UCI-CHOC Pediatric Emergency Medicine Fellowship
Contact Us
Program Coordinator
Karen Olson
[email protected]
Program Leadership
Mary Jane Piroutek, MD
Program Director, Pediatric Emergency Medicine Fellowship Program
Natasha Li, MD
Associate Program Director, Pediatric Emergency Medicine
Theodore Heyming, MD
Division Chief, Pediatric Emergency Medicine
Welcome, and thank you for your interest in the University of California, Irvine and CHOC Hospital (UCI-CHOC) Pediatric Emergency Medicine Fellowship Program!
We’re proud to train the next generation of pediatric emergency medicine leaders in a collaborative and supportive environment.
Please click below to learn more about our fellowship, our team, and training at UCI-CHOC.
Message From the Director
Thank you for your interest in the UCI-CHOC Pediatric Emergency Medicine Fellowship Program. Our mission is to prepare our fellows for careers as outstanding clinicians, leaders in academic medicine, and contributors to research advancing the field of pediatric emergency medicine (PEM). We couldn’t be more excited to share information about our ED and fellowship program with you.
Mary Jane Piroutek, MD
Program Overview
The UCI-CHOC Pediatric Emergency Medicine Fellowship Program is an ACGME-accredited program that provides extensive clinical exposure in pediatric emergency medicine while strongly supporting scholarly work in the field.
- Pediatric residency-trained fellows will complete a 3-year fellowship.
- Emergency medicine-trained fellows will complete a 2-year fellowship.
CHOC Hospital, Orange
CHOC Hospital in Orange is home to one of the busiest and most advanced pediatric emergency departments in the region.
Our emergency department treats patients with high acuity, with 11% requiring hospital admission.
The Division of Emergency Medicine includes more than 20 pediatric emergency medicine (PEM) physicians working alongside a highly specialized team of Magnet-recognized nurses, medical technicians, pediatric emergency pharmacists, child life specialists and mental health emergency services staff.
Emergency Department Highlights
- 100,000+ emergency visits each year
- Orange County’s only Level I Pediatric Trauma Center
- 1,000+ trauma patients treated annually
- EMS-designated base station for Orange County
Hospital Capacity
- 44 Emergency Department beds
- 362 inpatient beds
- 42 Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) beds
- 24 Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit (CVICU) beds
- 92 Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) beds
Pediatric-Trained Fellows Schedule
PGY-4
- Pediatric Emergency Medicine (PEM): 4 months
- Adult Emergency Department: 1 month
- Cardiac ICU (CVICU): 1 month
- Obstetrics (OB): 1 month
- Emergency Medical Services (EMS): 0.5 month
- Research: 4 months
- Elective: 0.5 month
- Vacation: 1 month
PGY-5
- Pediatric Emergency Medicine (PEM): 4 months
- Adult Emergency Department: 1 month
- Cardiac ICU (CVICU): 1 month
- Obstetrics (OB): 1 month
- Emergency Medical Services (EMS): 0.5 month
- Research: 4 months
- Elective: 0.5 month
- Vacation: 1 month
PGY-6
- Pediatric Emergency Medicine (PEM): 4 months
- Adult Emergency Department: 1 month
- Research: 5 months
- Elective: 2 months
- Vacation: 1 month
Emergency Medicine-Trained Fellows Schedule
PGY-4
- Pediatric Emergency Medicine (PEM): 6.5 months
- Pediatric ICU (PICU): 1 month
- Neonatal ICU (NICU): 1 month
- Pediatric Anesthesia: 1 month
- Outpatient: 1 month
- Research: 0.5 month
- Elective: 1 month
- Vacation: 1 month
PGY-5
- Pediatric Emergency Medicine (PEM): 6 months
- Cardiac ICU (CVICU): 1 month
- Forensics: 0.5 month
- Outpatient: 1 month
- Research: 2 months
- Elective: 1.5 months
- Vacation: 1 month
Academic Curriculum
Fellows participate in a comprehensive academic curriculum designed to support clinical excellence, procedural competency and scholarly development.
- CHOC All Fellows Core Lecture Series
- PEM Core Lecture Series
- PEM Simulation Lab
- PEM Procedure Lab
- PEM Quality Improvement Curriculum
- PEM Journal Club
- PEM Toxicology Conference
- PEM Ultrasound Lab
- PEM Research Roundtable
- PEM Board Review Series
Scholarly Activity
During fellowship, each fellow will design, conduct and complete a pediatric emergency medicine scholarly project.
To support academic development, fellows will participate in:
- Meetings with a scholarly oversight committee twice per year
- A PEM Research Roundtable held quarterly (1–2 hours)
Quality Improvement
Fellows participate in a Quality Improvement or Patient Safety project during training.
Through this experience, fellows:
- Learn structured quality improvement methodologies
- Participate in interprofessional QI initiatives
- Gain experience improving clinical processes and patient outcomes
Annika Van Wieren, MD
Class of 2026
Residency: EM Ascension St John Hospital
Medical School: Wayne State
Saxony Busta, DO
Class of 2027
Residency: Peds Maimonides Medical Center
Medical School: Burrell COM
Peggy Kuo, DO
Class of 2028
Residency: Peds CHOC
Medical School: Western University of Health Sciences
Tiffany Chen, MD
Class of 2029
Residency: Peds CHLA
Medical School: Rutgers
Alana Barclay, DO
Class of 2029
Residency: Peds CHOC
Medical School: Nova Southeastern
Carla Alcid, MD
Raymen Assaf, MD
Tyler Ayalin, MD
Nelson Bansil, DO
Seth Brindis, MD
Chair of Pediatric Emergency Medicine
Megan Dickson, MD
Jasmin England, MD
Sarah Gomez, MD
Daniel Gromis, MD
Ultrasound Mentor
July Hedland, MD
Theodore Heyming, MD
Division Chief of Pediatric Emergency Medicine
Sonia Jarrett, MD
Dharshinine Jayamaha, MD
Gregory LaSala, MD
Medical Toxicology Mentor
Natasha Li, MD
PEM Fellowship Associate Program Director
Sonia Mehta, MD
Lilit Minasyan, MD
Divya Mirchandani, MD
Cynthia Orantes, MD
Raina Paul, MD
PEM Quality Improvement Mentor
Mary Jane Piroutek, MD
PEM Fellowship Program Director
Maureen Saint Georges, MD
Andrew Shieh, MD
Joshua Siembieda, MD
Michael Valente, MD
Eva Yuan, MD
PEM Simulation Mentor