About Pediatric Specialties Spring Match (PSSM)

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| Participating Programs in Previous Match |

The Pediatric Spring Specialties Match (PSSM) includes the following subspecialties:

• Pediatric Cardiology is the treatment of children who have diseases of the heart and circulatory system.

Pediatric Cardiology fellowships are three years in length.

Training consists of a three year fellowship following the completion of the Pediatrics or Medicine/Pediatrics residency.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology is a specialty which includes the diagnosis and treatment of infants, children and adolescents with gastrointestinal, pancreatic and liver diseases as well as nutritional disorders. This includes treatment of common conditions such as gastroesophageal reflux and abdominal pain as well as complex diseases such as end stage liver and small bowel disease which require transplantation.

Training consists of a three year fellowship following completion of a Pediatrics or Medicine/Pediatrics residency.

• (NEW) Pediatric Infectious Diseases is a specialty that focuses on the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of infectious diseases in infants, children and adolescents. Pediatric ID specialists may also function like "medical detectives" and evaluate children with symptoms that are recurrent, atypical or unexplained. They combine clinical care with work as researchers, educators, administrators, hospital epidemiologists or experts in antimicrobial stewardship.

Training consists of a three-year fellowship following the completion of the Pediatrics or Medicine/Pediatrics residency.

• Pediatric Nephrology has moved to the Pedicatric Specialties Fall Match for the 2013 appointment year.

• Pediatric Pulmonology advances knowledge of acute and chronic respiratory diseases afflicting infants, children and adolescents. Recognized by the American Board of Medical Subspecialties in 1984, pediatric pulmonology fellowship training focuses on clinical care, scholarly activity, and teaching as an advanced, three-year, subspecialty program beyond general pediatric or medicine-pediatric residency training. Candidates are eligible for the Pediatric Pulmonology Subboard Examination of the American Board of Pediatrics following successful completion of the program.

Clinical care is provided for children with remarkable variety of lung diseases and breathing disorders, such as asthma, sleep-disordered breathing, apnea, central hypoventilation, cystic fibrosis, ciliopathies, bronchiectasis, interstitial lung diseases, bronchopulmonary dysplasia, bronchiolitis, pneumonia, chronic respiratory insufficiency, thoracic tumors, and congenital lung aomalies. Fellows have the opportunity to learn and perform bronchoscopic techniques, including bronchoalveolar lavage and biopsies, and gain understanding of pulmonary function studies, blood gas measurements, allergy testing, and overnight polysomnography. A significant portion of training consists of scholarly activity, during which fellows develop and hone skills necessary to be successful as effective subspecialists, advocates, clinical investigators, and pulmonary-scientists.

The National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) is pleased to welcome the Pediatric Endocrinology and Pediatric Infectious Disease program directors for the 2013 appointments.

The following sponsoring organizations for PSSM have requested the NRMP conduct a match program:

• Society for Pediatric Cardiology Training Program
• North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition
• Pediatric Endocrine Society
• Pediatric Pulmonology Training Directors Association
• Pediatric Infectious Disease Society (PIDS)

Please refer to the Schedule of Dates for the specific PSSM Match dates

Specialty Matches conducted by the NRMP are not centralized applications services. Candidates apply directly to the residency program that interests them.

A directory of programs participating in the last match is available in Participating Programs in Previous Match. Once a match begins, registered participants have access to a real-time directory of registered programs located in the Match Site. Program Directors also will have access to a real-time listing of applicants registered for the current match. Another source of information is the Graduate Medical Education Directory published by the American Medical Association. This publication includes the names and addresses of all accredited programs regardless of whether the program participates in the Pediatrics Specialties Spring Matching Program.

For more information and statistics on these fellowships, log on to the American Medical Association's interactive online program called Fellowship and Residency Electronic Interactive Database Access (FREIDA).

Before registering, please review the SMS Match Participation Agreement. By registering with the match and submitting a certified rank order list (ROL), applicants and programs agree to abide by the outcome of the match. Failure to do so is a breach of the Agreement and violators may be subject to penalties under the NRMP's Violations Policy. Both applicants and programs must follow the cardinal rule that neither must ask the other to make a commitment before the submission of ROLs. It is to be expected that one may express a high level of interest in the other; however, it is not acceptable for one to ask the other how one will be ranked.

Any verbal or written contract between an applicant and a program prior to the submission of the ROL is a material violation of the SMS Match Participation Agreement, and violators may be subject to penalties under the NRMP's Violations Policy. The final preference of program directors and applicants as reflected on the submitted ROLs will determine the offering of positions and the placement of applicants.

The Application Process

Candidates must apply to the programs of their choice using the method accepted by the program. Subspecialties participating in the Pediatrics Specialties Spring Match for the 2013 appointment year will participate in the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS). ERAS, a service developed by the AAMC, transmits application materials via the Internet to programs in residency and selected fellowship specialties. A few programs may use their own application for Residency. Do not send any program applications for Residency to the NRMP.

Program directors review candidates' credentials and, if interested, invite them for interviews. Applicants also are responsible for ensuring that they meet all program prerequisites and institutional policies regarding eligibility for appointment to a fellowship position prior to ranking a program through the NRMP

Applicants who have not completed prerequisite training in an accredited ACGME program in the U.S., or a similar program in Canada accredited by the Royal Colleges of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, must be certified by the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG).