“The General Internal Medicine Fellowship at WashU was essential for launching my career in academic medicine. I was given the time and structured training needed to succeed as an early-stage clinical investigator. The Fellowship offers real flexibility; my research is in global nutrition, and there was no friction in working with mentors across different Departments and in conducting international research. The Fellowship offers access to high-quality coursework, at no cost to the fellow, as well as to seminars and future colleagues across WashU. For physicians pursuing independent research careers, this Fellowship is a gem.”
Dr. Kevin Stephenson
The Division offers fellowship training to general internists, family practitioners, or specialists who seek to prepare themselves for a career in academic internal medicine. The training program is focused on the development of clinical research skills.
Prerequisites
Most fellows hold a MD or DO degree and have completed residency training in internal medicine or family practice.
Resources
For each fellow, the program provides salary and benefits, office space, access to library and computer services, and shared secretarial support. Each fellow has access to funds for research, travel, and other educational activities. A faculty member, working in a field of interest to the fellow, is assigned as an advisor (mentor). Fellows have access to the full clinical resources of the Department of Medicine and may undertake collaborative efforts with other departments.
Curriculum
The curriculum for fellows is individualized in consultation with the program director, Brian F. Gage, MD, MSc, and the fellow’s advisor (faculty mentor). All fellows participate in a weekly clinical research seminar. Fellows also participate in courses on professional development (oral presentation skills, manuscript preparation, quality management, medical informatics, and use of electronic resources).
Fellows complete at least one graduate course, Designing Outcomes and Clinical (DOC) Research and typically take additional courses.
Most fellows serve as attending physicians on the inpatient service for one month per year and attend in the outpatient medicine clinic of Barnes-Jewish Hospital 1-2 days per week.
The major educational activity for each fellow is research. Working closely with a mentor, fellows design and complete projects suitable for publication. Typically, fellows state a research question, design a study, prepare a protocol, obtain IRB approval, collect and analyze data, present the results, and write a manuscript.
Fellows typically serve full time for one to two years, but other arrangements are possible.
Evaluation
To assess their progress and plans, GMS fellows meet at least weekly with their mentors and at least quarterly with the program director.
Contact
314-454-8638
bthurman@wustl.edu