Washington University provides an Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME)-accredited, three-year, training program in pediatric pulmonology. Fellows in this training program currently rotate through our clinical services and directly care for cystic fibrosis patients both in clinic and when they are hospitalized.

Several clinical conferences are regularly held for the pediatric pulmonology fellows, including a weekly lecture series that comprehensively reviews pulmonary physiology, pathophysiology, and clinical care; cystic fibrosis is extensively covered as part of the curriculum. Cystic fibrosis-related topics are also presented at the divisional research conference and Journal Club. Several research conferences are held weekly throughout the medical center, covering topics in pulmonary infection, inflammation, host defense and lung injury that relate to cystic fibrosis. Several NIH Clinical Training (T32) Grants, administered through the Departments of Pediatrics and Internal Medicine, are available to support our fellows during their research training.

The Department of Pediatrics at the Washington University School of Medicine consistently attracts talented house officers. Residents are intimately involved in both the inpatient and ambulatory care of our cystic fibrosis patients. As residents rotate through the Division of Pediatric Allergy and Pulmonary Medicine, which many do during their second- or third-year of training, they have the opportunity to participate in the care of cystic fibrosis patients in all stages of disease, particularly during rotations on the 7100 Respiratory Unit where a mixture of formal and informal teaching occurs regularly. They receive more formal education in the scheduled departmental clinical conferences, and members of the Division of Pediatric Allergy and Pulmonary Medicine are regularly recognized with teaching awards from the medical students and residents. Cystic fibrosis is often a topic for discussion in Department of Pediatrics Grand Rounds and Case Management Conference.

Washington University School of Medicine is distinguished as one of the most competitive in the nation, and has the largest Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) program in the country. Medical students are exposed to cystic fibrosis in pulmonary pathophysiology courses, and several pre-clinical medical students and undergraduates have been attracted to both clinical and basic cystic fibrosis research, in some cases supported by Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Student Traineeship Awards.

During their third-year clinical training, medical students are involved in the care of hospitalized cystic fibrosis patients on the 7100 inpatient unit, and the division faculty review cases with students rotating through pediatrics.  These students also participate in the departmental lectures that deal with cystic fibrosis.  As fourth-year medical students, trainees from Washington University and other medical schools can elect to rotate through the cystic fibrosis clinics.

Cystic fibrosis has been the topic of the Markey Scholar Program, a progressive educational program that exposes PhD students and post-doctoral fellows to important clinical problems.