to include the headache clinic, cystic fibrosis clinic, Inpatient Consult Service, and transgender care clinic. Rotations are split between locations within the military health care system and the University of Texas Health Science Center.

Educational didactic sessions occur twice weekly on Wednesday and Friday mornings. Wednesday is dedicated to appraisal and analysis of journal articles, research basics, professionalism/leadership curriculum, military unique topics, and quality improvement instruction. While Friday is dedicated to board review didactics that covers core clinical topics. Fellows will be responsible for providing a certain number of journal clubs and board review sessions each year.

The monthly block schedule is built so each PGY class has a mix of primary and subspecialty experiences throughout the year. Within each block month, the fellow’s time is divided into clinical time and research time. The one year dedicated for research is dispersed throughout the three years of fellowship. Interspersed in the schedule are opportunities for fellows to precept other junior trainees (resident and students), and provide didactic lectures for rotating resident and students.

In addition to a dynamic clinical experience, the fellowship includes opportunities for fellows to participate in research and quality improvement projects in areas of their choice. Fellows will have mentors to assist in their project development and management. Most fellows are successful in getting selected to present their scholarly activity at major civilian and military conferences, and go on to publish in high-impact journals.

Military Relevance (military relevance of specialty/how program prepares trainees to be ready for military mission and first assignment)

With 70% of active duty service members (ADSM) being 25 years of age or younger, Adolescent Medicine Subspecialist are naturally well suited to provide care for this population. ADSM primarily seek medical care regarding musculoskeletal injuries, reproductive health issues, behavioral health and risk behaviors (smoking, alcohol, etc.), which is the basis of adolescent medicine training. Our field is well suited to care for ADSM.

The fellowship has also focused on the administrative side of being a military medical officer. Our military unique curriculum is concentrated on addressing how to write evaluations/awards, structure of military health system, career pathways, and deployed environment roles. We have also built into our schedule time for fellows to take part in trauma/MASCAL training events, and all fellows will go to the Critical Skills in Expeditionary Medicine Course in their last year of training.

To prepare fellows for their clinical jobs post-graduation, the fellowship has built in a business administration curriculum into outpatient clinic blocks. The curriculum will provide instruction and education on metrics and productivity data, managing civilian personnel, and managing clinic templates and flow. The expectation with the curriculum is to expose fellows to concepts, terminology and resource they will need as a clinic manager.

Application Instructions (Eligibility/Interview Process/Program Application Details)

Eligibility

US Army, Air Force, and Navy Medical Corps officers who have completed or will complete prior to matriculating a residency in Pediatrics, Family Medicine or Internal Medicine are eligible to apply.

Criteria for Selection

Criteria for selection include academic performance in residency and medical school, USMLKE/COMLEX scores, letters of recommendation, military evaluations, and demonstrated interest in military service with emphasis on leadership potential are strongly considered.

Application Deadline

NLT 15 September of the year before training begins. For more detailed information on applying for Residency/Fellowship programs, contact the BAMC Medical Education Office (210) 916-2222/3038 or DSN: 429-2222/3038.

Contact us

Program Director

Phone: (210) 808-2329

Associate Program Director

Phone: (210) 808-2330

Fax: (210) 808-2345

Program Coordinator

Phone: (210) 808-2341

Mailing Address

SAUSHEC Adolescent Medicine Fellowship
CPT Jennifer M. Moreno Primary Care Clinic
3100 Schofield Rd. Bldg# 1179
Fort Sam Houston, TX 78234

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