Program Director
Gilberto Lopes, M.D.glopes@med.miami.edu
Associate Program Director, Hematology
James Hoffman, M.D.jhoffman4@med.miami.edu
Overview
The HEMATOLOGY-ONCOLOGY FELLOWSHIP TRAINING PROGRAM at the University of Miami’s Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center and Jackson Memorial Hospital prepares academically oriented physicians to become leaders in research, advanced clinical educators and outstanding clinicians.
The Hematology/Oncology Fellowship Training Program offers a well-integrated fellowship training program which leads to eligibility for the Hematology and/or Oncology Board Examination after a three year training program. The fellowship program is accredited by ACGME (1151121012) and has 16 positions. The combined program for Hematology and Oncology Board Certification includes the mandatory 18 months of clinical rotations over a 36 month fellowship. The remainder of time is distributed among research time (clinical/translational research), elective rotations and vacation.
The Hematology/Oncology fellowship program offers a broad exposure to hematologic and oncologic diseases in the in-patient and outpatient settings at three allied institutions: University of Miami Hospital, Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, and Jackson Memorial Hospital.
Application Information
Applications are accepted through the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS)
Requirements
The Hematology/Oncology Fellowship Training Program at Jackson Health Systems selects fellows through the National Residency Matching Program (NRMP). All fellowship applicants should have completed an ACGME-accredited internal medicine program. All applicants must submit their applications via ERAS. U.S. citizens, permanent residents, or physicians under J-1 (exchange visitor program) can apply to our fellowship program. We are unable to sponsor H-1B Visas.
Program Curriculum
The Hematology/Oncology Fellowship Training Program is composed of Core Rotations, Mandatory Rotations, Structured and Individual Electives and Flexible Time. Each fellow must complete the requirements necessary to achieve ABIM board certification but there is a great deal of flexibility built into the fellowship program. Each fellow is able to individualize their education in order to reach their specific career goals. The majority of modern oncology care is in the outpatient setting and this is reflected in the fellowship program.
Core Rotations
The Core Rotations are the inpatient rotations that offer exposure to all elements of Hematology/Oncology. Many of the curricular milestones, procedures and the core competencies are mastered on these rotations. Core Rotations are 10-12 weeks duration each. Inpatient rotations comprise less than one quarter of the fellows experience. There are four Core Rotations. These rotations are:
- Oncology Consultation Service at Jackson Memorial Hospital
- Inpatient Hematology/Oncology Service (West Wing 12) Jackson Memorial Hospital
- Hematology Consult Service at the University of Miami Hospital
- Hematology Consult Service at Jackson Memorial Hospital
During the first year the fellow will complete the core rotation for the inpatient unit at JMH and the inpatient oncology consultation service at JMH. The second year fellow will work on the inpatient hematology consultation service at UMH. The third year fellow will staff the inpatient hematology consultation service at JMH.
Mandatory Rotations
Hematopathology - the first year fellow spends 4 weeks reading bone marrows and csf cytology with our Hematopathology attendings and learning about flow cytometry, cytogenetics, FISH and other prognostic markers.
Bone Marrow Transplantation Service - The fellow will learn to comprehensively manage patients undergoing Autologous and Allogeneic transplantation in this 4 week rotation. They will learn the indications and rationale for transplantation as well as the management of the toxicities.
Benign Hematology - First year fellows spend a minimum of 4 weeks on this rotation which lays the groundwork for competency in benign hematology. During this rotation the fellow attends outpatient clinic with Dr Jonathan Cohen at SCCC and serves as the junior fellow on the JMH Hematology Consultation Service staffing only the benign hematology consults. In addition the fellow is responsible for case presentation at the bimonthly Benign Hematology conference, following a bone marrow from procedure performance to diagnosis in Hematopathology. Procedural competency on bone marrows can be attained during this rotation.
Structured Electives
Structured Electives are the fellow’s opportunity for exposure to multiple site disease groups (SDG). These are intensive immersions in a specific SDG that maximizes teaching by having the fellow participate in multiple clinics in the course of a limited time in just one SDG. The fellow can choose from a large selection of electives and can decide how many weeks to attend each elective in order to reach their goals. Available Structured Electives include:
- Radiation Oncology
- Breast Cancer
- Lung Cancer
- GI Cancer
- Lymphoma/Myeloma
- Leukemia/Bone Marrow Failure
- Sarcoma
- GU Cancer
- Palliative Care
- Benign Hematology-Advanced
- Head and Neck Cancer
Individual Electives
In addition to Structured Electives the fellow can participate in an Individual Elective where the fellow is paired with a specific attending over many months. These electives are very popular for second and third year fellows who elect to work with their mentor or who desire a one on one teaching experience.
Flexible Time
Our fellowship is built for maximum flexibility. Since each fellow come to the fellowship program with different experiences, different expectations and very different career goals we believe the training program should be individualized for each fellow. The fellow works with their mentor and the PD to develop a fellowship program that fulfills their educational and career goals while ensuring that the fellow completes the requirements necessary for board eligibility. The flexible time can be used for bench research, writing a clinical trial, accruing patients to a clinical trial, attending a continuity clinic at SCCC, taking a statistics course, attending a grant workshop or undertaking a quality assurance project.
Mentoring
The First year fellows are assigned a designated faculty advisor at the start of their first year. This advisor will meet with them at least quarterly during the first year and bi-annually after that. The designated faculty advisor will help the fellow pick elective rotations, evaluate the fellow’s progress during the first year, assist the fellow with developing an educational plan for the second and third year of fellowship and facilitate the matching of the fellow with a research mentor based on the fellow’s interests and goals. The fellow will pick a mentor at the end of their first year. This mentor can be a research/scientific mentor or a clinical mentor. The clinical mentor will assist the fellow with developing a plan for the optimization of their clinical skills. The research mentor will assist the fellow with the development of a research project, provide oversight of the project and monitor the progress of the fellow throughout the research project.
Contact
Ana Chavez
Program Manager
Phone: 305-243-9741
Email: Achavez@med.miami.edu