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Indiana University School of Medicine
Indiana University School of Medicine
Pediatrics
Adolescent Medicine fellow with patient

Adolescent Medicine Fellowship

The Adolescent Medicine Fellowship program prepares physicians for leadership positions in academic medicine and public health. The program is open to pediatricians, internists and family medicine physicians and includes comprehensive training in tertiary and primary care adolescent medicine, research methods, quality improvement and professional development.

Indiana University School of Medicine provides a rigorous interdisciplinary training experience. Adolescent medicine has faculty from diverse disciplines including psychology and sociology. As an adolescent medicine fellow, you will work with residents and fellows across the School of Medicine, as well as trainees in nursing, social work and psychology. Research and community leadership opportunities for fellows include collaborations in public health, education and social services. This interdisciplinary environment provides opportunities to receive input, education and mentorship from multiple disciplinary perspectives.

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The Adolescent Medicine Fellowship at IU School of Medicine is a two- or three-year program.. With emphasis on education, research, advocacy and clinical training, our fellows get a broad foundation from which to launch their future careers. As one of only nine LEAH programs in the country, our medical fellows benefit from learning and working along-side nursing, social work, and psychology fellows.

Program Leadership

Program Director
38232-Sherwin, Nomi

Nomi K. Sherwin, MD, MS

Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics

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Clinical Education Coordinator
Erika Naylor Headshot

Erika Naylor

Program Coordinator

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IU Leadership Education in Adolescent Health (LEAH)

The Division of Adolescent Medicine is one of nine programs nationally to have a multidisciplinary training program in adolescent and young adult (AYA) health. Each year, the program prepares medicine, nursing, psychology and social work graduate and post-graduate trainees for diverse professions in AYA health through didactic and experiential mentored learning, research training, professional development and community engagement. The program works to expand strategies and effective practices across the state to improve health services, well being and support for AYAs.

Curriculum

Two physicians work together on a white board

Fellowship activities are designed to provide the clinical, teaching, research, program and advocacy skills necessary for leadership positions in adolescent medicine. Key aspects of the curriculum include:

  • discipline-specific role models
  • formal instruction
  • supervised application of new knowledge and skills
  • the opportunity to teach others

Over a three-year fellowship, approximately 50% of time is devoted to clinical training and 50% to research, education and community-based work. All fellows have a Scholarship Oversight Committee to plan and individualize their curriculum and to assess progress across the fellowship.

A core curriculum provides didactic instruction in adolescent health and research methods. Clinical and community leadership experiences permit the application of new skills and knowledge and provide an opportunity to interact with disciplines and agencies important for comprehensive care of youth. Health planning, policy and advocacy are taught through a graduate seminar in adolescent health and community-based experiences.

Fellows have the opportunity to work with adolescent faculty consulting with community agencies and government programs for youth. As a small state, Indiana is an ideal environment to learn health policy and advocacy.

Fellows participate in a weekly three hour multidisciplinary seminar in adolescent health. Content includes presentations by topic experts, journal club, research- in-progress, case based discussions, research methods and leadership training. The overall goals are to: (1) Advance knowledge of core adolescent health topics including growth and development, puberty, nutrition, and the medical, psychological and social morbidities affecting youth; (2) Develop research skills in adolescent heath, including research design and analysis; and (3) Increase skills in collaborative and community-based work, communication and problem-solving strategies, advocacy and leadership skills.

Fellows at IU School of Medicine will work with a vibrant, multidisciplinary group of faculty. Core faculty members within the Division of Adolescent Medicine represent multiple specialties including pediatrics, psychology, sociology and dietetics. Affiliate faculty include gynecology, children’s health services, nursing, social work and public health. Expertise ranges from STIs and sexual health to juvenile justice to ethics. Faculty hold leadership positions in national organizations, including the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine, the North American Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology and the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Current Fellows

67888-Jiang, Kewa

Kewa Jiang, MD

PGY 5
Albert Einstein College Of Medicine

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Clinical Training

Patient and doctor speaking

The adolescent medicine program provides nearly 50,000 visits per year to adolescents, ages 11–24 years old in both subspecialty and primary care settings. We believe that adolescent medicine physicians should train across a variety of settings.

Inpatient and outpatient subspecialty training occurs primarily at Riley Hospital for Children at IU Health, one of the top children’s hospitals in the nation. While on-service, fellows lead an adolescent consultation service at Riley Hospital. Outpatient adolescent subspecialty care is provided at a downtown IU Health location, and the Charis Eating Disorders Program (an IU Health satellite clinic). Subspecialty outpatient experiences include the following:

  • The Adolescent Consultation Clinic provides care for complex conditions to adolescents referred by physicians throughout Indiana.
  • The Adolescent & Young Adult Reproductive and Sexual Health Program offers consultative care to children, adolescents and young adults for gynecological concerns, menstrual disorders and contraception, including long acting reversible contraceptive placement and contraception in adolescents with chronic illness.
  • The Charis Center for Eating Disorders provides comprehensive evaluation and treatment for children, adolescents and adults. Multidisciplinary services include outpatient care, an intensive outpatient program and a partial hospitalization program.
  • The Gender Health Program evaluates for gender dysphoria, adjustment to social transition and gender identity transition.
  • Adolescent Medicine faculty provide care through collaborative program, including a hematology and adolescent medicine clinic, a multidisciplinary cancer survivor program and an onco-fertility program.

Faculty direct and staff a system of community-based adolescent clinics where fellows learn adolescent primary care and population health. The Teen Care Program through Eskenazi Health maintains a system of adolescent clinics providing primary care and reproductive health care for low income teens in Marion County in community settings. The Teen Care Program is a designated medical home for adolescents, and serves diverse cultural and linguistic populations.

Electives are based upon fellow interest, time and future career path. Recent fellow electives have included advanced training in eating disorders and gender health, palliative care, clinical ethics, dermatology, school-based health, sports medicine and weight management clinic.

Research Training and Scholarly Work

Two researchers stand in front of their research poster

Research training is an integral part of the fellowship, and may be in clinical research, translational research, basic science or community-based research. Fellows’ research training activities include:

  • formal coursework in biostatistics, research design, research methods and ethics
  • advanced research topics through the Graduate Seminar in Adolescent Health
  • completion of mentored research

Fellows may complete additional coursework towards a master’s degree (see below). For the mentored research project, sufficient time, support and guidance are given during the fellowship program to allow for completion of meaningful work.

Early in the first year of fellowship, trainees are exposed to the research activities of investigators in the Division of Adolescent Medicine. By the end of the first quarter, the fellow selects a faculty for an initial mentored research experience. Using extant data within the division, the fellow and mentor prepare an abstract for presentation at the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine annual meeting.

In years two and three, fellows will engage in their main research project or scholarly work. If selecting research, a fellow's main project may be part of a faculty member's research program or may be an independent project developed in conjunction with adolescent faculty. Examples of fellow projects include an analysis of data collected as part of a larger project on oral contraceptive adherence, interviews with adolescent cancer patients and their parents about fertility preservation, depo self-administration, adolescent preventive care in family medicine and the confluence of pregnancy and new HIV diagnosis in Western Kenya. If doing a research project, fellows are expected to create their research protocol, submit their IRB application, and collect data. Research findings are typically presented at national meetings and have resulted in first author of a manuscript submitted for publication. Other examples of scholarly work by fellows have included restructuring the curriculum of the Summer Adolescent Medicine Intensive for board review and immersion of the incoming fellow and participation in national committees

Fellows may complete coursework leading to a master’s degree. The IU School of Medicine CITE program leads to a Master of Science in Clinical Research, and the Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health provides opportunities for a master’s in public health (MPH). Individual fellows have also chosen to pursue other degrees including a Master's of Adult Education (MEd).

The Indiana School of Medicine Graduate Medical Education offers multiple training pathways for residents and fellows that result in a certificate. These include Global Health, Clinician-Educator, Healthy Outcomes, and Leadership Training. Past fellows have chosen to pursue additional training in Clinical Ethics. Fellows interested in a career in research are encouraged to apply for one of IU School of Medicine's NIH Supported T32 Research Training Awards.

Applications

All applicants must:

  • be U.S. citizens, have permanent resident status, or have a current J-1 visa.
    • If a visa is required, J-1 is accepted by IU School of Medicine GME and our program. All applicants with a J-1 visa must have completed a U.S.-based ACGME-accredited residency program prior to joining our program.
    • All employment offers extended to individuals who are not U.S. citizens or permanent residents must be contingent upon the applicant’s ability to secure an appropriate visa and corresponding employment authorization to work in the United States.
  • be eligible for licensure in Indiana.

Applications are accepted through ERAS. Please include three letters of recommendations (one of which must come from the director of residency program), transcripts from college and medical school, and scores on USMLE. Please note that all Step exams must be passed prior to being offered a spot in our program, per GME policy.

 

For off-cycle applications or inquiries, please contact:

Erika Naylor
ernaylor@iu.edu
Fellowship Coordinator, Division of Adolescent Medicine
Indiana University School of Medicine
Health Information and Translational Sciences Building
410 W. 10th St.
Suite 1001
Indianapolis, IN 46202

Apply for Fellowship

To apply for the Adolescent Medicine Fellowship program at IU School of Medicine, submit an application through the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) and include the required documents.