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Kempe Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse and Neglect
Fellowship
Program Description Overview
The University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine's Department of Pediatrics, The Children's Hospital and the Kempe
Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse and Neglect offers
a one- or two-year post-residency fellowship in child abuse and neglect. The
goal of the fellowship is to provide physicians who are board eligible or board
certified in pediatrics with in-depth and intensive training in child abuse and
neglect that will prepare them for a clinical or academic career dedicated to
the field of child abuse.
The Kempe Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse and Neglect was founded in 1972 by C. Henry Kempe, MD, a former University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine Chairman of Pediatrics. His 1962 publication of the landmark paper The Battered Child, establishing one of the nation's first Child Protection Teams in 1958 and founding of the national center in Denver, are both legacy and foundation for the current University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine child advocacy and protection system of care.
The Kempe Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse and Neglect faculty consists of pediatricians, social workers, a pediatric lawyer and psychology and psychiatry staff. The Children's Hospital (TCH) clinical staff has many faculty colleagues in the Departments of General Pediatrics, Critical Care, Emergency Medicine, Neurosurgery and Surgery who provide excellent interdisciplinary care with the team for suspected child abuse victims and their families.
Clinical Programs and Settings:
Medical, Social and Legal
Clinical training during the fellowship includes extensive experience with The Kempe Protection Team, a shared multidisciplinary program of The Children's Hospital and the Kempe Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse and Neglect. The team evaluates and provides treatment annually for 1,000 children who are suspected child abuse victims. Physicians, healthcare professionals, families, human services, law enforcement and others in the Rocky Mountain Region refer to the team for consultation, treatment services and support. TCH is the only Level One Pediatric Trauma Center in Colorado with very active Emergency Medicine, Trauma, General Surgery and Neurosurgery and Burn Unit services.
Fellows participate in the medical diagnosis, consultation and treatment of children who are admitted to The Children's Hospital for serious injuries resulting from suspected physical abuse or neglect and sexual assault. The team also consults on factitious illness, non-organic failure to thrive and sexual abuse cases. A weekly clinic evaluates cases of child sexual abuse in an interdisciplinary team approach. Fellows learn how to obtain a detailed child abuse history, how to recognize and diagnose abusive injuries, how to analyze the mechanics of inflicted injury, how to interview families and children in the hospital setting and how to use diagnostic tests to document abuse. Fellows will attend and participate in forensic autopsies of children who die from child abuse or other injuries and can participate in local child fatality review teams. Clinical call is shared with attending faculty.
Integral to medical evaluation is learning how to work with social service and law enforcement agencies to protect children at risk for abuse, death or serious disability from abuse and neglect. Fellows learn about the legal systems involved in child protection and child abuse prosecution through didactic lectures, weekly child protection team interdisciplinary review and direct court experience. The fellows learn state child abuse laws, how to be an effective witness and how to document and present cases for the legal system. Court testimony by fellows is an expected part of training.
Fellows will interact with the staff psychologist and the Kempe Therapeutic Preschool for exposure to the mental health outcomes of child abuse and neglect. Fellows can also interact with and participate in other programs of the Kempe Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse and Neglect.
Academic Development: Research, Education
and Professional Growth
Starting in 2004, fellows are required to complete the Department of Pediatrics fellow
education series and the UCD
Clinical Research Training Program, which includes didactic courses in biostatistics,
epidemiology and research design. These courses include examinations and projects
with pass
/ fail grades. The cost of the course is covered by the program. Fellows are
required to design and complete an independent study that can result in national
abstract presentation and publication. Ample opportunity exists for presentation
of abstracts and lectures at local and national child abuse conferences. Formal
courses in biostatistics, epidemiology and research design offered by the Colorado School of Public Health can be taken by fellows. Because this is not a boarded subspecialty
area requiring three years of study, these courses are not required.
Fellows have a wealth of opportunities to enhance their knowledge and professional growth through many activities. Provision of clinical supervision to medical students, residents and other trainees is expected. Lectures, hospital seminars and clinical care conferences within the residency program and in the community are among these teaching opportunities. Through active participation in weekly Child Protection Team meetings, the fellow will gain the ability to function within a multidisciplinary team and interact with many different child welfare colleagues.
Fellows will also have the opportunity to learn how a hospital- or community-based child protection team or child advocacy center operates. Close observation of and participation in the program's operation will allow the fellow to gain an understanding of budget development, clinic management and quality assurance and improvement issues.
Recent Past Child Abuse and Neglect Fellows
| Name |
Year |
Current Position |
Location |
| Susan K. Reichert, MD |
1993 |
Medical Director, Child Advocacy Center |
Bend, OR |
| Andrew Sirotnak, MD |
1994 |
Associate Professor of Pediatrics |
UCD/TCH |
| Suzanne Starling, MD |
1995 |
Associate Professor of Pediatrics |
Norfolk, VA |
| Kent Hymel, MD |
1996 |
Retired, US Air Force Family Advocacy Program |
Falls Church, VA |
| Dede Arnholz, MD |
1997 |
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics
|
UCD/TCH |
| Timothy Kutz, MD |
1998 |
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics |
St. Louis, MO |
| Patti Rosquist, MD |
1999 |
Private Practice |
Colorado |
| Tamara Grigsby, MD |
2001 |
US Navy Family Advocacy Program |
Pearl Harbor, Hawaii |
| Kathryn M. Wells, MD |
2002 |
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics |
UCD/ DHMC |
| Antonia Chiesa, MD |
2005-2008 |
Senior Instructor of Pediatrics |
UCD |
Fellowship Application
Requirements include completion of an approved and accredited US residency program and board eligibility or certification in pediatrics or family medicine. Application for medical license in the State of Colorado must be made before initiation of training.
Fellows are selected directly through the department, as there is no NRMP for this fellowship area. Our Fellowship Application Form and this Program Description Overview are available for download in the Adobe Acrobat Reader (PDF) format. (Note: Most browsers support Adobe PDF files; however, if yours does not, follow this link to download the latest version of
Adobe Acrobat Reader.) A more detailed fellowship description is mailed to all interested applicants who inquire about the program. Please print, complete and return the application form to our fellowship director. If interested applicants have questions or would prefer a copy of the application mailed, please contact our department.
Andrew Sirotnak, MD
Fellowship Director
Child Abuse and Neglect
The Children's Hospital
13123 East 16th Avenue, B-138
Aurora, Colorado 80045
Phone: (720) 777-6919
Fax: (720) 777-7253
E-mail: Sirotnak.Andrew@tchden.org
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