Pediatric Anesthesiology Fellowship

Welcome from our program director

Thank you for your interest in our program. Please use this website to help learn more about what our pediatric anesthesiology program has to offer.

Elizabeth Starker Pealy, MD

Program Director, Pediatric Anesthesiology Fellowship

ABOUT OUR PROGRAM:

The Department of Anesthesia and Critical Care is pleased to offer an ACGME-accredited one-year fellowship in Pediatric Anesthesia at Comer Children’s Hospital, part of the University of Chicago Medical Center. Comer Children’s Hospital, a free-standing, 172-bed acute-care facility, has been providing family-centered, comprehensive, state-of-the-art care since opening its doors in 2005. As a major tertiary academic referral center and a pediatric Level I trauma center, Comer provides care for children of all ages, from premature neonates to older adolescents, who present with all types of medical problems, ranging from the common to the rare and complex. Comer Children’s Hospital is also committed to serving the community and provides care to many Medicaid patients and to those without insurance.

Our program offers a substantial clinical anesthesia experience, from routine pediatric surgical cases to a full range of pediatric surgical subspecialties, including neurosurgery, craniofacial, cardiac, otolaryngology, ophthalmology, orthopedic, urology, plastic, burn, trauma, and transplant surgery, as well as experience in pediatric critical care, neonatology, and pain management. We have five operating rooms in which over 4000 surgical cases are conducted annually.  Anesthetic care also occurs outside the operating room for diagnostic and therapeutic medical procedures, as well as in the cardiac catheterization lab, interventional radiology, and imaging suites. 

We offer a single fellowship spot annually through the San Francisco Match. Continuously accredited by the ACGME since 2008, our program provides the fellow with broad, in-depth knowledge and experience in all aspects of pediatric anesthesia. The fellow enjoys a diverse patient population and a wealth of challenging cases and trains with an active group of board-certified faculty who are strongly committed to teaching, education, research, and leadership. Our program is built upon a long tradition of academic and clinical excellence maintained by the Department of Anesthesia and Critical Care, and prepares our graduates to become outstanding consultants in pediatric anesthesia

The majority of training takes place at Comer Children’s Hospital, with the exception of two months spent at Advocate Children’s Hospital located for pediatric cardiac anesthesiology and one spent at Lurie Children’s for the pediatric pain rotation. In addition to providing additional experience in cardiac and pain management, this affiliation allows the opportunity to practice at another children’s facility and ACGME-accredited program.

Our program allows for the fellow to assume graduated responsibility and progressive autonomy as the year progresses, with opportunities for teaching and supervision of junior trainees as well as in practice management. At the beginning of the year, the fellow shares call responsibilities with the rotating residents at Comer. Towards the end of the training year, depending on individual progress, the fellow takes on a supervisory role in the OR.  By this point, the fellow does not take formal call but is notified for educationally valuable after-hours fellow-level cases.  

Rotations:

Main Operating rooms:

  • 4 months in pediatric operating rooms

  • 2 months in supervisory role

Pediatric intensive care unit:

  • 1 month

pediatric cardiac anesthesiology:

  • 2 months at Advocate Christ Hospital

neonatal intensive care unit:

  • 1 month

Pain:

  • 1 month at Lurie Children’s Hospital

Sedation/PACU:

  • 2 weeks

DIDACTICS:

The majority of training takes place at Comer Children’s Hospital, with the exception of two months spent in pediatric cardiac anesthesiology at Advocate Christ Children’s Hospital and one month at Lurie Children’s Hospital in pediatric pain management. In addition to providing additional experience in cardiac and pain management, this affiliation allows the opportunity to practice at another children’s facility and ACGME-accredited program.

Our program allows for the fellow to assume graduated responsibility and progressive autonomy as the year progresses, with opportunities for teaching and supervision of junior trainees as well as in practice management. At the beginning of the year, the fellow shares call responsibilities with the rotating residents at Comer. Towards the end of the training year, depending on individual progress, the fellow takes on a supervisory role in the OR.  By this point, the fellow does not take formal call but is notified for educationally valuable after-hours fellow-level cases.  

scholarly activity:

The fellow is required to produce a scholarly project during the course of the training year. Past examples of academic projects include poster or oral presentations at regional or national conferences, published case studies, documentation of contributions to ongoing clinical research, CQI projects, book chapters, review articles, PBLD (problem-based learning discussion) presentations, and grand rounds presentations. Attendance and presentation of an abstract or PBLD at the winter/spring Society for Pediatric Anesthesia (SPA) conference is expected. The fellow is also required to participate in a CQI project. Many of the faculty in the pediatric anesthesia section and in the Department of Anesthesia and Critical Care have ongoing academic projects. The fellow also participates in organizing M&M conference for the pediatric section, holding Resident Journal Club for the rotating anesthesia residents, and presenting challenging cases for group discussion during resident conference.  

OUR FACILITIES:

  • Comer Children's Hospital

    Built in 2005, Comer Children’s Hospital is a nationally ranked, 172 bed, free-standing pediatric hospital on the South Side of Chicago. It is also the only level 1 pediatric trauma enter, serving children aged 0-18 years old in the emergency department. It is affiliated with the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine

    Comer Childern's

  • Advocate Christ Children's Hospital

    Advocate Children’s Hospital is an academic, pediatric acute care hospital located in Oak Lawn, Illinois, just outside of Chicago. The hospital has 259 beds, and in partnership with Advocate Christ Hospital, provides cardiac surgery for congenital lesions and for adults with congenital heart disease. The teaching institutions affiliated with Advocate Children’s Hospital are Rosalind Franklin School of Medicine and Midwestern University School of Osteopathic Medicine.

    Advocate Children's

  • Lurie Children's Hospital

    Affiliated with Northwestern University’s Feinberg School Medicine, Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital is a 360 bed nationally raked, free-standing acute care pediatric hospital with a pediatric level 1 trauma center. Lurie Children’s has a robust pediatric regional and pain service at which our fellows have the ability to rotate throughout their training.

    Lurie Children's

MEET OUR PEDIATRIC ANESTHESIOLOGISTS

  • ELLEN CHOI, MD

    SECTION CHIEF, PEDIATRIC ANESTHESIOLOGY

    ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF ANESTHESIA & CRITICAL CARE MEDICINE

  • ELIZABETH STARKER PEALY, MD

    PROGRAM DIRECTOR, PEDIATRIC ANESTHESIOLOG FELLOWSHIP

    ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF ANESTHESIA & CRITCAL CARE MEDICINE

  • LEILI KHORASSANI, MD

    ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF ANESTHESIA & CRITICAL CARE MEDICINE

    ASSOCIATE PROGRAM DIRECTOR

  • ZHENG XIE, MD

    PROFESSOR OF ANESTHESIA & CRITICAL CARE MEDICINE

  • CAITLIN AVEYARD, MD

    CLINICAL ASSOCIATE

    DEPARTMENT OF ANESTHESIA & CRITICAL CARE MEDICINE

  • SARAH NIZAMUDDIN, MD

    ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF ANESTHESIA & CRITICAL CARE MEDICINE

  • JULIANNA CLARK-WRONSKI, MD

    ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF ANESTHESIA & CRITICAL CARE MEDICINE

  • BRADY STILL, MD

    ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF ANESTHESIA & CRITICAL CARE MEDICINE

  • SHIRAGI PATEL, MD

    ASSISANT PROFESSOR OF ANESTHESIA & CRITICAL CARE MEDICINE

  • MARIANA MONTES, MD MPH

    ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF ANESTHESIA & CRITICAL CARE MEDICINE

Current Fellow

TARA MOJTAHED, MD

Medical School: Rush University, Chicago, IL
Internship: Columbia-Bassett Medical Center, Cooperstown, NY
Residency: Rush University, Chicago, IL

Benefits:

  • Comprehensive benefits plan through UChicago Medicine with multiple tiers of coverage for Medical, FSA, Dental, Vision, Retirement, Disability, etc.

  • Reduce parking: $50.00/month

  • $1500 educational stipend - funding can be used to attend ASA, SPA or other society meeting.

  • Society Memberships: Membership paid to ASA, AMA and SPA.

  • 20 vacation days/year

  • 5 meeting days/year

  • Extra Service Pay: Moonlighting throughout the year.

  • Support from a robust and active GME.

how to apply:

San Francisco Match

Register on the San Francisco Match at SFMatch.org as an applicant to Pediatric Anesthesiology fellowship. The application fee is $75 dollars for an unlimited number applications to programs. Once your application is complete, we may ask you to answer supplemental questions.

Contact Us

UChicago Medicine

Department of Anesthesia and Critical Care

5841 S. Maryland Avenue

E408
Chicago, IL 60637

Fellowship Coordinator:
Tiffany Schmidt

Email:
tschmidt@uchicagomedicine.org

Fellowship Program Director:
 Beth Starker-Pealy, MD

Email:
starkere@bsd.uchicago.edu