What to Expect

Program curriculum

Each fellow receives six months of clinical training, exposure to the microbiology laboratory and infection control in the first year, and six months of additional clinical training in the second year. Fellows have approximately 5-6 months of protected time for research training and electives during each year of fellowship. Fellows also have the opportunity to rotate through the various clinical services (general consults, transplant ID consults, inpatient ID floor) more often to gain additional clinical experience if their goals are academic careers as clinician-educators.

An additional third year of research training is strongly encouraged for fellows demonstrating a strong aptitude for basic and/or translational research. The third year is highly structured and tailored to the individual research goals of the fellows with input from the mentoring faculty members. Please see Year Three Training Opportunities for more details.

Program rotations

Infectious disease consultation service

The educational goal of every infectious disease consult is to achieve an understanding of the basic anatomical, pathophysiological, microbiological, and pharmacological factors that pertain to patient management of complex infectious disease conditions that the ID specialist encounters.

Clinical microbiology

The educational goals of this one-month clinical rotation are advanced microbiology techniques and practices in the disciplines of Bacteriology, Mycology, Mycobacteriology, Parasitology, Virology, and Serology.

Infection prevention

The goal of this rotation is to introduce the fellow to the epidemiological methods used in health care institutions. The various methods include the identification, analysis, intervention and evaluation of infectious agents that will emerge in health care settings.

Transplant infectious disease consultation service

The educational goal of this one-month clinical rotation is to familiarize the fellow with infectious diseases in the solid organ and hematopoietic stem cell transplant population (HSCT).

Antimicrobial Stewardship

Fellows will be introduced to the fundamental principles of responsible and appropriate use of antimicrobials, reducing microbial resistance, and decreasing the spread of infections caused by multidrug-resistant organisms.

Sexually Transmitted Disease Clinic

The educational goal of this rotation is to provide fellows with the opportunity to see a broad range of clinical presentations of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and be able to screen, diagnosis and treat STDs.

Outpatient infectious disease clinic

This is ½ day a week during the 2 years of fellowship. This is a staff-supervised experience gained from one-on-one patient encounters in the Infectious Diseases outpatient clinic. These encounters include patients who may have HIV/AIDS, osteomyelitis, bacterial infections, mycobacterial infections, fungal infections, or fever of unknown origin. In addition, there is interaction with the support staff involved in the care of these patients, including clinical nurse specialists, a pharmacist, social workers, and home infusion center.

Elective options

Fellows can take additional electives in the following:

• Global Health — Several international rotations available with our oversees collaborators (up to 4-6 weeks during second year of fellowship)
• Wound Clinic
• Various opportunities with the health department

Research

The research opportunities include a combination of translational basic science, laboratory outcomes and clinical studies. The 3400 sq. foot Infectious Diseases Research Laboratory provides opportunities to pursue molecular infectious disease research and clinical testing. In addition, investigations are attempting to bridge the application of ‘bench’ research to the patient bedside. Specific investigations include the study of the epidemiology and treatment of antibiotic resistant bacteria, outcomes and new therapies for HIV/AIDS, development of rapid and specific diagnostic testing, and new treatments for fungal infections in immunocompromised patients.

In 2021, there were 107 funded studies with 26 million dollars in research funding within the division. In the last 3 years, there were 195 peer-reviewed manuscripts or book chapters, 140 published abstracts at national or international meetings, and 40 residents or medical students involved in research projects within the division.

Other teaching activities

• Core Curriculum Series
• Infectious Diseases Interesting Case Conference
• Clinical Microbiology Laboratory Rounds
• Educational Training Activities
• Resident's Lecture Series
• Research Seminar Series
• ID Journal Club
• HIV Conference
• Transplant/immunocompromised Host Conference