Fellowship Structure

Goals of fellowship:

The goals of our fellowship program are to provide subspecialty training in the broad range of diseases of endocrinology, diabetes and metabolism for physicians already trained and board eligible in internal medicine, and to ensure continued development of general competencies as defined by the ACGME. Inpatient and outpatient experiences as well as multiple didactic sessions including conferences, lectures and seminars, foster trainee development and allow the trainee to become an expert in evaluation and management of endocrine disorders. In outpatient clinics, fellows gain experience in the longitudinal care for treatment and health maintenance of patients. Humanistic and ethical behavior is stressed as a part of the training program.

Structure of fellowship:

Our fellowship program is currently ACGME/RRC accredited to train a total of ten (10) trainees for years one and two of the program. The trainees have the option to extend their training for an additional one or two years beyond the basic two-year program for the purposes of in-depth research training.  The latter is intended for physicians who during their training will acquire not only the requisite clinical skill set and knowledge base to achieve subspecialty board certification in endocrinology, but also the investigative skills to pursue a career in academic medicine.  Preference is given to candidates interested in research training.

Clinical training for candidates in both tracks is usually concentrated within the first year of the program and always organized to occur predominantly within the first 18 months of the program.  All fellows receive a total of 14 months of clinical training.  The trainees choosing the basic 2-year program will have a formally mentored, required research experience of at least eight months duration during their two years of training.  The trainees choosing the research track spend approximately 22 of the 36-month program in mentored research activity.

Evaluation of Fellows

The fellowship program employs multiple methods to evaluate its trainees. These include individual attending evaluations of clinical performance, research mentor evaluation of research performance, personal portfolio review, mini-clinical evaluation exercise (CEX), and endocrine self assessment in-training examination. These parameters are also employed to assess the quality and effectiveness of the training program.  Meetings of the Curriculum Committee take place semi-annually and are attended by the fellows. The final meeting each year constitutes as the Annual Program Evaluation.  Areas for improvement identified by the trainees and faculty are used to strengthen the program.