The goal of the Infectious Diseases Fellowship Program at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center is to provide subspecialty training in infectious diseases to internists who will become board certified in infectious diseases and pursue productive careers in academic medicine, public health, clinical practice or industry. US applicants must be board eligible or certified in internal medicine by the time they enter the fellowship training program; those who are board eligible must become board certified in internal medicine during the first year of fellowship training. There are limited opportunities for highly qualified international trainees who have completed internal medicine training outside the US; these applicants will be considered within the constraints of the program and must meet the Visa status found in the application procedure information.
Two years of fellowship training are required for board certification in infectious diseases. Fellows who are interested in careers in clinical investigation or basic research should plan to continue their training after completion of the two year fellowship. Fellowship contracts are offered for one-year periods, and continuation of the contract is dependent on satisfactory performance. All fellows are assigned to an HIV/AIDS continuity clinic for 2 years.
Fellows are assigned to either the clinical or investigator track. Fellows should meet with Dr. Corey Tancik, the fellowship program director, and Dr. Sam Lee, the fellowship research director, before starting the fellowship or no later than a month of starting the fellowship in order to determine the training track and identify research mentors. Fellows should identify a graduate training committee, which must include at least one full-time member of the division and must be comprised of at least two faculty members from the School of Medicine.
Fellows in the clinical track complete a 2-year clinical fellowship, of which at least 18 months is devoted to clinical training. This includes approximately 15 months of inpatient consultation on the adult infectious diseases service (divided approximately equally between University Hospital and the New Mexico Veterans Heath Care System (NMVHCS) and one month each on clinical microbiology and hospital epidemiology rotations. Fellows will be given the opportunity to spend one month with the transplant infectious diseases service at MD Anderson Hospital in Houston. Additional outpatient experience is provided in the OPAT (Outpatient Parenteral Antimicrobial Therapy) Clinic, travel and STD clinics during an additional ambulatory care month. Fellows are also given the opportunity to include an Inpatient Pediatric Consult rotation as an elective. During the remaining months, clinical track fellows are expected to pursue scholarly activity. Examples of the latter include investigation of nosocomial infections, chart reviews or case reports with a review of the literature, and participation in clinical research studies.
Fellows who wish to enter the investigator track must develop a formal training proposal that must be approved by the division. This can be done either before or after acceptance in the ID fellowship program. The formal training proposal must identify:
Fellows in the investigator track have 10 months on the inpatient consult service and one month each on clinical microbiology and hospital epidemiology rotations. Electives in pediatrics and ambulatory ID are available.
Fellows in the investigator track are expected to apply with their mentor for training support in order to continue their research training following completion of the 2-year fellowship. This support may be from national funding agencies such as the NIH (K23), VA (Career Development Award) or from private foundations. Alternatively, trainees may be eligible for funding through one of several institutional training awards, which include the Infectious Diseases a nd Inflammation T32 training award (for US citizens and residents) and one of two Fogarty International Center training grants (for international trainees).
Trainees in the clinical track should choose a research mentor in the ID division, whereas trainees in the investigator track may choose a primary research mentor either within the ID division or from a related department such as Molecular Genetics and Microbiology (MGM) and Pathology. Information about individual faculty members is available at the ID Division or departmental web sites, and individual faculty profiles are also available.
Research Themes
There are several research themes within the ID division. The largest is the Program in Global Health, which is co-directed Drs. DJ Perkins and Ravi Durvasula. Research interests include the interaction of malaria, HIV and severe anemia in children in Kenya (DJ Perkins); a paratransgenic approach to prevention of Chagas disease and visceral leishmaniasis (Ravi Durvasula); ecology, epidemiology and treatment of hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome in Chile and Panama (G Mertz) and treatment of tuberculosis (Marcos Burgos). Opportunities for international research experience include sites in Bolivia, Chile, India, Kenya, Panama and Peru.
A second major theme is in pathogenesis and molecular epidemiology. Dr. Samuel Lee studies the molecular pathogenesis of invasive candidiasis and investigates translational aspects of Candida infection, including mechanisms of echinocandin resistance and molecular epidemiology of oral candidiasis in immunosuppressed patients. Dr. Tom Byrd’s research is focused on host defense against intracellular bacterial pathogens, including Mycobacterium tuberculosis and M. abscessus, and Dr. Marcos Burgos is actively involved in studies of the molecular epidemiology of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in New Mexico. Dr. Diane Goade is involved with studies of the pathogenesis of West Nile virus infection as well as studies related to genetic susceptibility to infectious diseases in collaboration with Dr. Rick Lyons.
A third major focus is in clinical trials led by Drs. Diane Goade, Greg Mertz and Bruce Williams. Ongoing clinical efficacy trials include trials of vaccines, antiretroviral drugs and drugs for treatment herpes viruses and influenza.
Several ID faculty members also participate in the Infectious Diseases and Inflammation Program (IDIP), and the VA Center for Excellence in Cellular and Molecular Biology (which is currently comprised of the 5 physician-scientists in the new building 10 at the VA).
Finally, several division members are involved in outcomes research. Areas of interest include Hepatitis C treatment and outcomes in rural areas through Project ECHO (Karla Thornton), evaluating quality of care and other outcomes in the outpatient antibiotic treatment setting (Michelle Iandiorio), antimicrobial stewardship and implementation of guidelines for control of MRSA in healthcare settings (Susan Kellie).
Applications are accepted through ERAS. A Dean’s Letter is required for all applicants and they should also identify three references and ask each to send a letter of recommendation through ERAS. Our program can only accept applicants that are U. S. Citizens, Permanent Residents and those with a J1 Visa status. Applications are accepted through Mid-March.
Corey Tancik, MD, Program Director
Internal Medicine
MSC10 5550
1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001
USA
Telephone: (505) 272-1670
Application questions should be directed to
Hollie Medina, Program Coordinator
MSC10 5550
1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001
USA
Telephone: (505) 272-1670
