Advanced Practice Provider (APP) Fellowship Program

• Ronna Smith, ARNP, APP Chief, Advanced Practice Providers
• Johannah Crogan, ARNP, APP Fellowship Director, Advanced Practice Providers
• Janna Weiss, APP Fellowship Program Coordinator
• Kathleen Hennings, ARNP, APP Fellowship Faculty, Advanced Practice Providers
• Emily Vitale, ARNP, APP Fellowship Faculty, Advanced Practice Providers
• Leyla Allum, APP Fellowship Faculty, Advanced Practice Providers
• Suing Lockhart, ARNP, APP Fellowship Faculty, Advanced Practice Providers
• Jason Rubin, MD, APP Fellowship Medical Advisor

The APP fellowship offers: 

• Practice as a fully credentialed provider, seeing patients independently with mentorship and feedback
• Rotations through related services
• Didactic opportunities, including lecture, simulation and case-based learning 

The year-long fellowship: 

• Provides a comprehensive introduction to family-integrated pediatric healthcare at Seattle Children’s
• Is structured so fellows’ time is spent:
  • 70% doing the work with feedback
  • 20% learning by observing others
  • 10% on didactic, including evidence-based best practices
• Provides a minimum of 1,500 mentored clinical hours with specific feedback tailored to your goals
• Introduces you to Seattle Children’s workplace culture and processes
• Practices 360-degree evaluation, inviting feedback from you on mentors and the fellowship program
• Is designed to increase your clinical independence as the program progresses

Clinical rotations

All fellows spend the first four weeks in Boot Camp. Boot Camp is a period of intensive introduction to the practice environment at Seattle Children’s. During Boot Camp, fellows will learn about the core rotations and electives and begin making their choices of assignments that will begin after the initial inpatient assignment.

After Boot Camp, the next four to six months are spent on an inpatient medical team working side-by-side with physicians, nurses, respiratory therapists, pharmacists and other direct care providers. Fellows rotate through at least two inpatient medical teams during this time period. These assignments are made by the fellowship. Fellows interested in providing care primarily in the ambulatory setting, may have their first rotation in selected ambulatory clinics.

After these inpatient rotations, fellows will begin doing core rotations. Examples of these rotations include ED, Orthopedics, Cardiac Surgery, APP Hospitalist Team, Urgent Care, Cancer Care, Adolescent Medicine and PICU. 

Fellows spend approximately 1,500 hours in clinical practice during their fellowship year. All rotations provide transferable skills to any pediatric hospital-based setting. Examples of these skills are history gathering, physical exam, medical decision-making, clinical reasoning, presenting to a preceptor, creating a treatment plan, documentation, ordering, writing prescriptions, discharge planning, patient and family education and working within a care team. Clinical independence increases throughout the progression of the fellowship year. Preceptors from all practice areas communicate frequently and share information about fellows across practice settings so that growth can be continuous and aimed at identified areas of opportunity.

Evaluations are frequent and include everything from informal, in-the-moment feedback to formal, timed, structured feedback. 

Didactic sessions are held twice monthly and all fellows attend all sessions. Content is spread out over the course of a year, so no matter which cohort a fellow is in, fellows attend all lecture topics. Lectures are delivered by a variety of disciplines across multiple specialty areas. Because Seattle Children’s is a teaching hospital, there are multiple additional didactic opportunities that will be accessed throughout the course of the year. Didactic sessions have been approved for over 40 hours of Category 1 CE throughout the 12 month period. 

In addition to clinical preceptors, fellows will be assigned to a fellowship educator who will act as their mentor throughout the course of the year. An important aspect of the APP Fellowship Program is the acquisition of professional behaviors and skills that will support a successful entry into practice. The fellowship mentor guides this process. 

APP Fellows are also matched with a peer mentor. This peer mentor is an experienced APP, working at Seattle Children's. The goal of this relationship is to provide APP Fellows with support in navigating professional practice issues during their transition into the APP role.

Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion

Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) is an embedded component of the APP Fellowship program.  We make EDI education a priority for APP Fellows and the APP Fellowship Leaders.

Our EDI curriculum includes:

• Didactic speakers
• EDI training
• Inclusive environment

In addition to the APP Acute Care Fellowship, Seattle Children’s offers a separate specialty fellowship program.

• Neonatology: The Neonatal Physician Assistant Fellowship prepares APP's to practice in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). This track starts in the fall. 

Seattle Children’s is committed to the concept of values-based behavior and the APP Fellowship incorporates these values in all of our activities. These behaviors are expected from the fellows, the leadership team and clinical mentors and preceptors. These six core values are universal across all departments at Seattle Children’s, and the following are some examples of how our fellows exemplify them:

• Compassion: We treat others with dignity and understanding in each and every encounter. We listen with humility and seek to understand.
• Excellence: We practice at the highest standards of quality and safety. We learn from experience and commit to continually improve.
• Integrity: We do what we say we are going to do. We are accountable for our actions.
• Collaboration: We partner with others to help us succeed. We recognize the value and skills of others.
• Equity: We create an environment where everyone feels heard, respected and engaged. We address biases and work to overcome stereotypes.
• Innovation: We are inquisitive and have a desire to make things better. We are open to trying new things. 

• NPs and PAs who finish the fellowship will be prepared to practice in settings such as specialty clinics, hospital medicine, urgent care and emergency departments.
• You will gain experience working in a licensed credentialed provider role for a minimum of 1,500 supervised clinical hours.
• Dedicated time for learning supports you as you grow into your professional role. 

We help prepare you for a job in pediatric healthcare. 

• Without completing a fellowship, new graduate PAs are not likely to qualify for pediatric subspecialty positions. Although some new graduate nurse practitioners with clinical experience do get jobs immediately, a fellowship increases your chance of being hired for a regular position.
• Working in Seattle Children’s collaborative environment, you will learn from other APPs, physicians, nurses and other healthcare providers. Read more about our workplace culture.
• Seattle is a fantastic place to live and work in. See details.

• Fellowships are for one year, for both nurse practitioners and physician assistants.
• Schedules are planned in advance and you can expect to work days, nights, weekends and holidays.
• Fellows are fully credentialed providers who can see patients independently with mentorship and feedback.
• Fellows are employees of Seattle Children’s, with salary and full benefits. The salary for an APP Fellow is $110,000 per year. 
• If hired into a regular, full time Nurse Practitioner or Physician Assistant position after completing the fellowship, you will receive a bonus of $15,000.

To be eligible for the program, candidates must: 

• Have graduated from an accredited nurse practitioner (PNP-AC, PNP-PC, FNP) or physician assistant program.
• Hold credentials/licensure required by the State of Washington.
• Nurse practitioners: Active, unencumbered registered nurse and advanced registered nurse practitioner licensure in the state of Washington, plus active Drug Enforcement Authority registration.
  • If you graduated more than one year ago and this is your first ARNP license (you have not practiced as an ARNP in another state), you must complete the following:
    • Apply for a license and indicate that you have not yet practiced as an ARNP.
    • Complete the Supervised Clinical Practice Agreement(PDF) form.
    • Obtain an ARNP interim permit with the Washington State Board of Nursing to complete 125 hours of supervised clinical practice for each year following graduation, not to exceed 1,000 hours. These 125 hours cannot be obtained through the APP Fellowship or Seattle Children’s Hospital.
    • For more information, please see WAC 246-840-340. 
• Physician assistants: Active, unencumbered physician assistant licensure in the state of Washington and NCCPA board certification, plus active Drug Enforcement Authority registration.
• It is recommended that fellows complete Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) prior to their fellowship year.

Applications will be accepted up to 12 months in advance of a cohort start date. Application closing dates are listed for each cohort below. In order to be considered for hire, candidates must be eligible to have proof of board certification 12 to 14 weeks prior to start date.

Upcoming cohorts and dates:

May 2025 Cohort

• Start date: May 12, 2025
• Application close date: December 13, 2024

September 2025 Cohort

• Start date: September 29, 2025
• Application close date: May 9, 2025

Interested candidates can review job postings and apply on our website. 

In addition, please submit the following to Janna Weiss:

• A professional resume
• Current transcript from APP program (unofficial transcript accepted)
• Two letters of recommendation (please attach PDF copies):
  • One from a professor or clinical instructor
  • One from a current or former supervisor
• Letter of intent to include the following:
  • Statement of Interest which indicates your reason for applying
    • Limit to one page in length

Your application will not be considered without submission of these items.