Fellowship in Pediatric Surgery

Surgery

About the pediatric surgery fellowship

Thank you for your interest in the Pediatric Surgery Fellowship at the University of Utah. Established in 2011 and ACGME-accredited since 2012, our high-volume, single-fellow program offers a uniquely immersive training experience based at Primary Children’s Hospital, a Level 1 Pediatric Trauma Center and the only dedicated pediatric tertiary and quaternary care facility for a five-state region, including Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, and Nevada.

This broad geographic reach ensures exposure to a diverse, high-complexity case mix, from common pediatric operations to rare, highly specialized conditions. From the first day, our fellow assumes primary responsibility for directing the pediatric surgery service alongside a strong team of advanced practice clinicians and actively participates in complex neonatal and pediatric surgeries, selecting the most educational cases and gaining early operative autonomy.

Our nationally recognized faculty hold leadership roles in organizations such as the American Board of Surgery and the American Pediatric Surgical Association and direct multidisciplinary programs including a fetal treatment center, colorectal center, IBD center, and esophageal airway center. This commitment to clinical excellence, surgical education, and leadership development ensures our fellow graduates with the experience, operative confidence, and academic preparation to succeed as a future leader in pediatric surgery.

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PROGRAM INFORMATION

Our fellow attends APSA in the first year, AAP in the second, and 2–3 specialty courses such as colorectal and oncology. Additional meetings to support academic or clinical interests are encouraged, with time away subject to RRC guidelines. Explore the pediatric surgical fellowship information below.

FELLOWSHIP EDUCATON & MEETINGS

Meeting/Training Course policy: Our fellow routinely attends APSA in the first year and AAP in the second year. Additionally, our fellow attends 2-3 offsite courses during the fellowship. These have typically included the colorectal and oncology course. The fellow may attend additional meetings to foster development of particular academic or clinical interest. Time away is subject to RRC regulations governing time in training.

SALARY & BENEFITS

Fellow Salary: PGY6 – $87,436.00; PGY7 – $89,857.00. Additional call pay compensation.

BOARD PASSAGE RATE

We are proud to report a Board Passage Rate over the past three years at 100%!

PEDIATRIC SURGERY FELLOWSHIP ROTATION INFORMATION

Rotations include NICU and PICU, Pediatric Urology and ENT, and optional rotations in Burn or Pediatric Cardiac Surgery. Explore more details on the pediatric surgery fellowship rotation information.

ROTATION INFORMATION

Neonatal Intensive Care Unit- 4 weeks in the first year
Pediatric Intensive Care Unit - 4 weeks in the first year
Pediatric Urology - 2 weeks in the second year
Otolaryngology – 2 weeks in the second year

Additional rotation in the Burn Unit at the University of Utah Hospital or on Pediatric Cardiovascular Surgery are optional for interested fellows

PEDIATRIC SURGERY FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM STRUCTURE

A team of 16 APCs supports the service, allowing the fellow to focus on complex cases with one dedicated outpatient clinic day per week. Call is every other weekend in-house, with additional pay. In year two, fellows are credentialed to perform select procedures independently.

SERVICE

The clinical service is supported by our team of 16 experienced APC's, which allows the fellow to focus on the most complex and educational clinical problems. The fellow has one day per week dedicated to outpatient clinical experience.

CALL SCHEDULE

The call schedule is designed to maximize the education opportunities for the fellowship. Therefore the pediatric surgery fellow call is limited to every other weekend in house call during the two years of the fellowship. Pediatric surgery fellows are reimbursed additional call pay during those call periods. In addition, during the second year of the fellowship, the fellow is credentialed to performed common pediatric surgical procedures (i.e., laparoscopic appendectomy) independently.

SURGICAL VOLUMES & CASE LOGS

Our single-fellow model ensures early, hands-on experience with the most complex pediatric cases. With high case volume and a dedicated educational focus, fellows typically log 1600–2000 cases, far exceeding board requirements.

SURGICAL VOLUMES

Training of the pediatric surgery fellow is the core educational mission of our division. We have therefore designed our clinical service to maximize the educational benefit for our fellow. This typified by our decision to have only a single fellow despite our high case volume. This assures that the fellow will do the most complex pediatric surgery cases from the first day of fellowship. It also helps us maintain the educational focus as it is simply impossible for a single fellow to meet all of the service requirements of the division. Our fellow routinely finish the fellowship with 1600-2000 total cases and by far and away exceed the minimum case requirement as defined by the American Board of Pediatric Surgery.

PEDIATRIC FELLOW CASE LOGS

Case log reports for each of our past fellows can be found below:

Robert Swendiman (transitioned to faculty)
Elisabeth Wynne
Zachary Kastenberg (transitioned to faculty)
Mark Molitor
Justin Lee
Scott Short (transitioned to faculty)

HOW TO APPLY FOR THE PEDIATRIC SURGERY FELLOWSHIP

IMPORTANT DATES

Application Timeline for 2026 Fellowship

Application deadline: Thursday, December 18, 20253
Notification of invitation for interview: TBD

Interview Dates

APPLICATION PROCESS

The Pediatric Surgery Fellowship Program at the University of Utah participates in the Electronic Residency Application Service ERAS®. This allows you to complete one application and apply to all participating fellowships you are interested in. The deadline for completed applications to our program is Thursday, December 18, 2025.

We recognize that the interview process is costly to the resident applicants both in terms of time and money. We therefore emphasize the importance of pre-interview screening. We will review all applications shortly after the deadline for submission. All applications will be read by multiple faculty members. All applicants are then presented to the entire faculty. The faculty will select only 15 applicants for on-site interviews. We believe that careful review prior to the interview invitations can both save applicants money and avoid time away from their residency. It is our hope that applicants recognize that this process takes time and invitations will not be extended until (TBD).

Applicants selected to interview will receive additional information at the time the invitation is extended. Please be advised we schedule through Thalamus to make it easier and more convenient for the applicants. Thalamus scheduling will open on (TBD).

INTERVIEWS

Interviews will be held on Mondays with an optional social event on Sunday night. It is our hope that if your schedule allows, you can enjoy some of the "Greatest Snow on Earth" prior to the interview.

The dates of interviews are coordinated among the Western fellowship programs to the extent possible to decrease the travel burden for applicants.

Applicants selected for interviews will be notified beforehand and will receive additional information at the time of invitation.

TRAVEL INFORMATION

Getting to Primary Children’s Hospital

If you are flying into Salt Lake City, UT, you will fly into the Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC). Primary Children’s is about 20 minutes from the hospital. You have several options for travel from the airport:

Uber
UTA Trax (light rail system) (easy and inexpensive)
Rental car
Taxi

UTA Trax

Salt Lake City has a light rail system (UTA Trax) that can get you from the airport to the hospital. There is one transfer from the green line to the red line at the Courthouse stop. Please see the UTA site for detailed directions and customized route planning. This is easy and inexpensive. The red line ends at the medical center, and the green line ends at the airport.

Driving

If you choose to drive, I-80 and I-15 are the two highways that will get you to Primary Children’s Hospital. For detailed instructions, please click here.

Hospital Parking

Primary Children’s has free visitor parking. Indicate to the booth attendant that you are interviewing with the Pediatric Surgery Division, and they will direct you where to park.

Our Office

We are located in suite 3800. From the main entrance, walk down the main hall until you reach the South entrance elevators. Take the elevators to the third floor, turn South (towards the drinking fountain), and we are located on the East side of the hall with an orange border around the doorway.

Accommodations

We have reserved several rooms for prospective fellow applicants at the University of Utah Guest House the night before each interview date. This is within easy walking distance of the children’s hospital. It offers a discounted rate. You can call 888-416-4075 to make your reservation. Please state that you are with the Division of Pediatric Surgery. There is a shuttle that runs every 15 minutes from the Guest House to the University Of Utah Hospital; red or blue will get you there. Blue is the most direct. There is a bridge that connects University of Utah to Primary Children’s. Please see the University of Utah Hospital’s floor maps, Level 1 and Level A, for detailed directions.

Skiing

If you are interested in taking advantage of the “Greatest Snow on Earth,” there is a bus that leaves from the University of Utah that will take you up to the resorts. That information can be found on the UTA Ski Service.