A Brief Program Description

University of Minnesota Adult Infectious Diseases Fellowship Program

Goal:

To prepare trainees for a successful career in academic Infectious Diseases

Structure:

• 1 yr. clinical training (10 mos. inpatient, 1 mo. ambulatory, 1 mo. clinical microbiology)
• 1-3 yrs. research training (with fellow-selected mentor, research committee)
• Weekly HIV-focused continuity clinic (all 3 years)
• For optional combined Med-Peds program: 2 yrs. clinical, 2 yrs. research

     2 Tracks:

• Traditional (research focus: 3-4 years) 
• Clinical-Scholar (clinical care, education, scholarship: 2 years)

Number of fellows:

• 2-3/yr. (usually 2 Traditional Track, 1 Clinician-Scholar Track per year)
• 7-9 total (over 3 years)

Number of faculty:

• 37 MDs
• 4 PhDs

Training sites:

• Hospitals:  3 academic centers (university, city-county, VA); 1 private tertiary care center
• Clinics:  4 hospitals, plus others in area
• Research: 3 academic centers, plus affiliates (see below)

International Medicine opportunities:

• Research projects in Uganda, Tanzania, and India
• HIV, TB, and other ID issues in immigrants and travelers (clinical and research)
• International Clinic (Regions Medical Center)
• Travel and Tropical Medicine Seminars
• Global Health course; option of Certificate in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

Financial support:

• Clinical training: 3-4 fellows/yr. (Graduate Medical Education funds)
• Research training: up to 5 fellows/yr. (NIH training grants & VA)

Research training opportunities:

• Clinical-epidemiological (with option of MPH or MS in Clinical Research via School of Public Health)
• Laboratory (virology, bacteriology, immunology, antimicrobial resistance, pathogenesis, mol. epi.)

Affiliates:

• University of Minnesota:
• Pediatric Infectious Diseases
• School of Public Health
• Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy
• Department of Microbiology
• Pediatric Infectious Diseases
• School of Veterinary Medicine
• Food Microbiology
• Minnesota Dept. of Health (including the Emerging Infections program)
• Various international academic/clinical centers (Uganda, Tanzania, India)

Conferences and lecture series:

• Interdisciplinary clinical conference (weekly)
• Fellows’ journal club (twice monthly)
• ID fellows’ core lectures (twice monthly)
• HIV fellows’ forum (bimonthly-quarterly)
• ID research conference (twice monthly)
• Midwest ID Fellows Forum (annual; includes Mayo & Univ. of Wisconsin programs)
• Fellows’ Research Retreat (annual)
• Infectious Diseases Society of America (annual)
• North Central Chapter of IDSA (annual)
• Emerging Infections (annual; with Minnesota Dept. of Health)
• Travel and Tropical Medicine Seminars (monthly)
•  Twin Cities AIDS Clinicians and Quarterly Case Discussions (HIV) meetings

Distinctive characteristics of program:

• Large & diverse immigrant populations (African, S.E. Asian, Hispanic)
• Extensive solid organ and stem cell transplant & hematology/oncology ID exposure
• Diverse practice settings & patient populations at 4 hospitals + multiple clinics
• Several active HIV clinical & research programs
• Pediatric ID experience & affiliation with Pediatric ID program
• Option of combined Med-Peds fellowship (4 yrs; in conjunction with Pediatric ID program)
• Infection Control Committee, Antimicrobial Subcommittee participation
• NIH T32 training grant, “Infectious Diseases Training in Clinical Investigation”
• Scholarship Oversight Committee provides semiannual assessments and feedback to fellows
• Career Mentor for every fellow, to provide personal and professional guidance and support 

Recent fellow accomplishments:

• NIH Loan Repayment Program (four fellows; 2005-2008; 2-4 years support each)
• Academic positions post-fellowship (all graduating fellows for past 5 years)
• NIH K08 & K12 awards (three 2005 and 2007 graduating fellows)
• VA Associate Investigator award (2004 graduating fellow)
• Publications: JAMA, JID, CID, Peds IDJ, J Clin Micro, Wilderness Environ Med, J Trav Med         

Application process:

• Through ERAS (www.aamc.org/students/eras/start.htm)
• Applications received and reviewed each Dec-March
• Interviews each Jan-April
• National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) (www.nrmp.org) “match day” each June
• Fellowship starts in July of subsequent calendar year

Prerequisites:

• Completion of ACGME-accredited Medicine or Med-Peds residency program prior to fellowship
• Research/academic interest and potential
• Research experience desirable (not required)
• Demonstrated clinical excellence
• For Traditional Track (NIH T32 training grant), must be U.S. citizen or permanent resident
• For Clinician-Scholar Track, J-1 visa holders also eligible (H-1 visa discouraged)

Contact:

• Infectious Diseases Fellowship Coordinator: Jo Belvedere (belve003@umn.edu)
• phone: 612-626-9943
• fax:     612-625-4410

Additional information/ Websites:

• UM Adult ID fellowship program (www.idim.umn.edu/idim/fellowship/home.html)
• UM Infectious Diseases and International Medicine Division (www.idim.umn.edu)
• UM HIV research (www.hiv.umn.edu) 
• Travel and Tropical Medicine Seminar (www.tropical.umn.edu)
• UM Department of Medicine (www.dom.umn.edu)
• UM Pediatric Infectious Diseases Division (www.med.umn.edu/peds/id/home.html)
• Infectious Diseases Society of America (www.idsociety.org)
• Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) (www.aamc.org/students/eras/start.htm)
• National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) (www.nrmp.org)