Situated in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, we are an academic pediatric gastroenterology group with a strong international reputation for high quality research, education and patient care. As the only academic pediatric gastroenterology group in the region, we serve a broad geographic area with a diverse and large patient population with chronic gastrointestinal and liver diseases.
Our group has clinical specialty programs in inflammatory bowel disease, motility disorders, hepatology, liver transplantation, and one of the few intestinal rehabilitation and transplantation programs in the country. Seattle Children’s, the University of Washington and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center combine to lead the nation in National Institutes of Health research funding, making Seattle’s research opportunities among the best in the world.
Message to Prospective Residents from Dr. Walker-Harding
message for applicants from the Program Director
Prospective Residents & Fellows
First Year
During the first year, our fellows have an intensive exposure to inpatient and outpatient gastroenterology, hepatology and nutrition. Time is spent on the inpatient gastroenterology service, consult service, and the liver and intestinal failure service which includes time with the liver and intestinal transplant teams. They develop procedural skills and are exposed to a wide variety of acute and chronic gastrointestinal diseases.. In addition to inpatient service time, first year fellows spend time in our subspecialty clinics (inflammatory bowel disease, hepatology, motility, celiac, intestinal rehabilitation, and liver/intestinal transplant clinic). Interested fellows can also gain exposure to therapeutic and specialized endoscopy procedures such as ERCP and motility procedures. There are also three weeks of research during the first year. In partnership with our colleagues in gastroenterology at the University of Washington, our first year fellows have the opportunity to spend three weeks teaching second year medical students in lectures and small group discussions.
Second and Third Year
In their second and third years, fellows focus on an academic research pursuit (basic science, translational, or clinical), allowing them to prepare a unique research project and see it through to fruition. Fellows are encouraged and supported in presenting their research at national and international meetings. We work with fellows to determine their career goals and focus their training to provide the skills necessary to become independent academic pediatric gastroenterologists. Each fellows has a scholarly oversite committee composed of at least two members from within the division and one external member to help give feedback and provide guidance during this process.
Fellowship Research Opportunities
The clinical research pathway can be designed for fellows who wish to pursue a career as an academic clinician or clinician educator. Fellows on this pathway will conduct a clinical research project and have the opportunity to focus their training in various aspects of pediatric gastroenterology such as inflammatory bowel disease, hepatology, nutrition, motility, intestinal rehabilitation, and cystic fibrosis. There are many funding opportunities that help align a research project with a career interest, such as CF Clinical Research Grants, Health Equity fellowships, a global health track, master degree programs, to name a few.
If a fellow is interested in pursuing a career as a physician-scientist, a different pathway can be identified. In conjunction with the University of Washington, training is available through an NIH T32 training grant to support our fellows in their basic science research with research mentorship and guidance from a scholarly oversight committee. Read more about Seattle Children's UW Pediatrics GI Research (pdf).
Continuity Clinic
All fellows participate in a longitudinal, weekly, continuity clinic experience. Fellows are paired with two continuity clinic mentors, one who focuses on general gastroenterology and the other within a subspecialty. With guidance from their mentor, fellows are primarily responsible for the care of their patients.
Educational Opportunities
The comprehensive educational opportunities in our division focus on the intersection of clinical practice, research, and the critical evaluation of literature. Together these opportunities make up the Fellows’ Educational Series covering the pediatric gastroenterology board content in a three-year cycle. The following didactic sessions are included in the Fellows’ Educational Series: clinical case conference, journal club, research conference, pathology conference, radiology conference, morbidity and mortality conference, joint gastroenterology-surgery conference, University of Washington Frontiers Lecture Series, and team meetings (IBD, general gastroenterology, hepatology, intestinal rehabilitation).
Other Educational Opportunities
Fellows have the opportunity to participate in additional training through the University of Washington including an MPH in epidemiology, Graduate Certificate in Maternal and Child Health, Teaching Scholars Program, and a Health Services and Quality of Care Research Fellowship.
At the University of Washington, diversity is integral to excellence. We value and honor diverse experiences and perspectives, strive to create welcoming and respectful learning environments, and promote access, opportunity and justice for all.
Please find more information and resources related to the Department’s commitment and work for Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion.
All pediatric gastroenterology fellowship interviews for Seattle Children's Hospital will be conducted virtually for the 2024-2025 interview season.
Prerequisites/post-medical school requirements
Fellows must have graduated from an accredited medical school and have completed a pediatric residency program at an accredited institution. The individual must be board eligible/certified in General Pediatrics.
Applications
We accept applications via ERAS (Fall Application Cycle) We ask for the ERAS Application, a current CV, a personal statement, 3+ LORs, a photo, and USMLE step scores to complete a file. Our application deadline is September 30th.
The Gastroenterology Fellowship only accepts US Citizens, H-1B visa, or J-1 visa.
Additional Information
- UW Pediatrics Gastroentereoly Fellowship Interview Introduction 2023
- UW Medical Center GME policies, guidelines and forms
- Seattle Children's website
- Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS)
- NMRP
Please contact the Program Coordinator if you have any further questions.
Timeline
- Registration begins August 21, 2024 for academic year 2025-2026
- Interview start and end dates (interviews will be held virtually): September- October, 2024
- Match date: December 4, 2024
- All applications must be submitted via Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS).
“The UW School of Medicine is committed to building and sustaining a multicultural community that fosters equity, diversity and inclusion. Our objective is to create a community that encourages participation and connection, and that values each individual's unique contribution, regardless of socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, language, nationality, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, spiritual practice, geography, mental and physical status and age.”
Seattle Children's Hospital
Seattle Children's Hospital is both a community hospital for greater Seattle and the pediatric referral center for the Northwest providing excellent pediatric care to meet the medical, surgical and developmental needs of children in the WWAMI region. Serving as the main clinical training site for pediatric residents, this 407-bed hospital is conveniently located one and one-half miles from the University of Washington campus in an attractive, residential neighborhood of Seattle. The staff consists of University faculty and Seattle Children's full-time physicians.
Additional Information: Message to Prospective Pediatric Residents and Fellows from Dr. Walker-Harding (YouTube); Resident Tour of Seattle Children’s Hospital (YouTube).
University of Washington Medical Center (UWMC - Montlake)
UWMC is a 450-bed teaching and research hospital offering comprehensive care including complete medical, surgical, ob-gyn, and psychiatric services and is rated as one of the top-10 hospitals in the U.S. Patients are referred from the UW Medicine sites and from community practitioners from the WWAMI region. The nearly 400 attending physicians on staff are full-time faculty members of the highly regarded UW School of Medicine.
The University of Washington Department of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology, serves as an outstanding site for learning key concepts of adult gastroenterology and furthering procedural skills. Our fellows work alongside adult gastroenterology and hepatology providers, fellows of the UW GI fellowship program, and UW medical students. Due to the University's GI programs, the emphasis is on tertiary and quaternary care, and furthering procedural experience.
GI specific educational collaborations between our group at Seattle Children's and the UW GI groups include weekly lectures, GI Grand Rounds, Mortality and Morbidity, Journal Club, and multiple other educational opportunities.
Seattle Children's Research Institute (SCRI)
As one of the nation's top five pediatric research centers, Seattle Children's Research Institute is dedicated to making breakthrough discoveries that help prevent, treat and cure childhood disease. SCRI has more than 350 investigators researching hundreds of diseases and disorders, and over $138 million in federal research funding for the 2021 fiscal year. The research institute is organized into nine centers, each one specializing in areas that include immunotherapy, tissue and immune transplantation, outcomes research, clinical and translational research, and child health and behavior. Researchers in the centers work in close collaboration with one another, their colleagues at partner institutions including the University of Washington and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, and with our health care providers at Seattle Children's Hospital. This collaboration is one of our key strengths, allowing our faculty to draw on a variety of disciplines and techniques as they pursue solutions to some of medicine's most complex problems.
Fellowship Leadership
Faculty
Niviann M Blondet, MD
Assistant Professor Program Director, Transplant Hepatology Fellowship Director, Fatty Liver Program
Dale Y Lee, MD, MSCE
Associate Professor of Gastroenterology; Director of the Celiac Disease Program
Nicole Pattamanuch, MD
Assistant Professor; Director, General Gastroenterology Assistant Director, Gastroenterology Fellowship Program
Pamela Valentino, MD
Associate Professor Medical Director, Liver Transplant Program Liver and Intestinal Failure Clinical Center Director
Established in 2008, the University of Washington program is distinguishing itself as producing leaders in Gastroenterology and Hepatology care, research, and education among academic pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition groups.
Current Fellows
 | Biren Desai, DO 2nd Year Fellow |
 | Katelynn Ho, MD 2nd Year Fellow |
 | Elizabeth Reznikov DO, PhD 3rd Year Fellow |
 | Maria Gonzalez Echeandia, MD 3rd Year Fellow |
Recent Alumni
 | Adaku Adebamiji, MD
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 | Kathryn Stephenson, MD
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 | Jennifer Duong, MD 2020-2023 |
 | Anne Levine, MD
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 | Kendra Francis 2019-2022 |
 | Irina Gorbounova 2019-2022 |
 | Tanyaporn (Katie) Kaenkumchorn, MD 2018-2021 |
 | Tayla Miller, MD 2017-2020 |
 | Nicole Green, MD 2016-2019 Assistant Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at Seattle Children's Hospital |
 | Erin Lane, MD 2015-2018 |
 | Noelle Ebel, MD 2014-2017 Clinical assistant Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford |
 | Henqi (Betty) Zheng,, MD 2013—2016 Acting Assistant Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at Seattle Children's Hospital |
 | Jarrad Scarlett, MD, PhD 2012—2015 Assistant Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at Seattle Children's Hospital |
 | Rohit Gupta, MD, PhD 2011—2014 Pediatric Gastroenterologist, Mary Bridge Children's Hospital, Tacoma, WA |
 | Namita Singh, MD 2010—2013 Assistant Professor, Associate Director of IBD South Clinic in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at Seattle Children's Hospital |
 | Matthew Giefer, MD 2009—2012 Pediatric Gastroenterologist, Ochsner Hospital for Children, New Orleans, LA |
 | Crystal Knight, MD 2008—2011 |
Monica Langsted
Fellowship Program Coordinator
Seattle Children's
PO Box 5371
M/S: OB 9.620
Seattle, WA 98145-5005