Clinical Training & Education

One of our goals is to guide our fellows to develop high levels of clinical expertise.  To that end, our fellows spend 12 months of their first two years of fellowship on infectious diseases clinical services at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center and the Cincinnati VAMC.  Under the supervision of our faculty members, fellows train to be consultants and teachers. They supervise and teach medical residents, medical students and pharmacy students and residents on their infectious diseases electives.

Inpatient Consultative Services

University of Cincinnati Medical Center:

Three months during each of the two years are spent on an intensive Infectious Diseases Consultation Service at University of Cincinnati Medical Center.  With 100 adult ICU beds, it is a regional referral center with a Level-1 Trauma Center and active solid organ transplantation programs (kidney, pancreas, liver, heart and BMT). UCMC is the principal teaching hospital for the University of Cincinnati, with over 50 accredited training programs.

Cincinnati Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center:

Three months during each of two years will be spent on the Infectious Diseases Consultation Service at VA Medical Center, which is a full-service hospital directly adjacent to the University of Cincinnati medical campus.  In addition, on this service, fellows work closely with the medical director and pharmacist on the Antibiotic Stewardship Program, which covers all patients at Cincinnati VA who are receiving parenteral antibiotics.

Immunocompromised Host/ Transplant ID Consults at UCMC:

Further specialized training in transplant infectious diseases is a hallmark of our program.  Fellows spend at least 4 weeks each year on our Immunocompromised Host Consult Team at UCMC and take part in multidisciplinary transplant clinics and conferences.

Outpatient Experiences

Outpatient experience is obtained in the Infectious Diseases Center at University of Cincinnati Medical Center and in the Cincinnati Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center Infectious Diseases Clinic.  For fellows, clinic time averages one half-day per week, alternating at the two outpatient practice sites. Fellows work alongside our faculty and have a dedicated faculty supervisor each clinic day at the IDC. These clinical rotations include seeing primary care HIV-infected patients, patients with hepatitis C infection, surgical site infections and hospital follow-up with patients from the infectious diseases consultation services. Fellows provide outpatient care and consults alongside our faculty at these practices, as well as at TB Control Clinic of Hamilton County Public Health.

Other Experiences

Fellows receive additional training in the following areas:

• Microbiology:
  

Fellows receive practical training in the diagnostic laboratories including bacteriology, antimicrobial susceptibility testing, determination of serum antibiotic concentrations, mycology, virology, immunology, serology and parasitology.

• Infection Control and Prevention:

A critical area of infectious diseases training is infection control and prevention. Infectious diseases fellows spend at least one month in the infection control programs at both University of Cincinnati Medical Center and the Cincinnati VA. Under the direction of the infection control staff, fellows are assigned a problem and learn how to gather necessary information and resolve specific issues. They present their findings at one of our conferences each year, as well.

Under the direction of the Infection Control staff at both UC Health and the VAMC, fellows choose a problem and learn how to gather necessary information and resolve specific issues as part of a multi-disciplinary team.

• Hamilton County TB Control Clinic:
  

The Hamilton County TB Control Clinic is a full service TB clinic, located near UCMC.  This clinic serves Hamilton County residents with skin tests, x-rays, prescriptions and directly observed therapy. A UC ID faculty member supervises infectious diseases fellows seeing patients there during three to four half day sessions, typically during their second year of fellowship.

• Electives:

For fellows with particular interests, we are able to provide a wide range of additional opportunities for our fellows.  For past fellows, for example, we have created electives in Critical Care ID and additional Transplant ID.

Conferences and Educational Opportunities

• An infectious diseases clinical conference and a journal club are held weekly.
• A weekly “Core” Course pairs didactic sessions with board review Q & A sessions.
• A formal research conference is held monthly.
• Combined Infectious Diseases Conference is a monthly clinical conference attended by University of Cincinnati and Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center health professionals.
• The UC Division of Infectious Diseases presents medical grand rounds at University of Cincinnati Medical Center five times a year.
• Throughout the fellowship, fellows have the opportunity to take tuition-free graduate courses given by the UC Department of Molecular Genetics, Biochemistry and Microbiology (e.g. microbial physiology, medical microbiology, virology, molecular genetics, immunology and cell biology).
• Infectious diseases fellows have the opportunity to pursue a degree in clinical and translational research during their fellowship. Each fellow completes a certificate in Clinical and Translational Research. Those fellows who pursue a third year in fellowship may apply those credits towards an MS degree in Clinical and Translational Research or an MPH. 
• Fellows are given a travel allowance to attend at least one national or regional meeting per year.  Additional funding is available for fellows presenting at conferences.