Program Components

Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Fellowship
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Program Components

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Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) — one of the world’s most respected comprehensive centers devoted exclusively to cancer — has devoted 140 years to exceptional patient care, innovative research, and outstanding educational programs. Today, we are one of 52 National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers, with state-of-the-art science flourishing alongside novel clinical studies and treatments. MSK Kids, MSK’s pediatric program, is the largest pediatric oncology program in the United States dedicated to the care of children, adolescents, and young adults with cancer, immune deficiencies, and blood disorders. MSK Kids provides treatments in outpatient settings, as well as in inpatient areas, including a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU). MSK’s PICU is one of just two ICUs in the country fully dedicated to the care of children with cancer.

MSK established the nation’s first fellowship training program in 1927. Our education programs train future physicians and scientists, and the knowledge and experience they gain at MSK impacts cancer treatment and biomedical research around the world. For more on Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center’s history and additional information, please review here.

New York-Presbyterian Hospital, affiliated with Weill Cornell Medicine, is among the foremost academic medical centers in the world providing emergency, primary, and specialty care in virtually every field of medicine. With dedicated facilities, the New York-Presbyterian Komansky Children’s Hospital at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center is a full-service, multidisciplinary pediatric program with access to highly skilled physicians with expertise in the full range of pediatric subspecialties, including a dedicated pediatric emergency department with a level 1 trauma center, the Alexandra Cohen Hospital for Women and Newborns with a level 1 newborn intensive care unit (NICU), and a New York City regional burn center.

First Year

The rotations listed below occur in three-week blocks.

Second Year

  • Protected research time
  • Continuity Clinic: ½ day per week
  • NYPH-WC hematology clinics

Third Year

  • Protected research time
  • Continuity Clinic: ½ day per week
  • NYPH-WC hematology clinics
  • 1 week “acting attending” NYPH-WC inpatient service

Additional program highlights:

  • Fellows take call (pager call) from home
  • Four weeks of vacation per year, in addition to salary and benefits
  • Grant writing class
  • Supported attendance for at least one conference per year
  • Wellness

Our Training Sites:

MSK Kids is the largest program in the United States dedicated to the care of children, adolescents, and young adults with cancer, immune deficiencies, and blood disorders. The Department of Pediatrics at MSK comprises experts in the research and treatment of pediatric malignancies and immune deficiencies who collaborate with specialists in other MSK departments to offer comprehensive diagnostic, treatment, and survivorship care. MSK Kids sees more pediatric cancer patients in the U.S. than any other hospital, which leads to a diverse patient population. Our clinical staff have unparalleled experience treating cancers of every type and stage, as well as immune deficiencies and noncancerous blood disorders, including leukemias and lymphomas, brain tumors, sarcomas, neuroblastoma, retinoblastoma, Wilms’ tumor, and pediatric blood disorders (both malignant and benign). MSK Kids combines the latest science with compassionate care to design, evaluate, and provide the most innovative treatments — including advanced care, such as antibody-based therapies, radiolabeled antibodies, cell-based therapies, and vaccines and other immunotherapies — so more young people can grow up to live healthy, productive lives.

The Department of Pediatrics at Weill Cornell Medicine is committed to providing exceptional care for patients in a supportive, educationally rich environment with innovative research that prepares the next generation of pediatricians and pediatric scientists for clinical practice. Affiliated with New York-Presbyterian Komansky Children’s Hospital — New York’s No. 1 children’s hospital, it is the most comprehensive benign hematology center in the New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut area for the pediatric treatment of blood disorders, with a focus on evidence-based clinical care. There are specialized programs for platelet disorders, hemophilia and bleeding disorders, thrombosis, thalassemia, and sickle cell disease. Additionally, there is an oncology program focused on adolescent and young adult lymphoma with concentration in survivorship and fertility preservation.

In addition to being one of the oldest centers of its kind in the United States, Weill Cornell Medicine’s Comprehensive Hemophilia Treatment Center and Thalassemia Center is also among the largest. The New York State Department of Health has recognized Weill Cornell’s practice as a designated Hemoglobinopathy Specialty Center providing comprehensive care to children and adolescents with disorders such as thalassemia syndromes, sickle cell anemia, and other red blood cell disorders. The Pediatric Hematology Oncology Division is committed to medical education at every level: medical students, pediatric residents, and hematology-oncology fellows.

The joint program between Weill Cornell Medical Center and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center is well-established as one of the country’s leading pediatric hematology-oncology fellowship programs. Given its location in New York City, the program offers unparalleled diversity in patient care, disease variety, socioeconomic diversity, and opportunities for improving cultural understanding. When work is over, life, food, culture, music, and history are all at your fingertips.

 

MSK Inpatient Rotation (General Oncology)

The fellowship training program includes two one-month inpatient rotations with the pediatric oncology team at MSK during the first year of training. The inpatient pediatric oncology team includes the fellow on service, one attending pediatric oncologist, three to four rotating pediatric residents, and a clinical pharmacist.

MSK Inpatient Rotation (With Stem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapies Service)

The fellowship training program includes a two-month inpatient rotation on the Stem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapies Service at MSK during the first year of training. The inpatient transplant and cellular therapy team includes the pediatric hematology-oncology fellow on service, one attending transplant and cellular therapy specialist, two to three advanced practice providers, a transplant and cellular therapy fellow, and the occasional pediatric resident or medical student.

MSK Outpatient Rotations

MSK Kids is organized into disease-specific services comprised of attendings, nurse practitioners, nurses, and social workers. MSK Kids’ services include the Hematologic Malignancies Service, Neuroblastoma Service, Neuro-Oncology Service, Sarcoma Service, and Stem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapies Service.

Fellows will learn how to initially evaluate potential new oncologic diagnoses, create treatment plans for patients, manage both acute and long-term toxicities that occur during and after treatment, and counsel patients and families. This is also a unique opportunity to conduct second opinion consultations for complex cases.

MSK Continuity Clinic

The fellowship training program includes a weekly Continuity Clinic in the Pediatric Ambulatory Care Center at MSK. The goal of Continuity Clinic is to introduce fellows to the care of the hematology/oncology patient in the outpatient setting and equip them with longitudinal experience in the course of disease progression and treatment. Fellows will build on and enrich their knowledge of pediatric oncology by spending one half day per week in the outpatient clinic at MSK Kids, where they will see a variety of patients with different diseases. In addition to seeing new patients, they will follow a panel of “primary patients” from each pediatric disease service for the duration of each patient’s treatment and follow-up. Special effort is made to maintain patient continuity for each fellow through the duration of the three-year fellowship.

NYPH-WCM Inpatient Rotation (Inpatient Hematology/Oncology Service)

The inpatient team consists of one attending physician, three to four rotating residents, and the fellow. Fellows are intimately involved in the initial diagnostic workup of suspected pediatric cancers on the pediatric inpatient units, including the general pediatric ward, the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, and the Pediatric Emergency Department.

NYPH-WC Outpatient Hematology Clinics

Fellows rotate through the outpatient Weill Cornell Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Clinic during the first year. Emphasis is placed on consultative hematology with a mix of new consults, recently diagnosed hematology patients, and active management of long-term patients focusing on comprehensive care and healthcare transitions. Fellows gain dedicated experience and mentorship with the Sickle Cell, Hemostasis, Thalassemia, Platelet Disorder and Thrombosis teams in the outpatient pediatric clinic and infusion center at NYPH-WC.