Curriculum
As with other aspects of internal medicine training, the ID fellowship curriculum acknowledges that all fellows must attain the core competencies of patient care, medical knowledge, practice-based learning, interpersonal and communication skills.
At a minimum, the curriculum is designed:
- To meet or exceed the standards set forth by the American Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).
- To ensure that fellows meet the requirements of the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) subspecialty board exam in Infectious Diseases.
Our ID Fellowship program is flexible in accommodating the needs of our fellows. We offer 2 fellowship tracks.
- Clinical Track- 2 year
- Clinical, Bench Research Track- 2 years with a potential option for a third year
We also offer a combined Medicine-Pediatrics fellowship in conjunction with St. Jude and Le Bonheur.
Description of Curriculum Rotations
Infectious Diseases Inpatient Consult Rotation
The Inpatient Infectious Diseases Service offers fellows a diverse experience that involves patients from multiple disciplines whose infections demand the expertise of the ID service. Virtually all aspects of infectious diseases are encountered on the ID consult service which manages patients at our three teaching hospitals: the Memphis VA Medical Center, Regional One Health, and Methodist University Hospital. Fellows complete at least 12 months of inpatient consult service.
Outpatient Clinics
The Adult Special Care Clinic is a multidisciplinary subspecialty clinic providing comprehensive care of HIV-infected patients. This clinic, which relies on the expertise of physicians, clinical pharmacologists, nurses, social workers and nutritionists provides an ideal environment for both patient care and the education and training of fellows in the long-term management of patients with HIV as well as an opportunity to learn about the management of other STDs.
Fellows also participate in a general infectious disease outpatient clinic by working with several of the faculty members that see patients at Methodist University and Regional One Health.
Microbiology
The clinical microbiology rotation is a 4 week rotation which is divided into 2 blocks. The headings of curriculum, conferences, scholarly activity and affiliated training facilities should be moved to the Clinical Care section and should no longer be in the applicant section.
Research
There is substantial time allotted for research rotations which allows our fellows to conduct original research projects with the guidance of a primary mentor and mentoring team. Fellows are expected to choose a project and mentor for a project by the end of the first academic year. Projects (and mentors) must meet with the approval of the program director prior to initiation. The expectation is to have the research published and also presented at a division, national and/or local meetings.
Infection Control
Fellows are expected to attend Infection Control committee meetings at Methodist University Hospital and Regional One Health.
Epidemiology
All fellows are required to attend the Hospital Epidemiology Training Course jointly sponsored by CDC and the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America. Ideally fellows should plan on attending the course during the second year of fellowship.
Pediatric Infectious Disease
Fellows have the opportunity in their second year to do a pediatric infectious disease elective at St. Jude Children’'s Research Hospital in Memphis, TN. St. Jude is a nationally recognized leader in pediatric oncology. In addition, fellows can also opt for a pediatric infectious disease elective at Le Bonheur Children’'s Hospital which provides exposure to vast array of pediatric infections.
Mycobacterial Infections
In addition to cases of mycobacterial infections that are encountered on the inpatient consult services and outpatient setting, the Shelby County Health Department also provides experience in the management of mycobacterial infections, particularly tuberculosis.
Fellows may gain additional experience in the management of tuberculosis at the National Jewish Medical and Research Center in Denver, a national referral center for difficult and complex mycobacterial infections. During this optional clinical rotation, fellows see patients on the inpatient wards where they are supervised by Infectious Diseases attendings from the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center.