APP Pediatric General Surgery & Trauma Fellowship - Utah

This program trains PAs and NPs to practice safe, evidence-based, high-quality care for patients. All APP Fellows will have the opportunity to become outstanding clinicians with opportunities for continuous improvement through a quality improvement project or research.

This is an exciting opportunity for one APP to join us in a unique full time, benefits eligible learning position, located in Utah. This will be a one-year commitment, with potential for continued employment thereafter.

Our fellowship provides a year-long training experience with the pediatric acute general surgery and trauma team. In the fellow role, you will have the opportunity to function with very high levels of autonomy, placed at the forefront of leading trauma activations, managing inpatient care of acute surgical and trauma patients in both the ICU and medical/surgical levels of care, assisting in the operating room, performing procedures in the emergency department setting, and treating patients in the outpatient care setting. Our team teaches efficiency, compassion, and precision, and operates in a collegial atmosphere that cultivates learning and rewards initiative.

While training is focused on pediatric general surgery and trauma, the program also offers rotations in neonatal ICU, pediatric ICU, pharmacy, radiology, orthopedics, neurosurgery, emergency medicine and multiple subspecialty outpatient clinics. The fellow will complete a clinical research project, which offers a unique opportunity to join a select but growing group of APPs who are performing research in pediatric trauma, presenting at national conferences and publishing manuscripts.

This position is accountable for the provision of patient care and other duties as permitted by licensure and defined within Credentialing and Privileging documentation (hospital), Credentialing and Scope of Practice (list the hospital, if applicable or Medical Group), Consultation and Referral Plan (NP), Delegation of Services Agreement (PA) (DOPL) or other similar documentation as appropriate.

Our fellowship provides a year-long training experience with the Pediatric General Surgery/Trauma team. In the fellow role, you will have the opportunity to function with very high levels of autonomy, placed at the forefront of leading trauma activations, managing inpatient care of acute surgical and trauma patients in both the ICU and medical/surgical levels of care, assisting in the operating room, performing procedures in the emergency department setting, and treating patients in the outpatient care setting. Our team teaches efficiency, compassion, and precision, and operates in a collegial atmosphere that cultivates learning and rewards initiative.

While training is focused on pediatric general surgery and trauma, the program also offers rotations in neonatal ICU, pediatric ICU, pharmacy, radiology, orthopedics, neurosurgery, emergency medicine and multiple subspecialty outpatient clinics. The fellow will complete a clinical research project, which offers a unique opportunity to join a select but growing group of APPs who are performing research in pediatric trauma, presenting at national conferences and publishing manuscripts.

Fellowship goals and mission statement

Our mission is to prepare PAs and NPs for safe, evidence-based, high-quality pediatric surgical and trauma care through a structured, one-year practice transition with progressive autonomy, interprofessional learning, and performance feedback.

Program goals are to build clinical competence and confidence; promote compassionate, family-centered care; and strengthen outcomes through quality improvement or clinical research with opportunities for presentation and publication.

Aligned with the Intermountain Health mission, the Adult Cardiothoracic Surgery APP Fellowship prepares NPs and PAs for safe, high-quality, patient-centered practice in adult cardiac and thoracic surgery through competency-based clinical training, structured didactics, mentorship, and scholarly activity with progressive autonomy.

Fellowship goals are to develop perioperative cardiothoracic competence across the OR, ICU/acute care, and clinic; build progressive clinical reasoning and procedural skills through observation, feedback, and competency-based assessment; apply evidence-based practice through didactics and journal club; collaborate effectively across the interprofessional team to ensure safe transitions and an excellent patient experience; complete a QI and/or research project with dissemination; strengthen professional identity, resilience, and leadership through mentorship; and graduate practice-ready APPs prepared for a supported transition to independent cardiothoracic surgery practice.

Responsibilities

The fellow’s primary responsibility is learning within a high-acuity pediatric trauma and acute care surgery environment. The program is designed to maximize supervised clinical time across trauma activations, perioperative/operating room experience, inpatient and ICU management, and outpatient follow-up. Clinical responsibility and autonomy will increase progressively over the year based on demonstrated competence, with graded on-call responsibilities and increasing independence as the fellow advances.

Schedule

Schedules vary by rotation and service line to match clinical learning opportunities and patient care needs. Hours may include daytime and evening shifts, nights, weekends, holidays, and on-call depending on the assigned team (e.g., inpatient/ICU coverage, trauma activations, operating room, or clinic). The program will provide a rotation-specific schedule in advance and adjust as needed to support competency development and adequate supervision.