| Fellowship Program |
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Program: University of Louisville School of Medicine Infectious Diseases Fellowship Program ACGME# 1462031092
Director: Julio A. Ramirez, M.D.
Mailing Address: Division of Infectious Diseases
Telephone: (502) 852-5131 Fax: (502) 852-1147 e-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Alternate Program Contact: Karen Ramsey email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Length of Program: 2 years
Goals:
Description: The Infectious Diseases Fellowship Program was started July 1, 1975. To date, thirty physicians have completed our Fellowship Program. All applicants must have completed a three year Internal Medicine residency in an accredited medical school in the United States. Foreign medical graduates must have passed the USMLE Part I and II, as well as completed a three year Internal Medicine residency in an accredited medical school in the United States. One position each year is determined by the NRMP Residency Match Program. We offer a clinical fellowship program approved for four positions. The teaching utilizes clinical material and faculty at four core hospitals, the University of Louisville Hospital, Jewish Hospital, North Healthcare Hospitals and the Department of Veteran's Affairs Medical Center. The teaching also utilizes clinical material and faculty at the Department of Public Health Center Sexually Transmitted Disease Clinic and Tuberculosis Clinic. This allows for a broad exposure in disease pathology and patient mix. The fellows have a rotation in Infection Control with the opportunity to become familiar with hospital epidemiology. The Division has created a city-wide infection control group. Members of this group include infection control representatives from several hospitals as well as long-term care facilities and home health care agencies. Our fellowship program now offers an educational opportunity on infection control and epidemiology beyond the standard hospital setting. A state-of-the-art basic research reference laboratory with faculty devoted to basic research is available for training in a wide variety of areas involving studies at the molecular, cellular, and patient levels. The fellows are actively involved in the clinical research protocols in the Division of Infectious Diseases. There is a strong research emphasis and fellows are expected to participate in research activities throughout their training. The Division has created an international organization for the study of community-acquired pneumonia. We are currently involved in a multicenter, international trial to define the actual care of community-acquired pneumonia. Using internet technology, we are working in collaboration with investigators from more than 15 countries. A detailed description of the Community-Acquired Pneumonia Organization (CAPO) project can be found at www.caposite.com. Our fellowship program now offers an important educational opportunity in the area of international clinical research. The Division of Infectious Diseases is progressively more involved in quality improvement activities at the 2 primary teaching hospitals, the University of Louisville Hospital and the VA Medical Center. Both hospitals have agreed to implement a quality improvement project in the area of nosocomial-acquired pneumonia. The Division is in charge of the project implementation, development of interventions for improvement, and evaluation of the impact of the project on clinical and economic outcomes. Our fellowship program now offers an opportunity for our fellows to be educated in the process of quality improvement. At the University of Louisville Hospital, several years ago we implemented a hospital antimicrobial management program with the goal to improve the use of antibiotics in the hospital setting. The University of Louisville Hospital now has an Infectious Diseases PharmD with the goal to help in the activities of the program, to create an Infectious Diseases rotation for pharmacy students, and to work with our Division in the area of antibiotic research. Our fellowship program now offers a higher level of education and research in the area of hospital antimicrobial management. Training is bolstered by a weekly Infectious Diseases Journal Club for discussion of the current literature. A weekly Infectious Diseases Grand Rounds is held with a guest speaker for didactic lectures. At the conclusion of their training, fellows will be prepared to begin a successful academic or clinical career in Infectious Diseases. The program extends over 24 months and meets or exceeds minimal criteria by the American Board of Internal Medicine for fellows successfully completing the Program to be eligible to sit for the Certifying Examination in Infectious Diseases. Our teaching staff consists of Dr. Julio Ramirez, Dr. Forest Arnold, Dr. Raul Nakamatsu, Dr. Arnold Forest, Dr. Rama Kapoor, Dr. Diana Christianson . Each fellow has increased responsibility with each year. Second year fellows are "on call" for the Public Health Clinics and are considered Jr. faculty in the I.D. clinics where residents present patient cases to them for review. They are required to organize lectures to Internal Medicine residents, organize and moderate the I.D. Journal Club that meets weekly, advise and assist first year fellows in the preparation and submission of a manuscript for publication in a peer review journal, and organize the Clinical Research Conference on Mondays. Second year fellows arrange the fellow/resident night call schedule, attend at least one major meeting, participate in the Infection Control Committee for at least one hospital, and maintain the I.D. Patient Management Conference notebook. Basic research time varies depending upon the fellows' interest and career goals. A minimum of 22 clinical months is provided. The Infectious Diseases faculty and Program Director provide monthly and semi-annual written evaluations for each fellow, along with structured feedback. These evaluations are kept on file. The Program Director meets weekly with the fellows to discuss strength and weaknesses in areas of concern and to provide feedback as needed. Curriculum: The following rotations are provided during the 24 month program with individual variations:
1. Inpatient care at four core hospitals 2. Infection Control & Prevention 3. HIV/AIDS outpatient care at University of Louisville Hospital and VA Medical Center 4. Clinical microbiology at University of Louisville Hospital 5. Pharmacy at University of Louisville Hospital and VA Medical Center 6. Tuberculosis outpatient care at the Public Health Department 7. Molecular diagnostics at the Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory and the VA Medical Center Laboratory 8. Sexually transmitted diseases outpatient care at the Public Health Department. 9. Basic research at the University of Louisville Hospital and the VA Medical Center 10. Clinical research at the University of Louisville Hospital and the VA Medical Center During these 24 months, the fellow will have a continuous ambulatory care rotation consisting of two one-half days per week. This allows for the fellow to follow a group of patients on a regular basis. |
Fellowship Checklist
Fellowship Documents