The Division of Orthopaedics at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) funds a select number of Medical Career Design (MCD) Fellowships to allow recent college graduates the opportunity to explore many aspects of a medical career — research, clinical practice, education, advocacy and leadership.
Each MCD fellow spends two years as an essential member of our research and clinical teams, mentored by our thought-leading faculty from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. CHOP’s Division of Orthopaedics was ranked #1 in the country by U.S. News & World Report for 2024-25.
Program at a Glance
The central aspect of the MCD fellow’s work will be coordinating and facilitating clinical research, including:
- Subject recruitment
- IRB submissions and renewals
- Data analysis/manuscript preparation
- Monitoring/maintaining data for study group databases and multicenter registries
This will include training in research ethics, research subject protections, clinical science study design, methodology, data analytics and statistical methodology. Successful MCD fellows will have opportunities to co-author medical journal submissions and are encouraged to present results at regional and national meetings. Through this immersive experience, the MCD fellow will learn how to initiate, design, complete and communicate clinical research.
Each week, MCD fellows will work in our clinics as a scribe, helping our attending physicians with patient visits by populating medical records. The scribe role offers the MCD fellow a unique front-line physician shadowing role in performing a history and physical exam, interpreting image and lab data, and formulating clinical decisions.
This daily exposure — over time — allows the MCD fellow to develop a significant font of medical knowledge, grow confident in the patient-care setting, and gain insights into managing the challenges of a busy and complex clinical practice.
Educational Opportunities
Medical Career Design fellows will be immersed in our educational programs. They are encouraged to attend:
- Daily lectures
- Weekly case-review conferences
- Research conferences
- A quarterly journal club
Each year, we also host Visiting Professor events that fellows are invited to attend. The daily interactions
with faculty, medical students, residents and clinical fellows offer many educational and career exploration opportunities.
One of the key aspects of the MCD fellowship is mentorship by nationally recognized academic physicians. The weekly interactions between MCD fellows and faculty — in clinic work rooms, at research meetings, in conferences and at social events — offers many opportunities for faculty to coach and mentor MCD fellows.
Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis- apply early!