Training requirements for board eligibility in Infectious Diseases include a 12 month core clinical curriculum which includes inpatient consults, continuity clinic (with at least 20 HIV patients), clinical microbiology, hospital epidemiology, STD training, and conferences.
A continuity clinic is maintained for a total of 24 months.
During the first year, fellows spend 6 months at Bellevue Hospital, and 3 months each at Tisch and the VA Hospital.
Bellevue Hospital Center (6 months)
Bellevue Hospital Center, which first opened in 1736, is the primary teaching facility of the New York University School of Medicine and is the flagship of New York City's municipal hospital system. The patient population served by Bellevue Hospital Center is similar to that served by the other municipal hospitals in New York City.
Because of its location and reputation, Bellevue also serves international travelers, recent immigrants, exchange students and employees of the nearby United Nations, and is the designated hospital when the President of the United States visits New York City. Patients frequently come to Bellevue shortly after arrival in New York, with such diseases as malaria, typhoid fever, schistosomiasis, cholera, filariasis and other infections which are not endemic in the United States. In addition, Bellevue is the referral hospital for the nine other municipal hospitals in New York City, particularly for cardiology, cardiac surgery, neurosurgery and microsurgery, and is the principal receiving hospital for cardiac and neurosurgical emergencies.
Bellevue includes a 30 bed virology (HIV/AIDS) service, which is an integral part of the Division of Infectious Diseases, and a 66-bed chest service that provides experience in clinical tuberculosis and other chronic and acute pulmonary and pleural infections. In addition, Bellevue has an NIH-funded AIDS Clinical Trials Unit, and an NIH-funded General Clinical Research Center for intensive clinical investigation of inpatients and outpatients.
Tisch Hospital
Tisch Hospital, formerly New York University Hospital, is an acute-care general hospital of 726 beds that annually admits approximately 25,000 patients. The hospital has an active solid organ transplantation program, which offers Infectious Disease Fellows experience in diagnosis and management of infections that complicate solid organ transplantation and immunosuppression. In addition, Tisch offers clinical experience in evaluation and management of infections in patients undergoing neurologic and orthopedic rehabilitation, and additional experience in management of infections complicating cardiovascular surgery.
During their rotation at Tisch, Fellows work closely with two attending physicians assigned on a rotating basis. Fellows evaluate the patients of the attending physicians and act as the infectious disease consultants for Hospitalist Service patients, as well as responding to inquiries from the Emergency Room. In addition the fellows round with the infectious disease specialist who manages early post-transplantation patients in conjunction with the transplant surgeons.
Fellows also provide teaching presentations to the medical house staff, and have the opportunity for in-depth interactions with the Clinical Microbiology Laboratory (Directed by Philip Tierno, Ph.D.)
Veteran's Administration Hospital
The New York Campus of the Veterans Administration New York Harbor Healthcare System (VA), formerly the New York (Manhattan) Veterans Administration Medical Center, is a 210-bed acute care facility. Located on the same campus as Bellevue and Tisch Hospitals, the Infectious Diseases Division staff and fellows provide primary care for the largest cohort of HIV-infected patients within the nationwide VA system.
The inpatient consultation service at the VA provides fellows with a broad range of experience in evaluation and management of acute infectious diseases, supported by the full-time clinical faculty. As the New York VA also serves as a referral center for the New York metropolitan area VA system in cardiology, cardiovascular surgery and neurosurgery, fellows gain particular experience in managing infections associated with such patients.
Fellows spend one clinic session weekly at the VA, where they are supported by a staff of pharmacists, social workers and a nurse case manager.
