Fellowship Program in Pediatric Infectious Diseases

Year One

The first year of training is primarily clinical, and generally includes six to eight months of supervised work with the pediatric ID consultation service at Hasbro Children's Hospital. Fellows will participate in multiple longitudinal outpatient pediatric ID clinics during all three years of fellowship training. The fellow participates in an outpatient pediatric ID clinic one afternoon each week. During the first half of the year, the fellow will also undertake a rotation in clinical microbiology at Rhode Island Hospital, which provides indispensable practical knowledge of the clinical microbiology laboratory. Early in the first year, time is set aside for the fellow to participate in a full-time, week-long "core curriculum," involving all fellows in the department of pediatrics. This intensive learning experience serves as a foundational introduction to scholarship, research, teaching and academic medicine. By the end of the first year, the fellow will have met with his/her scholarship committee to orient, plan and discuss plans for developing one or more research projects. Fellows are expected to actively participate in the scheduled pediatric infectious diseases conferences.

Year Two

In the second year, development of investigative capabilities is emphasized, and the fellow is expected to pursue one or more research projects in-depth under the mentorship of a faculty member. The second-year fellow will continue to have a weekly longitudinal outpatient clinic experience, and will be expected to rotate for approximately four to six months on the pediatric infectious diseases inpatient consultation service. The second-year fellow will be expected to complete either the transplant ID or the infection control rotation. Fellows are expected to actively participate in the scheduled pediatric infectious diseases conferences.

Year Three

The fellow in the third year devotes most of his/her time to research and scholarly activities. The third year fellow continues working with a longitudinal pediatric ID clinic experience (usually the pediatric and adolescent HIV clinic), and rotates for approximately one or two months on the pediatric infectious diseases inpatient consultation service. Fellows are expected to actively participate in the scheduled pediatric infectious diseases conferences.

Outpatient Clinical Rotations

Each fellow is expected to participate in a weekly clinic throughout his or her fellowship. By the end of fellowship training, trainees will have undertaken supervised clinical work in the outpatient pediatric ID clinic, pediatric/adolescent HIV clinic and pediatric TB clinic. All clinics meet one afternoon each week. The pediatric ID clinic rotation includes the diagnosis, treatment and follow-up management of outpatient infectious diseases, including bone and joint infections, Lyme disease, patients with recurrent infections, FUO and other conditions. In the pediatric TB clinic, fellows mainly participate in the management of children with latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI). Fellows in either the second or third year gain experience in the diagnosis and management of pediatric HIV/AIDS. Additional outpatient elective rotations are available in pediatric ENT, travel medicine, and international adoption clinics.

Additional Required Rotations

Fellows are supervised in three additional required rotations, each lasting one month. All first-year trainees take a clinical microbiology laboratory rotation, based at the clinical microbiology laboratory at Rhode Island Hospital. Trainees in the second or third year take a rotation in transplantation and infectious diseases at Rhode Island Hospital.

Fellows in either the second or third year take a month-long rotation at Rhode Island Hospital in hospital epidemiology and infection control.

Duty Hour Requirements

Duty hour requirements are strictly enforced, in accordance with ACGME requirements. Fellows on service are "on call" from home. Fellows are provided with one out of seven days a week free from all educational and clinical responsibilities, averaged over a four-week period.

Moonlighting

Moonlighting is permitted in accordance with the institutional policies.

Scholarly Activity

All fellows are expected to complete one or more projects that require either the development and testing of hypotheses, or scholarly exploration and analyses using critical thinking skills. Areas in which scholarly activity may be pursued include, but are not limited to: basic, clinical, or translational biomedicine; health services; quality improvement; bioethics; education; and public policy. Fellows are encouraged to make use of the resources of The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, in addition to Rhode Island Hospital, in planning their scholarly work. Fellows are expected to gather and analyze data, derive and defend conclusions, place conclusions in the context of what is known or not known about a specific area of inquiry, and present their work in oral and written form to their scholarship oversight committee. Trainees are encouraged to present their findings at national academic meetings, and publish in peer-reviewed journals.

A scholarship oversight committee is formed for each fellow by the end of the first year, in accordance with ABP guidelines. The committee, in conjunction with the fellow, the mentor and the program director will determine whether a specific activity is appropriate to meet the ABP guidelines for scholarly activities. The mentor(s) will be responsible for providing the ongoing feedback essential to the trainee's development.

Faculty