Pediatric Environmental Health Center | Learning Opportunities

The Region 1 Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit (PEHSU) of New England, located at Boston Children’s Hospital, provides an opportunity for learners of all stages, levels, and backgrounds to participate in a flexible educational and experiential program with a focus on environmental justice and climate change. Student enrollees — including but not limited to high school students, graduate and undergrad students, medical and nursing students, residents, etc. — will be learning from and collaborating with health professionals from Boston Children’s and Cambridge Health Alliance.

In addition to their chosen topic and project work, students will learn how to take an environmental history and field clinical questions regarding childhood/prenatal environmental exposures, such as lead, pesticides, and air pollution.

Students will build their own experience with opportunities to:

• Choose a topic of interest to study (see topics below)
• Shadow physicians in a clinical setting, either in person or via a telehealth visit
• Attend educational seminars and lectures 
• Attend meetings with representatives from public health agencies
• Assist in ongoing research, education, and/or advocacy projects
• Assist in health education and outreach efforts
• Participate in activities such as field trips and Foto Fridays

• Introduction to pediatric environmental health
• Indoor air quality
• Childhood lead poisoning
• Climate change
• Environmental justice and health disparities
• Fertility, pregnancy, lactation, and the environment
• PFAS/water contamination

Educational objectives will depend on a number of factors. This EJCC educational objectives factsheet provides more details.

Student trainees will have the opportunity to shadow at the following locations, as available:

• Boston Children’s Hospital
• Cambridge Health Alliance

The length of training in EJCC is necessarily variable, since trainees at every level may have constraints imposed by their own high school, college or university, medical or nursing or public health school, medical residency or fellowship, or other educational institutions.

“Mini-electives” may be as short as two to four weeks, for which the learning objectives will be abbreviated. Longer electives, externships, non-course-credit volunteer experiences, rotators, and observers may span one or more months in duration, with the opportunity for more in-depth study and more structured activities.

The EJCC Scholar Program is an unpaid internship. Participating students may earn course credit or receive a small stipend, as allowed by their academic institution. Stipends may only be available for a limited time.

Summer 2025 program: important dates

• Applications due: March 1
• 2025 summer program dates: June 30 to Aug. 8

EJCC Scholars positions are limited, and the application process is competitive. Only one or two interns are selected each academic year. Women and under-represented minority students are encouraged to apply. Prospective applicants can inquire by emailing Ms. Kim Manning at Kimberly.Manning2@childrens.harvard.edu. Please be sure to include your updated resume.

Alternatively, you can leave your contact information at 617-355-8177, and someone will contact you.

Applicants must complete and submit the following:

1. Current resume or CV
2. Associated personnel form (PDF | Word)
3. EJCC supplemental questionnaire
4. Region 1 PEHSU EJCC Scholars application form
   • Letter from the school’s registrar’s office denoting that they are a student in good standing
   • Letter of support of this activity from their current supervisor, high school, or college advisor, or another school official who knows them well

• Vaccine requirements for interns (OHS will request this via email if accepted)

Medical requirement: Accepted students will be required to submit their vaccination records to the Boston Children’s Hospital Office of Health Services prior to the internship start date. Student must be cleared by OHS before they can participate on campus. The list linked below contains the current medical requirements to intern at Boston Children’s Hospital. It is subject to change. Download the vaccine requirements for interns.

Clinical elective directors

• Boston Children’s Hospital: Alan Woolf, MD, MPH; Marissa Hauptman, MD, MPH; Shalini Shah, DO
• Cambridge Health Alliance: Rose Goldman, MD, MPH
• Columbia University Medical Center: Blair Wylie, MD, MPH

Faculty

• Alan Woolf, MD, MPH
• Marissa Hauptman, MD, MPH
• Shalini Shah, DO
• Rose Goldman, MD, MPH
• Blair Wylie, MD

Elective coordinator

• Kim Manning

Administrative credentialing

• Alba Savinon
• Le Pham

Email Region1pehsu@childrens.harvard.edu or call 617-355-8177.

Disclosures: The Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Units (PEHSUs) are supported by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and funded (in part) by the cooperative agreement FAIN: NU61TS000296 with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (CDC/ATSDR). The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) supports the PEHSUs by providing partial funding to CDC/ATSDR through Inter-Agency Agreement number DW-75-95877701. The content on this website has not been formally disseminated by CDC/ATSDR or the EPA and should not be construed to represent any agency determination or policy. Use of trade names that may be mentioned is for identification only and does not imply endorsement by the CDC/ATSDR or EPA.

• 2022-23