Meet Our Program Directors
From the Program Directors: Welcome!
Thank you for taking the time to learn more about our program before your interview day! We are thrilled to have the opportunity to meet you virtually. Our program truly values interpersonal connection, mentorship and community, undoubtedly a bit more challenging to convey through a computer screen. The new, virtual, interview day was designed to reflect our values - combining essential general programmatic information with a personalized approach to meet your individual needs, all in a setting which we hope you will find warm, supportive, and inclusive. We see the interview process as an opportunity for you to get to know us and determine if we are the right fit for you. We hope you have a wonderful day with MGfC and we are honored that you are interested in training with us!
Contact Us
Shaun Fitzgerald, MD
Program Director
SFFITZGERALD@mgh.harvard.edu
Dr. Shaun Fitzgerald is a pediatric hospitalist at Massachusetts General Hospital and the Program Director for the Pediatrics Resident Program at MassGeneral for Children.
He was born and raised in the Greater Boston Area and attended College of the Holy Cross as an undergraduate, before moving to Chicago to complete his service in AmeriCorps working for the National AIDS Fund. He returned to Massachusetts to complete medical school at UMass Medical School followed by his pediatric residency at MGfC. He also completed a pediatric hospital medicine fellowship at Kaiser Permanente in Oakland, CA, simultaneously earning an MPH from UC-Berkeley. Dr. Fitzgerald finds that caring for hospitalized children imparts a deep sense of meaning to his practice which he enjoys sharing with trainees. In addition, he finds that the inpatient care space provides a rich learning environment for trainees to develop not only knowledge in the management of acute and chronic illness, but also the skills necessary to provide effective patient and family-centered care.
Outside of clinical practice, Dr. Fitzgerald actively participates in process improvement projects with residents, leveraging their experience in front-line care and desire to innovate care delivery to bring about better and more equitable care for children at MGH and beyond. Dr. Fitzgerald’s academic interests also lie in antibiotic stewardship among hospitalized pediatric patients. In all capacities, the times spent working with, teaching, and learning from residents have been among Dr. Fitzgerald’s favorite and most rewarding experiences. He is very excited to help lead the new generation of MGfC-trained pediatricians.
Ariel Frey-Vogel, MD
Associate Program Director
Dr. Ariel Frey-Vogel (she/her) grew up in Acton, MA, and went to Harvard University for her undergraduate degree. She then spent two years teaching third grade in Baltimore City with Teach for America while obtaining her Masters in the Art of Teaching at Johns Hopkins University. She returned north for medical school at Yale and did her residency in combined internal medicine and pediatrics at MGH, acting as chief resident for the program in her fourth year. She was thrilled to be asked to stay on after residency and spends a quarter of her time as an Associate Program Director for the MGfC Pediatric Residency Program a quarter of her time as the Director of the Pediatric Education, Innovation, and Research Center (PEIRC) at MGfC where she mentors trainees and faculty in medical education research. Her clinical time is spent at the MGH Transgender Health Program where she cares for gender diverse people of all ages and serves as the Director of Child and Adolescent Services. She enjoys spending time with her anesthesia resident husband and two young children.
Kate Sparger, MD
Associate Program Director
Dr. Katherine Sparger is originally from the Midwest and grew up in Wisconsin, Texas, and Ohio. She attended Miami University as an undergraduate and the University of Chicago for medical school. She was a pediatric resident and chief resident in the Boston Combined Residency Program. Kate subsequently pursued neonatology training in the Harvard Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine Fellowship Program where she served as chief fellow. Post-fellowship, Kate was invited to stay on as faculty in the neonatal intensive care unit at MGH. Kate joined the Pediatric Residency Program as an Associate Program Director in 2014. She is also the site director at MGH for the Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine Fellowship Program. Professionally, she is interested in medical education with a focus on neonatal simulation. Outside of work, Kate enjoys spending time with her husband, 7 and 2 year old daughters, and the newest addition to their family, a Labrador named ‘Moose’.
Dan Hall, MD
Associate Program Director
Dr. Dan Hall is originally from Derry, NH, about an hour north of Boston. He studied Biology and Physics at Bowdoin College in Maine. The year after graduation, he worked closely with the college and the Brunswick community as an Americorps volunteer coordinating local mentoring programs for elementary and middle school aged children. He returned to Boston to attend BU School of Medicine and completed his pediatrics residency at MGH, staying on for an additional year as a chief resident. He currently practices primary care and serves as the pediatric unit chief at the MGH Revere Healthcare Center. Dan lives in Boston with his wife who works in education, his two kids, their German Shepherd mutt, two cats and a small flock of chickens. Outside of work, he is an avid runner and bicycle commuter.