Advanced Practice Provider Otolaryngology Fellowship

The Advanced Practice Provider Otolaryngology Fellowship carefully reviews all applications. The candidacy of applicants is not based on any singular factor, but a holistic review of the entire package of provided materials. Applications are generally accepted starting in November of the year prior to admission.

• Recent copy of curriculum vitae including school name and GPA
• Personal statement on your interest in pursuing a career in Otolaryngology (500 to 1,000 words)
• Three letters of reference on letterhead
  • These can be submitted with your application or directly from the reference to the program
  • If currently enrolled in a program, one letter must be from program or medical director

Applications will be accepted until March 1, 2025, with an anticipated start date in Fall 2025.

Apply now

Eligibilty

Qualified candidates will have one of the following:

• Graduate of an accredited master’s degree nurse practitioner or physician assistant program.
• Eligible to pass (or have passed) the ANCC or AANP certification for nurse practitioners or NCCPA certification for physician assistants.
• Must obtain a nurse practitioner or physician assistant license in the state of Pennsylvania once admitted to the program.

In addition, candidates must:

• Have a GPA of 3.5 and higher
• Be highly organized and motivated
• Be available for an in-person campus interview

When open, applications will be accepted through Penn State Health Careers.

Direct any inquiries related to the application process to:
Tiffany Heikel, PA-C
Fellowship Program Co-Director
theikel@pennstatehealth.psu.edu
717-531-0003, ext. 322-837

Meghan Schmidt, PA-C
Fellowship Program Co-Director
mbaker8@pennstatehealth.psu.edu

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Penn State Health

Penn State Health is an integrated academic health system serving patients and communities across 15 counties in central Pennsylvania. It employs more than 20,900 people systemwide.

The system includes Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Penn State Health Children’s Hospital and Penn State Cancer Institute based in Hershey, Pa.; Penn State Health Hampden Medical Center in Enola, Pa.; Penn State Health Holy Spirit Medical Center in Camp Hill, Pa.; Penn State Health Lancaster Medical Center in Lancaster, Pa.; Penn State Health St. Joseph Medical Center in Reading, Pa.; Pennsylvania Psychiatric Institute, a specialty provider of inpatient and outpatient behavioral health services, in Harrisburg, Pa.; and 2,417 physicians and direct care providers at 225 outpatient practices. Additionally, the system jointly operates various healthcare providers, including Penn State Health Rehabilitation Hospital, Hershey Outpatient Surgery Center and Hershey Endoscopy Center.

In 2017, Penn State Health partnered with Highmark Health to facilitate creation of a value-based, community care network in the region.

Penn State Health shares an integrated strategic plan and operations with Penn State College of Medicine, the University’s medical school. With campuses in State College and Hershey, Pa., the College of Medicine boasts a portfolio of more than $150 million in funded research and more than 1,700 students and trainees in medicine, nursing, other health professions and biomedical research.

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Penn State Health Children’s Hospital (left), Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center (center) and Penn State Cancer Institute (right)

Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center

500 University Dr., Hershey, Pa., 17033 (Derry Township, Dauphin County)

• The health system’s 611-bed flagship teaching and research hospital
• The only medical facility in Pennsylvania accredited as both an adult and a pediatric Level I (highest-level) trauma center
• Dedicated surgical, neuroscience, cardiovascular, trauma and medical intensive care units
• Accredited Life Lion critical-care transport providing more than 1,100 helicopter and approximately 750 ground ambulance transports per year
• More than 1,300 faculty members and more than 650 residents and fellows
• Approximately 29,000 admissions, 73,000 emergency department visits, 1.1 million outpatient visits and 33,000 surgical procedures annually
• Designated as a Magnet hospital since 2007

Learn more about Milton S. Hershey Medical Center

Penn State Health Children’s Hospital

600 University Dr., Hershey, Pa. 17033 (Derry Township, Dauphin County)

• An eight-story, 263,000-square-foot-facility built in 2013 and expanded in 2020
• 160 licensed pediatric beds, 26-bed pediatric intensive care unit and a 56-bed neonatal intensive care unit
• Level IV (highest-level) neonatal intensive care unit
• Level I quaternary (highest-level) pediatric intensive care unit
• Level I (highest-level) pediatric trauma center designation
• Intermediate care unit
• Dedicated pediatric operating rooms
• More than 150,000 pediatric outpatient visits, 20,000 pediatric emergency room visits, and approximately 5,000 pediatric patient discharges annually

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Welcome to Hershey

More About Hershey

Interested in learning more about living and working in Hershey, Pa.? See details here:

• About the Hershey area
• Virtual tour
• More about Penn State Health and its locations

Wellness, including emotional, spiritual, social and physical health, is a crucial component to training and to becoming a professional, compassionate and resilient physician. Self-care is a skill which must be continually practiced and reinforced. Penn State College of Medicine and Penn State Health are committed to addressing wellness among residents and fellows, with multiple resources readily available.

Institutional resources

• Visit BeWell – a health program designed to support Penn State Health employees
• See Penn State College of Medicine wellness resources here
• Employee Health Care Concierge and Case Management Service
• Partners in Medicine
  Moving to a new city with your family does not have to be stressful. Residency programs have assisted many significant others with finding employment. There is also a GME-Wide Partners in Medicine (PIM) group that offers networking opportunities as well as various social and community oriented activities.
• The Doctors Kienle Center for Humanistic Medicine
• Active and easily accessed Office of Professional Mental Health

Graduate medical education resources

• See resident and fellow wellness resources here

Institutional Resources

Penn State Health and Penn State College of Medicine celebrate, embrace and support the diversity of all patients, faculty, staff, students and trainees.

Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

In keeping with this, Penn State Health has an active Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion with various programs, networks and resource groups, including:

• Talks and lectures on diversity, equity and inclusion through the Inclusion Academy
• Regular events on topics such as eradicating racism and creating a culture of inclusiveness
• Many Business Employee Resource Groups (BERGs), including:
  • Disability Business Employee Resource Group
  • Interfaith Business Employee Resource Group
  • LGBTQ+ Business Employee Resource Group
  • Military and Veterans Business Employee Resource Group
  • Multicultural Business Employee Resource Group
  • NextGen Business Employee Resource Group
• Black Physician Professional Staff Association – Resource Group
• Hispanic Professional Association
• Asian Physician and Professional Staff Association
• International Workforce Inclusion
• Inclusion Academy

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Learn more about the College of Medicine’s Office for Diversity, Equity and Belonging

Office for Culturally Responsive Health Care Education

The vision at Penn State College of Medicine and Penn State Health is to equip learners with the knowledge, skills and attitudes they will need to provide culturally excellent health care and research for an increasingly diverse U.S. population. The Office for Culturally Responsive Health Care Education was formed to help meet that goal.

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Office for a Respectful Learning Environment

In addition, the institution does not tolerate discrimination, biases, microaggression, harassment or learner mistreatment of any kind, and any concerns are immediately addressed by the Office for a Respectful Learning Environment.

Learn more about the Office for a Respectful Learning Environment

Network of Under-represented Residents and Fellows
The Network of Under-represented Residents and Fellows (NURF) is a group of diverse residents and fellows representing all specialties. NURF’s goal is to promote cultural diversity in the residency programs through community involvement, mentorship with diverse faculty, professional networking and support for the recruitment of diverse medical students into the residency programs.

NURF is sponsored by the Penn State College of Medicine Graduate Medical Education Office and the Penn State Health Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

Learn more information about NURF

To prepare Advanced Practice Providers to provide excellent patient care on healthcare teams, using a 12-month training program that promotes education, access, innovation, and value in healthcare delivery within the field of Otolaryngology.

• This transition-to-practice program allows advanced practice providers to expand their knowledge base and develop confidence in skills within the field of Otolaryngology, while remaining in a protected learning environment.
• Emphasize team-based care and communication with the multidisciplinary approach in Otolaryngology
• Cultivate the APP leaders of the future, who will inspire innovation and share knowledge that will benefit all.

The Otolaryngology APP Fellow will be mentored by attending physicians, physician assistants and nurse practitioners within the practice. The fellow will rotate in the following clinics: General otolaryngology, Otology/Neurotology, Rhinology, Pediatric Otolaryngology, Laryngology, Head and Neck Surgical Oncology and Facial Plastics. The fellow will also collaborate with audiologists, speech pathologists and other allied health professionals.

Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center is a tertiary-care teaching hospital designated as a Level 1 Trauma site for Adults and Pediatrics. Advanced technology and appropriate facilities will provide the fellow with appropriate resources to become a well-rounded Otolaryngology clinician. Fellows will work on the inpatient service, outpatient clinics (main campus and branch locations) as well as exposure to the operating room.

Evaluations will be completed by the clinical mentors at the end of each quarter. In addition, the fellow will meet with the program director monthly to ensure satisfactory progression in program (review of attendance, procedure logs and feedback from faculty), as well as discuss fellow professional goals.

Fellows will be expected to complete one scholarly project (manuscript submission to a professional journal, or quality improvement project or research project with submission to present at state or national meeting of a professional organization).

The fellow will be provided with continuing medical education (CME) via weekly didactic sessions, research opportunities and outside professional meetings.