Pediatric Hospital Medicine Fellowship

Congratulations on choosing to pursue a fellowship in the wonderful world of pediatric hospital medicine! As you think about what is important to you in a fellowship, we would like to highlight a few reasons the program at Spectrum Health Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital might be just what you are looking for:

Our fellowship program was one of only four in the U.S. to receive initial certification by the ACGME in January of 2020. As a fellow here, you will receive a robust didactic curriculum in research, QI, Patient Safety, Process Improvement and all pediatric hospital medicine core content topics. Our pediatrics and internal medicine/pediatrics residencies have a total of 24 residents/year along with two child neurology residents/year in their first two years. This affords fellows great team leadership, mentorship and teaching opportunities. We have 16 specialized fellowship electives for you to choose from, we continue to add more each year based on our fellows’ interests! We are affiliated with Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, which provides regular medical student teaching and mentorship opportunities. Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital has been in the U.S. News and World Report Top 50 for multiple successive years, including 2021-2022, and has over 300 pediatric physicians in 50 different specialties. Finally, our hospitalist faculty group is 20 members strong including two nurse practitioners, with diverse clinical and research interests. 

QI/Patient Safety/Process Improvement
Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital’s vision is to be the one of the top children’s hospitals in the nation and we currently rank second in Michigan and #11 in the Midwest. This drive for excellence has created a significant culture around quality/process improvement and patient safety.  Our fellows have been integrated into this culture, and in only three years of our fellowship, they have made meaningful impact within our hospital system and community while also being recognized on both the state and national level. These projects include improvement around interpretation services, addiction medicine and neurosurgical co-management. We are also lucky to have the Spectrum Health Director of Quality Improvement and Patient Safety be one of our pediatric hospital medicine partners, so we have easy access to QI and patient safety education along with mentorship for QI projects!  

Culture
Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital is the home of the “Call Me Bob” campaign, whereby all staff are encouraged to call each other by our first names. This has reduced the power gradient and sense of hierarchy that exists in many health care settings. It allows for better teamwork, more collaboration and a sense that work is a great place to be. We have robust initiatives in wellness and diversity that exist not just in the fellowship and across the institution as well. If you were a fly on the wall here on any day, you would see the sense of joy, cohesion, energy and fun that exists in our group, the fellowship program and the hospital. Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital is a great place to be! We look forward to meeting you virtually and sharing all that our fellowship, hospital and city have to offer! 

Sincerely,
Brett Leingang, MD, and Jeri Kessenich, MD

From the Senior Fellows

Danielle Fisher, MD, Allek Scheele, MD, Baila Harris, MD, and Catherine Ezzio, MD