Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Fellowship Program

Program Overview

Welcome to the University of California, Irvine/CHOC Pediatric Hematology & Oncology (PHO) Fellowship Program website. We hope that this will provide you with a better understanding of our program. The CHOC Pediatric Hematology & Oncology Divisions consist of dedicated physicians, allied health professionals and support staff who provide primary and consultative care to children with a wide variety of benign and malignant hematologic and oncologic diseases. Our mission is to provide exceptional care to patients, to advance research in pediatric hematology and oncology and to educate future pediatric hematologists and oncologists. The UCI/CHOC PHO Fellowship Program is a 3-year ACGME accredited fellowship program that aims to educate the future generation of leaders, researchers, and clinical physicians in the field of pediatric hematology & oncology. The philosophy of our program emphasizes the patient as the best teacher. Therefore, we stress teaching that is patient-centered, believing that the most effective learning is patient-derived.

The UCI/CHOC PHO Fellowship Program is clinically based at CHOC Hospital in Orange County, a large, stand-alone children’s hospital with its own pediatric emergency room, a wide range of pediatric subspecialties, a large pediatric residency program of nearly 90 residents and several pediatric subspecialty fellowship programs. In addition to a multitude of pediatric subspecialists (including radiation oncology, pediatric pathology, pediatric radiology, palliative care, and pediatric surgery among many more), CHOC houses multiple additional services that provide our patients with the best care possible. These include Child Life Services, music therapy, art therapy, massage therapy, a Chinese medicine team, and pet therapy.

During your time in fellowship, your education will include a year focused on clinical care followed by two years dedicated to basic, translational or clinical research. Throughout these three years, continuity clinics in hematology and oncology provide a consistent longitudinal experience that allows fellows to carry their own panel or primary patients. Our goal is to train the next generation of pediatric hematologists and oncologists who will continue to move the field forward while at the time providing exceptional care for patients and their families.

CHOC’s Hyundai Cancer Institute sees more than 200 new oncology patients annually and is one of the selected sites of the Children’s Oncology Group Pediatric Early Phase Clinical Trials Network (PEP-CTN). This program provides access to early phase trials in developmental therapeutics for patients with recurrent and refractory cancers. CHOC’s Pediatric Stem Cell Transplant Program is accredited by the Federation for Accreditation of Cellular Therapy (FACT) and performs approximately 25-35 hematopoietic stem cell transplants per year. The Oncology division participates in numerous clinical trials and has an on-site stem cell laboratory. In addition to inpatient care, Oncology outpatient services include the Oncology clinic, Outpatient Infusion Center (OPI), Infusionarium, and subspecialty clinics, such as BMT clinic, Neuro-Oncology clinic, and Survivorship clinic.

CHOC houses the MCHB/CDC Federal grants for the Western Regional Hemophilia Treatment Centers. Our Hemophilia Treatment Center cares for over 500 patients with bleeding disorders with many new diagnoses each year. As a member of the Thalassemia Consortium Research Network, CHOC treats a large population of patients with significant thalassemic conditions. A special feature of our Comprehensive Sickle Cell Anemia Treatment Center is the close collaboration with the Newborn Screening Program and the Sickle Cell Foundation. Other Hematology subspecialty clinics include Immune Deficiency clinic, Vascular Anomalies clinic, and Benign BMT clinic. The Hematology division participates in various basic and translational research projects and numerous clinical trials. In addition, the Blood and Donor Services provides emergent apheresis care for exchange transfusions, plasmapheresis, therapeutic WBC pheresis, and stem cell collections.

Our distinguished faculty continues to grow and now includes ten oncologists and ten hematologists. They are supported by nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, clinical research staff, and secretarial support. Members of the faculty include internationally and nationally-recognized experts in various aspects of pediatric hematology & oncology.

We are committed to providing fellows with a curriculum that is structured yet flexible enough to allow for adaptation to an evolving field and response to feedback. Our fellowship program is dedicated to helping fellows develop competencies specific to the fields of pediatric hematology/oncology while also committed to the art and science of medicine as defined by the ACGME Core Competencies.

Fellows are paid according to the university/hospital pay scale for trainees based on their post-graduate year. This salary is competitive and considers the cost of living in Southern California.

Please feel free to email me our call our office if you have additional questions.

Curriculum

Clinical (1st Year)

The clinical year is structured into multiple inpatient and outpatient blocks spread throughout the year. The first year of the UCI/CHOC PHO Fellowship Program is heavily weighted towards inpatient activity, where fellows learn to manage the sickest pediatric hematology & oncology patients. Team may consist of a mix of an attending, a resident, a medical student, and/or a nurse practitioner.

Rotations include the following:

• Hematology Inpatient (3-4 week blocks)
• Solid Tumor/CNS Inpatient (3-4 week blocks)
• Leukemia/Lymphoma/BMT Inpatient (3-4 week blocks)
• Subspecialty Outpatient Clinics (2 week blocks)
  • Vascular Anomalies Clinic
  • Immunodeficiency Clinic
  • Bone Marrow Transplant Clinic (Benign and Malignant)
  • Survivorship Clinic
  • Neuro-Oncology Clinic
• Blood Bank/Transfusion Medicine (2 week block)

Research (2nd and 3rd years)

The second and third years of fellowship are comprised of 80% protected research time. During this time, fellows will work closely with an identified research mentor to conceive of, develop, and carry out a two-year research project in basic, translational or clinical research. During the senior years of fellowship, the fellow will also have the opportunity to “pre-attend,” in which he or she will service as a co-attending under the mentorship of the clinical service attending and gain experience in leading the clinical team during rounds, supervising residents, interacting with nursing and other staff, and collaborating with other subspecialty services.

• Throughout the three years of fellowship, there are numerous opportunities to participate in and lead formal educational conferences. These include the following:
• Tumor Board (patient case presentation)
• Program Director Rounds
• Didactic Lectures are held on the 2^nd and 4^th Thursday monthly.
• Journal Club/Grand Rounds
• Interactive Pathology Teaching (formal sessions at the multi-headed microscope)
• Palliative and Supportive Care Lectures
• Morbidity & Mortality Conferences
• Clinical Conferences
  • BMT team meetings
  • Neuro-Oncology team meetings
  • Recurrent & Refractory Cancer Conference
• Board Review Lectures
• Core Curriculum lectures providing teaching across all fellowship programs focusing on research basics (statistics, IRB preparation, protocol development), professionalism, wellness, cultural competency, and other topics common to all pediatric subspecialty fellowship programs at UCI/CHOC.

How to Apply

Benefits/Information

Medical/Dental/Vision and Other Benefits

Current Fellows

Reena Pullukat, MD
Class of 2027

Residency: St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children, Philadelphia, PA

Medical School: Michigan State University

Amukthamalyada Kunduru, DO
Class of 2028

Residency: St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children, Philadelphia, PA

Medical School: Kansas City University College of Osteopathic Medicine

Sharon Trinh, DO
Class of 2028

Residency: Valley Children’s Healthcare, Fresno CA

Medical School: Touro University Nevada

UCI/CHOC Hematology Oncology Fellowship Graduates

Faculty