The first year of the fellowship is focused on clinical training. During this time, fellows rotate through the three inpatient clinical services (hematology, oncology and stem cell transplant), acquiring the skills to direct a broad multidisciplinary team that cares for a complex patient population and ultimately assuming a leadership position on that team. They will acquire a primary patient population during this time for whom they will serve as the primary physician and will follow in their continuity clinic throughout the duration of fellowship.
In addition to the inpatient services, first-year fellows complete a series of rotations to augment their education including:
- Coagulation bootcamp
- Blood bank
- Cytogenetics
- Molecular diagnostics
- Radiation oncology
- Hematopathology
- Pheresis
Hands-on training in the essential procedural skills of our discipline including bone marrow aspirations and biopsies, peripheral smear and bone marrow interpretation, intrathecal chemotherapy administration and clinical trial enrollment and management will be given during this phase of training.
Finally, first-year fellows will receive an in-depth didactic lecture series from pediatric hematology/oncology faculty, as well as participate in a core curriculum through the department of pediatrics that covers topics such as grant and manuscript writing, mentorship, biostatistics, job searching and negotiation skills, wellness and others. This broad curriculum provides a strong foundation for the fellow, ensuring that he or she is well equipped with an extensive and sophisticated fund of knowledge. On-call responsibilities during the first year consist of approximately ten days (including 1-2 weekends) of overnight home call coverage per month. After the first year, call responsibilities are restricted to approximately one weekend every other month to protect the fellows’ time for scholarly activities.
After the first year, the fellow begins an individualized program of clinical, translational or basic science investigation mentored by faculty at Washington University. During this time, the fellow is expected to pursue original research following one of 3 pathways: clinical educator scholar, clinical and translational research scholar, or basic science research scholar. Additionally, we offer an adolescent-young adult (AYA) track with experiences and opportunities tailored for those who wish to develop an expertise in the care of these patients. Many of our fellows have chosen to pursue additional training (e.g., master’s degrees) during this time to support their research endeavors and training goals.
To ensure protected time during this phase of training, clinical responsibilities are limited to one half-day of continuity clinic per week and one weekend call every other month. In addition, fellows are expected to attend the divisional and subspecialty tumor boards. Fellows with a particular sub-specialty interest within hematology or oncology may elect to spend additional time in the relevant clinics, and will have the opportunity to focus their continuity clinic toward their interests as fellowship proceeds during the second and third year.