Proposed fellowship training program in pediatric emergency medicine for emergency medicine graduates

Interest in pediatric emergency medicine has grown steadily during the past decade among pediatricians and emergency physicians. With the rapid proliferation of pediatric emergency medicine programs for pediatricians has come extensive and valuable experience with this type of fellowship education. As a result, the structure and scope of these programs have become increasingly well established. Because the number of pediatric emergency medicine fellowship programs for emergency physicians has yet to reach "critical mass," no similar de facto standards exist for these programs. The recent establishment of guidelines for pediatric emergency medicine subspecialty certification by the American Board of Emergency Medicine and the American Board of Pediatrics brings new importance to fostering such standards for the training for emergency physicians. To this end, we present a proposed pediatric emergency medicine fellowship program developed during a retreat that included physicians from an emergency medicine program and two pediatric hospitals. We also review some of the significant events that have occurred in the evolution of pediatric emergency care.