Pediatric Hospital Medicine Fellowship

Dear PHM Fellow Candidate,

Here at the University at Utah, we are proud that we have been creating leaders in Pediatric Hospital Medicine since the inception of our PHM Fellowship in 2010.  Our fellows improve the lives of children through excellence in research, dissemination science, education, clinical care, advocacy, and health care delivery.  We proudly became ACGME accredited in 2020 and accept 2-3 fellows every year.

It is a small intimate fellowship housed in a large academically welcoming hospital medicine division with over 35 faculty members with interests that vary from medical education, advocacy, wellness, global health, quality improvement, administration, complex care, asthma, decision making tools, communication, bronchiolitis, febrile infant, overdiagnosis, high value care, eliminating health disparities and the list goes on and on!  The division houses leaders of the school of medicine, medical units, hospitals, and healthcare systems.  

The fellowship is an integral part of the division, and both have grown together synergistically. The fellow truly feels like a division member.  The large division provides a lot of opportunities to create a portfolio of mentors so fellows can become the best hospitalist version of themselves.    

We support clinical autonomy with an attending as coach model to foster optimal growth.  Fellows complete full spectrum care at both Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City, UT (5-6 units) and Primary Children’s Hospital Miller Campus in Lehi, UT (1 unit) and the Children’s Unit at McKay Dee Hospital (1-2 units). 

• Primary Children’s Hospital Salt Lake City Campus is a 289 bed free-standing children’s hospital. It is part of Intermountain Healthcare and is the pediatric teaching hospital for the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine at the University of Utah (SFESOM at UofU). It has a large catchment area of 400,000 square miles which includes at least 5 states (Utah, Nevada, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming).
• Primary Children’s Hospital Larry H. and Gail Miller Family Campus is a 66 bed free-standing children’s hospital that opened in 2024 in Lehi, UT. It is also part of Intermountain Healthcare and is a pediatric teaching hospital for SFESOM at UofU.    
• The Children’s Unit at McKay Dee Hospital is a 20 bed unit that mainly provides “bread and butter” inpatient pediatrics with an additional focus on triage, stabilization, and transfer of the acutely ill.  

Our fellowship has a strong academic focus and we give fellows the time and space to find and pursue academic passions.  Our unique partnership with the University of Utah and Intermountain Healthcare provides an impressive academic infrastructure with resources to complete a rigorous scholarly project during the 2-year fellowship.  Fellows have lots of opportunities to network, foster mentor relationships, and obtain academic skills.   Fellows complete at least 8 units of scholarship.

Fellows have the option to obtain certificates and degrees to bolster their academic skill set:  

Advance Training Program in Clinical Quality Improvement

Master of Education in Health Professions

Master of Science in Clinical Investigation

The flexibility of our fellowship values that “not all those who wander are lost.” Based on a fellow’s individualized goals and scholarly interests, a learning plan that includes electives is created and implemented. Fellows complete 8 units of individualized curriculum.

Electives include but are not limited to:

• More PHM
• More scholarship
• Sedation
• POCUS
• Complex Care
• Medical Technology
• Palliative Care
• Behavioral Health/Psychiatry
• ID/Antibiotic Stewardship
• Medical Spanish
• Advocacy
• Global Health

Our division is as enthusiastic about the quality of our fellowship as they are about working and living in the beautiful state of Utah where the mountains are in our backyard. Check out the pictures on our website. Thanks for your interest in our program.  I am excited to meet you this interview season.  Do not hesitate to reach out with questions.

Warm regards,

Rebecca Purtell, MD, MSCI

PHM Fellowship Program Director