Learning through lectures and case-based conferences

Our core conferences are designed to give fellows a strong foundation in endocrinology, diabetes and metabolism—while also promoting skills in clinical reasoning, research and independent learning. These educational sessions offer the chance to explore complex disease processes in greater depth than is typically possible at the bedside or in outpatient clinics. Fellows engage in interactive discussions, develop academic communication skills and build the knowledge base needed for advanced endocrine practice.

How we train future leaders in endocrinology

At Tufts Medical Center, our Endocrinology Fellowship Program blends hands-on clinical training with personalized education and mentorship. Fellows care for adults with a wide range of endocrine and metabolic conditions, gaining experience in both outpatient and inpatient settings. Through structured rotations, subspecialty clinics, and robust academic learning, our fellows build the skills, confidence, and judgment needed for independent practice and leadership in the field.

How to apply to the Child + Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship at Tufts Medical Center

We offer two first-year fellowship positions each year. Our total class size includes four fellows—two Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (CAP) fellows and two Triple Board residents.

We accept applications only through the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS), and applicants must participate in the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP). We do not offer pre-match positions.

Application deadline: Tuesday, November 1

Our selection process is holistic. We value each applicant’s unique experience, background, and commitment to child and adolescent mental health. We strongly encourage applications from individuals underrepresented in medicine and those dedicated to advancing mental health equity.

Application requirements

To be considered, your ERAS application must include:

• Curriculum Vitae
• Personal statement
• Three letters of recommendation (including at least one from psychiatry or child/adolescent psychiatry)
• Dean’s letter and medical school transcript
• Medical School Performance Evaluation
• Letter from your current program director listing completed rotations

Additional requirements for international medical graduates:

• ECFMG certification is required
• We only sponsor J-1 visas

Please note: Incomplete applications will not be reviewed.

If you have questions or would like more information, email us at mikayla.gregorio@tuftsmedicine.org.

Where our child psychiatry fellows work after training

Our fellowship graduates go on to successful careers in a wide range of settings, including academic medical centers, community hospitals, private practice and public mental health systems. They are leaders in clinical care, research, education and advocacy for children and adolescents with mental health needs.

We take pride in supporting our fellows’ career goals through mentorship, networking​ and opportunities for professional growth. Many alumni hold faculty positions, lead innovative programs​ or contribute to shaping child and adolescent psychiatry at local, national​ and international levels.

Our alumni have built diverse and rewarding careers after completing the fellowship. They work in many different roles and settings, including:

• Ireen Ahmed, MD
  Residency: Triple-Board Program at Tufts Medical Center
  Current position: Attending at Boston Children's Hospital
• Cassandra Scott, MD
  Residency: The Boston Triple Board Training Program
  Current position: Child Psychiatrist at Tufts Medical Center
• Alison Seats, MD
  Residency: The Boston Triple Board Training Program
  Current position: Attending Psychiatrist at ERC in Denver, Colorado
• Michaela Margolis, DO
  Residency: Jefferson Health Psychiatry Residency Program
  Current position: Child Psychiatrist at Tufts Medical Center
• Vivian Shie, DO
  Residency: Albany Medical Center Psychiatry Residency Program
  Current position: Child Psychiatrist at Tufts Medical Center
• Anjan Marella
  Residency: Albany Medical Center
  Current position: Psychiatrist at Carney Hospital
• Chayanin “Jing” Foongsthaporn
  Residency: University of Hawaii Program – University of Hawaii John A Burns School of Medicine
  Current position: Child Psychiatrist at Queen’s Medical Center
• Taylor Dodds
  Residency: Arnot Ogden Medical Center Program
  Current position: Child Psychiatrist at Tufts Medical Center
• Han Yue
  Residency: Boston University Medical Center Program
  Current position: Instructor of Psychiatry at Cambridge Health Alliance
• Tinu Hirachan
  Residency: One Brooklyn Health System/Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center Program
  Current position: Inpatient Attending at New Hampshire Hospital
• Sina Shah-Hosseini
  Residency: Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center Program
  Current position: Child & Adolescent Psychiatrist at Seattle Children’s Hospital
• Jyotsna Kilani
  Residency: UMASS Chan-Baystate Program
  Current position: –
• Ana Paula Tovar
  Residency: Westchester Medical Center Program – New York Medical College
  Current position: Psychiatrist at Avalon Mental Health
• Caroline Fu
  Residency: Louisiana State University Program
  Current position: Staff Psychiatrist, Team-based Outpatient Psychiatry Program at Massachusetts General Hospital
• Shirin Vartak
  Residency: Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences/Griffin Memorial Hospital Program
  Current position: Staff Psychiatrist at Phoenix Children’s Hospital
• Huda Alyahyawi, MD
  Residency: St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center
  Current position: Outpatient Psychiatrist in Saudi Arabia
• Yu-Hsuan Chen, MD
  Residency: Tufts Medical Center
  Current position: Providence Medical Group Behavioral Health, Anchorage, Alaska
• Nicole Christiansen, MD
  Residency: Tufts Medical Center
  Current position: Outpatient private practice in Portland, Oregon; Consulting Child Psychiatrist at OHSU
• Timothy Clark, MD
  Residency: Tufts Medical Center
  Current position: Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist at St. Ann’s Home & School, Methuen, MA
• Munya Hayek, MD
  Residency: Tufts Medical Center, Triple Board Program
  Current position: Instructor in Psychiatry, McLean Hospital, MA
• Howard Hernandez, MD
  Residency: Case Western Reserve University at MetroHealth Medical Center, OH
  Current position: Community Mental Health in East Boston, affiliations with Massachusetts General Hospital, Psychiatrist at Fenway Health
• Simreet Khaira, MD
  Residency: Tufts Medical Center
  Current position: Commonwealth Psychology Associates, Outpatient Psychiatry
• Amaka Nwaka, MD
  Residency: Maimonides Medical Center, NY
  Current position: Outpatient Psychiatry, Maryland
• Emily Porch, MD
  Residency: University of California (Davis) Health System Program, CA
  Current position: Kaiser Permanente Outpatient Psychiatry
• Revital Racin, MD
  Residency: Virginia Commonwealth University Health System Program, VA
  Current position: Private Practice, outpatient psychiatrist in Brookline, MA and Newton, MA
• Zelma Rahim, MD
  Residency: University of Massachusetts Medical Center – Baystate Regional Campus
  Current position: North Shore Outpatient Psychiatry
• Neha Sharma, MD
  Residency: Rutgers University (previously UMDNJ – Newark Campus)
  Current position: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship Program Director
• Mudassar Tariq, MD
  Residency: UMDNJ – New Jersey Medical School
  Current position: Assistant Professor in Psychiatry at Texas Children’s Hospital
• Maria Pia Rogines Velo, MD
  Residency: Tufts Medical Center
  Current position: Private Practice
• Sigalit Hoffman, MD
  Residency: Tufts Medical Center
  Current position: Massachusetts General Hospital / McLean Hospital
• Jenevieve Treiser, MD
  Residency: Tufts Medical Center
  Current position: Private Practice, Coral Gables, Florida
• Karen Saroca, MD
  Residency: Tufts Medical Center, Triple Board Program
  Current position: Boston Children’s Hospital – Tufts Triple Board Program Director
• Sandra Lucio, MD
  Residency: Texas A&M College of Medicine – Scott and White Program
  Current position: St. Ann’s Residential Program
• Marcia Wilson, DO
  Residency: CEME/Palm Beach Consortium for GME
  Current position: Academic Appointment at East Tennessee State University

Meet our current child + adolescent psychiatry fellows

Our current fellows come from diverse backgrounds and bring a wide range of clinical interests and experiences. They are passionate about learning, growing, and contributing to the field of child and adolescent mental health. Through hands-on clinical work, teaching and research, our fellows develop the skills and knowledge needed to become skilled, compassionate clinicians and leaders.

Child + adolescent psychiatry fellowship leadership + mentors

Our fellowship is guided by a team of dedicated faculty and staff who are leaders in child and adolescent psychiatry. They bring a wealth of clinical expertise, research experience and a passion for teaching that ensures our fellows receive top-quality training. Each faculty member is committed to mentoring fellows closely, offering personalized guidance to support their professional and personal growth throughout the program.

Our diverse faculty come from a variety of clinical backgrounds, including inpatient, outpatient, consult-liaison and community mental health. This variety allows fellows to learn from experts in many subspecialties and develop a broad, well-rounded skill set. Our team also includes researchers and educators who encourage fellows to explore scholarly work and engage with the latest advances in pediatric mental health.

We foster a collaborative and inclusive learning environment where open communication and teamwork are highly valued. Our faculty and staff work together with fellows to create a supportive space where questions, discussion and exploration are welcomed. This approach helps trainees build confidence, leadership skills and a deep commitment to compassionate care.

Our people are not only experts in child and adolescent psychiatry but also passionate advocates for mental health equity and innovation. They inspire fellows to become future leaders who will advance the field and improve the lives of children, adolescents and families in our communities and beyond.

Key strengths of our faculty and staff include:

• Clinical expertise across a wide range of child and adolescent psychiatry subspecialties
• Strong commitment to personalized mentorship and professional development
• Active involvement in research and education to promote scholarly growth
• A supportive and inclusive culture that values teamwork and open communication
• Dedication to mental health equity and innovative care practices

Comprehensive fellowship rotations in child + adolescent psychiatry at Tufts Medical Center

Our fellowship offers diverse clinical rotations across outpatient, inpatient and community settings. Fellows gain hands-on experience diagnosing and treating children and adolescents with a wide range of psychiatric conditions while addressing psychosocial factors. Fellows work alongside expert teams in Boston-area hospitals and specialty clinics.

Outpatient rotations

Fellows develop proficiency in diagnosing and treating psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents while considering psychosocial influences on mental health. Rotations focus on conducting patient intakes, creating differential diagnoses, developing treatment formulations and providing longitudinal care. Fellows receive supervision from two assigned supervisors each week.

• ADHD Clinic: Outpatient clinic focused on diagnosing and managing attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in children and adolescents
• Autism Behavioral Clinic (ABC): Observational experience focused on team- and family-based approaches for children with refractory autism. Fellows do not provide treatment in this clinic
• Center for Children with Special Needs (CCSN): Fellows work with children with developmental delays and autism for half-days each week during the first year. They work with a team of experts and are monitored by a group of people.
• General Psychopharmacology Clinic: A clinic that helps people with mental health problems with medication.
• Integrated Behavioral Health Clinic with General Pediatrics: Clinic integrating behavioral healthcare into pediatric primary care
• Mood and Anxiety Disorder Clinic: Outpatient clinic focused on assessment and management of mood and anxiety disorders
• Outpatient Psychotherapy Clinic: Trainees conduct initial interviews for children, adolescents and families referred for psychotherapy or psychotherapy with medication management. Fellows learn clinical interviewing, building therapeutic alliances, goal-setting and psychodynamic approaches under faculty supervision
• Tufts Medicine Pediatrics: Provides comprehensive pediatric care with attention to family, school and community factors
• Outpatient consultation service: Fellows provide psychiatric and psychosocial consultations to pediatricians through the Massachusetts Child Psychiatry Access Program, the Tufts Medical Center Pediatric Emergency Department and the Psychopharmacology Clinic. Fellows create treatment plans and provide longitudinal recommendations

Inpatient rotations

• Cambridge Health Alliance: Three-month first-year rotation at the Child and Adolescent Assessment Units. Fellows gain experience in assessment, diagnosis, formulation, treatment planning and psychosocial interventions. Training includes individual, group, family and pharmacological treatment, complemented by weekly interviewing seminars
• St. Ann’s Home and School: Three-month rotation caring for children ages 5-12 on the Community-Based Acute Treatment (CBAT) and Transitional Care Unit (TCU). Fellows manage admissions, rounds, treatment planning, family meetings, discharge planning, school collaboration and milieu treatment, with supervision from board-certified Child and Adolescent Psychiatrists

Community rotations

• Boston Children’s Hospital: Fellows evaluate and treat patients with complex medical, psychiatric and psychosocial conditions. Responsibilities include psychiatric evaluations, treatment planning, recommending pharmacological and non-pharmacological care and coordinating with primary teams, families and social workers. Daily supervision is provided
• Boston STARR Program (Stabilization, Assessment & Rapid Reintegration): Fellows consult with a short-term residential program serving youth affected by domestic and community violence, trauma, ADHD and mood disorders, providing assessments and treatment recommendations
• Josiah Quincy Elementary School and Newton Public Schools: Fellows provide psychiatric consultation to teachers, principals, guidance counselors and special education staff. They assess psychosocial and psychiatric issues, address school-based challenges and provide written and verbal recommendations while maintaining confidentiality
• Lowell Juvenile Court Clinic: Fellows learn psychiatric and psychosocial consultation in a court setting, including evaluating children/adolescents, reviewing legal documents and providing clear, concise courtroom testimony. Fellows also learn about relevant laws, court processes and family and community involvement

Structured didactics + collaborative conferences in child and adolescent psychiatry

At Tufts Medicine, our Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship offers a comprehensive didactic curriculum designed to deepen clinical expertise and foster interdisciplinary collaboration. Weekly seminars, including skills building and knowledge base sessions, cover a wide array of topics such as child development, ADHD, mood disorders and trauma-informed care. Fellows also participate in monthly Neurobehavioral Conferences alongside Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics and Pediatric Neurology divisions, enhancing their ability to approach complex cases from multiple perspectives. This structured educational framework ensures fellows are well prepared for the diverse challenges in child and adolescent mental health care.

Fellowship weekly schedule + training calendar

Monday: N/A

Tuesday: 

• 12:00-1:00 pm: Neurobehavioral Conference (monthly)

Wednesday — Weekly Didactics:

• 9:00-10:15 am: Skills Building Seminar
• 10:30 am-12:00 pm: Knowledge Building Seminar
• 12:00-1:00 pm: Fellows lunch
• 1:00-2:00 pm: Journal Club & Case Conference

Thursday:

• 12:00-1:00 pm: Psychiatry Grand Rounds (weekly)

Friday: N/A

Interdisciplinary conferences for child psychiatry fellows

Department of Psychiatry Grand Rounds

Psychiatry Grand Rounds are open to the entire department and take place on Thursdays from noon to 1 p.m. Guest speakers present special topics and current research in psychiatry, neuropsychology, neurology, medicine and basic sciences such as molecular biology and genetics. Discussion is encouraged.

Neurobehavioral Conference

The divisions of Development Behavioral Pediatrics, Pediatric Neurology and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry meet monthly to discuss topics and cases that are relevant to all three fields. A fellow from each division presents a case and leads the discussion.

Weekly Wednesday Didactics

• Skills Building Seminar: Skills Building Seminars are composed of both video reviews and case conferences, which are presented by fellows on a rotating basis. These may include interviews with child/adolescent patients, family interview sessions and consultation issues. Also included within this seminar series are talks from invited speakers to discuss various topics of interest. Past topics have included: Applied Behavior Analysis, Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Adoption and Narrative Family Therapy.
• Knowledge Base Seminar: Knowledge Base Seminars are part of a two-year curriculum designed to provide fellows with a comprehensive education on a wide variety of psychiatric issues. During the summer months (July and August), first and second-year fellows are separated; first-year fellows attend Summer Orientation and Introduction to Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, while second-year fellows attend Transition to Practice seminars.  For the remainder of the year, all CAP fellows attend seminars together. Topics include: Child Development, ADHD, CD/ODD, Depression, Bipolar, Anxiety, OCD, Attachment, PTSD, Poverty, Advocacy, Med/Psych and Consultation / Liaison, School Consultation, Forensics, High Risk Children & Adolescents.
• Journal Club and Case Conference: Journal Club is held monthly. One fellow is assigned to provide the article and lead the discussion. Historical papers in the field of Child Psychiatry are reviewed, as well as contemporary articles to answer clinical questions. During Case Conferences, fellows are assigned on a rotating basis to present an outpatient treatment case to an interdisciplinary group.
• Seminar Series: In addition to the above-mentioned lectures, fellows are expected to attend 4-6 series of lectures that are focused on specialized topics. These topics include:
  • PsychopharmacologyPsychotherapy, including CBT, DBT, Mentalization Based Therapy, Play Therapy, Interpersonal Therapy, Psychodynamic Psychotherapy
  • Family Therapy
  • Neuropsychological testing
  • Attachment-Based Child Development (ABCD Series): This unique series is taught using a flipped classroom model in collaboration with the Developmental-Behavioral Pediatric division.

Some of these series are run by faculty in the division. Psychopharmacology and psychotherapy lectures are often presented by invited speakers from other institutions, in order to gain exposure to viewpoints from a variety of practitioners within the community, as well as from other academic institutions.

Sample didactics

• Interactive and interdisciplinary didactics
• Difficult Conversations of Racism and Social Inequities in Child Psychiatry Training