Attending Pediatrician, Kempe Child Protection Team
Vice Chair for Faculty Affairs, Department of Pediatrics
Recognition & Awards
Unsung Hero Award, American Academy of Pediatrics
(2020)
Honored for dedication to service to the Council on Child Abuse and Neglect
Top Doctor in Denver, 5280 Magazine
(2019)
Voted a 5280 best doctor by my peers- every year from 2009-2019 - in response to the question, "Which physician would you trust to treat you and your family?"
Award For Outstanding Service In Educational Excellence, American Academy of Pediatrics
(2016)
Awarded by leadership at the Annual Leadership Forum to SOCAN Executive Committee and Chair
Kempe Professional Award, Kempe Foundation
(2012)
President of Medical Staff, Children's Hospital Colorado
(2010)
President Medical Staff, Children's Hospital Colorado for 2010-2012
Champions In Healthcare, Denver Business Journal
(2007)
Professional Contribution Award , Platte Valley Children's Alliance
(2006)
Platte Valley Children's Alliance
University Service, Department of Pediatrics
(2006)
Outstanding Dedication and Service to the Residency Recruitment and Selection Committee
My scholarly work is focused on the effective treatment of child abuse trauma, the education of professionals to help them identify and prevent abuse in clinical practice, and on advocacy for all effected by the issues of child maltreatment.
Teaching
Professor of Pediatrics and Director, Child Abuse Pediatrics Fellowship Program
(1996)
School of Medicine,
Pediatrics
Pediatric Medicine and Child Abuse Pediatrics
Vice Chair for Faculty Affairs
(2014)
School of Medicine,
Pediatrics
Mentoring, faculty professional development, conflict mediation, diversity-equity-inclusion
Associate Director, Faculty/Staff Development
(2020)
School of Medicine,
Pediatrics
Kempe Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse and Neglect
Medical Director, Ponzio Creative Arts Therapy Program, Children’s Hospital Colorado
(2021)
School of Medicine,
Pediatrics
Administrative guidance and advocacy for arts therapy program
Certified Physician Development Coach
(2022)
School of Medicine,
Pediatrics
Certified Physician Development Coach - training completed with Physician Coaching Institute.
Publications
Chiesa AC, Ford CRF, and Sirotnak AP. Child Abuse and Neglect. In Hay W, Levin M, Bunik M, and Abzug MJ. eds: Current Pediatric Diagnosis and Treatment 26th Edition. McGrawHill Education. New York, NY. 2022
Anderst J, Carpenter SL, Abshire TC, Killough E, Mendonca EA, Downs SM, Wetmore C, Allen C, Dickens D, Harper J, Rogers ZR, Jain J, Warwick A, Yates A, Hord J, Lipton J, Wilson H, Kirkwood S, Haney SB, Asnes AG, Gavril AR, Girardet RG, Heavilin N, Gilmartin ABH, Laskey A, Messner SA, Mohr BA, Nienow SM, Rosado N, Idzerda SM, Legano LA, Raj A, Sirotnak AP, Forkey HC, Keeshin B, Matjasko J, Edward H, Chavdar M, Di Paola J, Leavey P, Graham D, Hastings C, Hijiya N, Hord J, Matthews D, Pace B, Velez MC, Wechsler D, Billett A, Stork L, Hooker R. Evaluation for Bleeding Disorders in Suspected Child Abuse. Pediatrics. 2022 Oct 1;150(4). PubMed PMID: 36180615
Chiesa AC, Ford CRF, and Sirotnak AP. Child Abuse and Neglect. In Hay W, Levin M, Bunik M, and Abzug MJ. eds: Current
Pediatric Diagnosis and Treatment 26th Edition. McGrawHill Education. New York, NY. 2022
Chumpitazi CE, Perez, O, Elizabeth A. Camp EA, et.al. State of Academic Pediatric Faculty During the Covid19 Pandemic. Poster presentation at Pediatric Academic Societies Meeting, April 12, 2022; Denver, CO.
Legano LA, Desch LW, Messner SA, Idzerda S, Flaherty EG. Maltreatment of Children With Disabilities. Pediatrics. 2021 May;147(5). PubMed PMID: 33875536
Promotion 201. A video course designed to give an overview of the promotion process and a starting point to prepare a promotion dossier, this course goal is to help early career faculty members make a plan for meeting promotion standards as they build careers on the faculty at CU Anschutz; Course Developer and Director with Libby A, Austin G., Rumack C, Subramanian, P. and Kent Vorhees, K. Accessible at: https://medschool.cuanschutz.edu/emergency-medicine/major-programs/faculty-development.
Hymel KP, Lee G, Boos S, Karst WA, Sirotnak A, Haney SB, Laskey A, Wang M. Estimating the Relevance of Historical Red Flags in the Diagnosis of Abusive Head Trauma. J Pediatr. 2020 Mar;218:178-183.e2. PubMed PMID: 31928799
Narang SK, Fingarson A, Lukefahr J. Abusive Head Trauma in Infants and Children. Pediatrics. 2020 Apr;145(4). PubMed PMID: 32205464
Keeshin B, Forkey HC, Fouras G, MacMillan HL. Children Exposed to Maltreatment: Assessment and the Role of Psychotropic Medication. Pediatrics. 2020 Feb;145(2). PubMed PMID: 31964760
A Framework for Supporting Patients and Families. Access at: https://www.aappublications.org/news/2020/02/27/child-abuse-neglect-pediatrics-in-review-2-27-20.
Hymel KP, Sirotnak AP. “Estimating the probability of Historical ‘Red Flags’ in the Diagnosis of Abusive Head Trauma.
Chiesa AC and Sirotnak AP. Child Abuse and Neglect. In Hay W, Levin M, , Bunik M, and Abzug MJ. eds: Current Pediatric Diagnosis and Treatment 25th Edition. McGrawHill Education. New York, NY. 2020
Palusci VJ, Kay AJ, Batra E, Moon RY, Corey TS, Andrew T, Graham M. Identifying Child Abuse Fatalities During Infancy. Pediatrics. 2019 Sep;144(3). PubMed PMID: 31451610
Flaherty E, Legano L, Idzerda S. Ongoing Pediatric Health Care for the Child Who Has Been Maltreated. Pediatrics. 2019 Apr;143(4). PubMed PMID: 30886109
Hymel KP, Wang M, Chinchilli VM, Karst WA, Willson DF, Dias MS, Herman BE, Carroll CL, Haney SB, Isaac R. Estimating the probability of abusive head trauma after abuse evaluation. Child Abuse Negl. 2019 Feb;88:266-274. PubMed PMID: 30551063
Pediatric Collections: Child Abuse: Overview and Evaluation; invited editorial introduction. American Academy of Pediatrics, Il; Feb, 2019
Sirotnak AP. CHILD ABUSE, NEGLECT AND MALTREATMENT: A JOURNEY OF RECOVERY; American Academy of Pediatrics VOICES Blog. April 16, 2019. https://www.aap.org/en-us/aap-voices/Pages/Child-Abuse,-Neglect-and-Maltreatment.aspx
Promising Practices for Understanding and Addressing Faculty Salary Equity at US Medical Schools. Invited stakeholder participation with Association of American Medical Colleges.
Published and accessed April 15, 2019 at https://store.aamc.org/promising-practices-for-understanding-and-addressing-faculty-salary-equity-at-u-s-medical-schools.html
Child Sexual Abuse: Caring for the Child in Primary Care Setting. Podcast for Charting Pediatrics™ . Brent A, Brumbaugh D, and Nicklas D, producers. CHCO podcast program launched in 2017 as the first of its kind in the United States is a weekly pediatric podcast for providers that examines the latest treatments for the most common complaints in pediatric medicine.
Estimating the Relevance of Historical Red Flags in the Diagnosis of Abusive Head Trauma, J. Pediatrics
Kent P. Hymel, MD; Gloria Lee, MD; Stephen Boos, MD; Wouter A. Karst, MD; Andrew Sirotnak, MD; Suzanne B. Haney, MD; Antoinette Laskey, MD, MPH; and Ming Wang, PhD; for the Pediatric Brain Injury Research Network (PediBIRN) Investigators
Laskey A. and Sirotnak A. (Co-Editors) Child Abuse: Medical Diagnosis and Management. 4th edition. American Academy of Pediatrics, Illinois. Oct. 2019
Chiesa AC and Sirotnak AP. Child Abuse and Neglect. In Hay W, Levin M, , Deterding R. Abzuz MJ. eds: Current Pediatric Diagnosis and Treatment 24th Edition. McGrawHill Education. New York, NY. 2018
Colorado Child Fatality Review Team and the Colorado Welfare Training System: A Mandatory Response: Improving Child Abuse and Neglect Recognition: Webinar for Colorado Hospital Association; 2018
Child Sexual Abuse: Caring for the Child in Primary Care Setting. Podcast for Charting Pediatrics™ / Brent A, Brumbaugh D, and Nicklas D, producers.
Mink RB, Schwartz A, Herman BE, Turner DA, Curran ML, Myers A, Hsu DC, Kesselheim JC, Carraccio CL. Validity of Level of Supervision Scales for Assessing Pediatric Fellows on the Common Pediatric Subspecialty Entrustable Professional Activities. Acad Med. 2018 Feb;93(2):283-291. PubMed PMID: 28700462
Mink RB, Schwartz A, Carraccio C ,High P, Dammann, et. al. and the
Steering Committee of the Subspecialty Pediatrics Investigator Network
Creating the Subspecialty Pediatrics Investigator Network. The Journal of Pediatrics.
Volume 192, January 2018, Pages 3–4.e2
Sleep Tight, The Children Are All Right.
Colorado Child Welfare Training System: Competency-based training program for child welfare professionals and para-professionals; design and pilot delivery of new module of didactic curricula.
Program description at: http://www.coloradocwts.com/
Hymel KP, Laskey AL, Crowell KR, Wang M, Armijo-Garcia V, Frazier TN, Tieves KS, Foster R, Weeks K. Racial and Ethnic Disparities and Bias in the Evaluation and Reporting of Abusive Head Trauma. J Pediatr. 2018 Jul;198:137-143.e1. PubMed PMID: 29606408
Christian CW, Levin AV. The Eye Examination in the Evaluation of Child Abuse. Pediatrics. 2018 Aug;142(2). PubMed PMID: 30037976
Mink RB, Schwartz A, Herman BE, Turner DA, Curran ML, Myers A, Hsu DC, Kesselheim JC, Carraccio CL and the Steering Committee of the Subspecialty Pediatrics Investigator Network (SPIN). Validity of Level of Supervision Scales for Assessing Pediatric Fellows on the Common Pediatric Subspecialty Entrustable Professional Activities.
Acad Med. 2017 Jul 11. doi:10.1097/ACM.0000000000001820
Sirotnak AP. Child Sexual Abuse: Talking Points in the Office. Blog for Pediatrics in Review; American Academy of Pediatrics.
http://www.aappublications.org/news/2017/03/22/Child-Sexual-Abuse-Talking-Points-In-The-Office-Pediatrics-In-Review-3-22-17.
Sirotnak AP. Child abuse in children and youth with special health care needs
http://www.aappublications.org/news/2017/10/26/Special-Needs-Higher-Abuse-Risks-Pediatrics-In-Review-10-26-17
Sasha S. Svendsen MD, Terri Lewis PhD, Antonia E. Chiesa MD, Andrew P. Sirotnak MD, Daniel M. Lindberg MD. “The Role of Fellowship Experience in Decreasing Burnout for Child Abuse Pediatricians”
American Academy of Pediatrics, Council on Child Abuse and Neglect, National Conference and Exhibitions, Chicago, IL. September 17, 2017.
Child Abuse and Neglect.
In Hay W, Levin M, , Deterding R. Abzuz MJ. eds: Current Pediatric Diagnosis and Treatment 23rd Edition. McGrawHill Education. New York, NY. 2016
Creation of a Pediatric Subspecialty Educational Research Network
Mink, Richard B.Carraccio, Carol L.Schwartz, AlanDammann, Christiane E.High, Pamela C.McGann, Kathleen A.Herman, Bruce E. et al.
Academic Pediatrics , Volume 16 , Issue 6 , e55
Do Fellowship Program Directors (FPD) and Clinical Competency Committees (CCC) Agree in Fellow Entrustment Decisions?
Mink, Richard B.Carraccio, Carol L.Herman, Bruce E.Aye, TandyBaffa, Jeanne M.Chess, Patricia R.Fussell, Jill J.Sauer, Cary G.Stafford, Diane E.Weiss, PninaSchwartz, Alan et al.
Academic Pediatrics , Volume 16 , Issue 6 , e14 - e15
Subspecialty Pediatrics Investigator Network (SPIN) study: “Assessing the Association between EPAs, Competencies and Milestones in the Pediatric Subspecialties”
Multi site collaboration and as program director collaborators, we were given a 'collaboration credit' by senior authors.
This was evaluating the effectiveness of a research network creation; and clinical competency commitees in assigning milestones levels to the ACGME EPAs for pediatric subspecialties.
Miracles We Have Seen: America's Leading Physicians Share Stories They Can't Forget; Harley Rotbart, editor.
Health Connections, Inc. ( Florida )
Mehra M, Chiesa AE, Sirotnak AP. Two cases of sublingual hematoma as a manifestation of child abuse. Ear Nose Throat J. 2015 Dec;94(12):494-6. PubMed PMID: 26670756
Hymel KP, Herman BE, Narang SK, Graf JM, Frazier TN, Stoiko M, Christie LM, Harper NS, Carroll CL, Boos SC, Dias M, Pullin DA, Wang M. Potential Impact of a Validated Screening Tool for Pediatric Abusive Head Trauma. J Pediatr. 2015 Dec;167(6):1375-1381.e1. PubMed PMID: 26477871
Acker SN, Roach JP, Partrick DA, Karrer FM, Bensard DD, Sirotnak AP. Beyond morbidity and mortality: the social and legal outcomes of non-accidental trauma. J Pediatr Surg. 2015 Apr;50(4):604-7. PubMed PMID: 25840071
Amy K. Connery, Psy.D., Andrew Sirotnak, Jacqueline Murray, R.N., Antonia Chiesa, M.D., Michael Dichiaro, M.D., Ellen Guess, OT-R, Charle Jacobs, PT; A Novel Multidisciplinary Model of Care for Non-Accidental Brain Injury – Preliminary Data". International Conference on Paediatric Acquired Brain Injury; Liverpool, England. September 16- 18, 2015
Roach JP, Acker SN, Bensard DD, Sirotnak AP, Karrer FM, Partrick DA. Head injury pattern in children can help differentiate accidental from non-accidental trauma. Pediatr Surg Int. 2014 Nov;30(11):1103-6. PubMed PMID: 25252922
Hymel KP, Armijo-Garcia V, Foster R, Frazier TN, Stoiko M, Christie LM, Harper NS, Weeks K, Carroll CL, Hyden P, Sirotnak A, Truemper E, Ornstein AE, Wang M, Pediatric Brain Injury Research Network (PediBIRN) Investigators. Validation of a clinical prediction rule for pediatric abusive head trauma. Pediatrics. 2014 Dec;134(6):e1537-44. PubMed PMID: 25404722
Sirotnak AP. Sexually Transmitted Diseases in Abused Children. Chadwick DL, Giardino AP Alexader R. Child Maltreatment: A Clinical Guide, Two Volume Set ,4th Edition. STM Learning, Publishing, Inc. St. Louis, 2014.
Goldson E, and Sirotnak AP. Neglect. In Chadwick DL, Giardino AP Alexader R, ed. Child Maltreatment: Child Maltreatment: A Clinical Guide, Two Volume Set ,4th Edition. STM Learning, Publishing, Inc. St. Louis, 2014
Amy K. Connery, Psy.D., Andrew Sirotnak, Jacqueline Murray, R.N., Antonia Chiesa, M.D., Michael Dichiaro, M.D., Ellen Guess, OT-R, Charle Jacobs, PT, Ashley Niederhauser, L.C.S.W, Colet Scott, Jeanne Dise-Lewis, Ph.D.
Development of a Non-Accidental Brain Injury Follow-Up Clinic: Preliminary Data. 14th National Conference on Shaken Baby Syndrome / Abusive Head Trauma ; Denver, CO, September 22 – 24.
Mandated Reporting Video for Colorado’s Child Welfare Training System (CWTS) Contributed medical expert content; available at: http://www.coloradocwts.com/mandated-reporter-training
Ford C. Rashaan, Chiesa Antonia , Sirotnak Andrew. Pearls and Pitfalls for the Pediatric Emergency Medical Provider in the Evaluation of Abusive Head Trauma Clinical Pediatric Emergency Medicine, 2012; (13) Issue 3: 178-186
Sirotnak AP. Sexually Transmitted Diseases in Abused Children. Chadwick DL, Giardino AP Alexader R. Child Maltreatment: A Clinical Guide, Two Volume Set ,4th Edition. STM Learning, Publishing, Inc. St. Louis, 2012. In press.
Goldson E, and Sirotnak AP. Neglect. In Chadwick DL, Giardino AP Alexader R, ed. Child Maltreatment: Child Maltreatment: A Clinical Guide, Two Volume Set ,4th Edition. STM Learning, Publishing, Inc. St. Louis, 2012. In press.
Chiesa AE, Sirotnak A, Noffsinger J. Modifying a Child Abuse Curriculum to Improve Third Year Medical Students’ Ability to Identify Child Abuse Risk Factors ; University of Colorado School of Medicine, Educational Research and Innovation Day, November 12, 2012
Mehra M, Chiesa AC, Sirotnak AS. Cases of Sublingual Hematoma as a Manifestation of Child Abuse; Ear, Nose & Throat Journal
Clinical Interests
Our clinic is a regional trusted resource for families and community providers who have concerns about abuse or neglect.
Care Philosophy
Family and child evaluation for suspected maltreatment must always include family support and education about the behavioral and emotional impacts of child maltreatment. My pediatric based approach is always family centered care, delivered with sensitivity and empathy. The journey from trauma through recovery is one that I walk with patients of all ages and their caregivers.
Personal Interests
I enjoy gardening, the arts in all forms, and winter outdoor activities.
Volunteer Activities
I am dedicated to volunteer work in my hospital and with its community partners as part of my role as pediatric faculty. I am active in raising awareness about the issue of child abuse fundraising for arts organizations that support access for children to the arts in our community, and a champion of our children's hospital vibrant art collection.
Public Speaking Yes
Child maltreatment, trauma and resilience, academic mentoring
General Information
Medical Schools:
MD, Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University
(1989)
Undergraduate Schools:
BS, University of Scranton (PA)
(1985)
Residency Programs:
University of Colorado, Chief Resident, Pediatrics (1993)
Jefferson Medical College/duPont Hospital for Children Program, Pediatrics (1991)
Fellowships:
University of Colorado, Child Abuse Pediatrics
(1994)