Harbor-UCLA
Harbor-UCLA

Child Abuse Pediatrics Fellowship

LocationHarbor-UCLA Medical Center
1000 W Carson St, Box 437
Torrance, CA 90502
General Contact (424) 306-7978
Email Claudette Hoskins
choskins@dhs.lacounty.gov

Overview

The Department of Pediatrics offers a three-year accredited fellowship in Child Abuse Pediatrics for physicians who have completed an ACGME-accredited pediatric residency and are eligible for certification by the American Board of Pediatrics. The program aims to train physicians for academic careers in child abuse, neglect, and advocacy. The program offers an enriched experience in the areas of child physical abuse, sexual abuse, failure to thrive, neglect, and maternal substance use, as well as the opportunity for community site and agency experiences (e.g., law enforcement, social services, dependency court, criminal court).

Los Angeles County hosts seven Hub clinics that assess children with suspected abuse or neglect. The K.I.D.S. Hub Clinic at Harbor handles approximately 600 referrals yearly for child sexual and physical abuse evaluation. These include forensic assessments (physical exams and interviews) and evaluations of children entering the foster care system. In addition, there is a separate Failure to Thrive Clinic (FTT), which handles 400 visits per year. Children followed in the F.T.T. clinic have various conditions contributing to faltering growth. Approximately two-thirds of these children are/have been in the foster care system. In addition, the program follows children exposed in utero to various substances.

Fellows furthermore see inpatient and pediatric emergency department consults with the S.C.A.N. (Suspected Child Abuse and NeglecIn addition, theyeam. They join the Hub clinics at Martin Luther King Jr. Hospital with Dr. Janet Arnold-Clark and Los Angeles County- University of Southern California (LAC-USC) Medical Center with Dr. Catherine DeRidder. While at LAC-USC, fellows also complete a burn rotation. Fellow also complete S.A.R.T. (Sexual Assault Response Team) training and may attend a program at the Kempe Center for Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse and Neglect.

C.A.P. fellows attend numerous video conferences, including monthly peer-review with cases from Harbor and other L.A. County Hub clinics and journal club. There are also case review conferences from the Miller Children’s Hospital under the leadership of Dr. Corey Rood. In addition, they can attend the Los Angeles County Child Death Review Team’s monthly conferences.

Fellows have the opportunity to obtain a Master of Public Health through the Fielding School of Public Health at U.C.L.A.

Leadership

Carol Berkowitz, MD, FAAP, FACEP Clinical Professor of Pediatrics David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA Chief, Division of General and Emergency Pediatrics Director, Pediatric Child Abuse Fellowship Training Program
Director, Failure to Thrive Clinic Harbor-UCLA Medical Center