Curriculum

The rheumatology fellowship curriculum at UW offers rigorous and comprehensive clinical training at three academic hospitals, highly individualized mentorship and career guidance, and a broad range of didactic sessions.

UWMC-ML
HMC
VAPS
This is unpublished

RHEUMATOLOGY fELLOWSHIP tRAINING AT A GLANCE

Your 2-3 years of fellowship training contain a number of opportunities for clinical exposure, research training, and scholarship. 

Fellowship at a glance slide

Fellowship Training at-a-glance

 

Clinical Training

 

UWMC-ML

UWMC-Montlake Medical Center

U.S. News & World Report's No. 1 hospital in Washington State, and one of the nation's leading academic medical centers, providing care for patients from Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho. 

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Harborview

Harborview Medical Center

A comprehensive Level I adult and pediatric trauma healthcare facility dedicated to providing specialized care for patients throughout the Pacific Northwest, including the most vulnerable residents of King County. 

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VA Puget Sound Medical Center

The primary referral site for the VA's northwest region, VA Puget Sound provides care for Veteran populations encompassing Alaska, Montana, Idaho, and Oregon and serves a diverse group of more than 125,000 Veterans. 

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  • Continuity Clinics First-year fellows maintain one half-day continuity clinic at each of the three training hospitals for a comprehensive outpatient experience. Depending on pathway, second-year fellows maintain between 1 and 3 continuity clinics at the site(s) of their choosing.
  • Inpatient Consult Service First-year fellows have 9 months of inpatient consult service - 3 months at each teaching hospital, occurring in month long blocks.
  • Telemedicine All fellows are credentialed and trained in delivering care via telemedicine, an essential service during COVID-19 and for our patients with limited mobility or who live in the WWAMI* referral region (*Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, Idaho).
  • Musculoskeletal Ultrasound (MSK-US) Depending on training pathway, second-year fellows can pursue comprehensive MSK-US training (100 – 150 proctored exams) sufficient for ACR certification.
  • Multidisciplinary Clinics Second-year fellows rotate through rheumatology combined clinics with dermatology, neurology (neuromuscular disease), and pulmonology (interstitial lung disease).
  • Specialty Clinics Second-year fellows rotate through clinics for metabolic bone disease, physical medicine & rehabilitation, and pediatric rheumatology (at Seattle Children’s Hospital).
  • Outreach Clinics Second-year fellows on the Clinical Practice Pathway provide rheumatology care at the Tulalip Tribes Clinics (north of Seattle). 
  • Clinical Trials Second-year fellows on the Clinician-Scholar or Clinical Practice Pathways may pursue focused, hands-on training in clinical trials work. The Division participates in 5 – 7 ongoing clinical trials.
  • Quality Improvement First-year fellows participate in quality improvement training and mentored projects commensurate with their career goals.

Mentoring and Career Guidance

  • Mentorship Committee A small committee of physician-scientist and clinician-scholar faculty members meets regularly with first-year fellows to help identify a training pathway and career-appropriate mentors and scholarship/research projects.
  • Career Development Committee (CDC) In the second (and third) year of training, a carefully chosen group of faculty members (including the fellow’s mentor) meets 2 – 3 times yearly to offer high-level guidance toward career development milestones.
  • Individualized Development Plan (IDP) A living document maintained by each fellow to record career goals, action plans, and committee recommendations.   

Didactics

  • Kickstart lecture series First-year summer lecture series covering core topics in rheumatology
  • Fellow’s lecture series 24-month lecture series covering a broad range of rheumatology topics
  • MSK-Ultrasound Second-year summer lecture series covering principles of MSK-ultrasonography
  • Educator Workshop Series 12-month series of workshops for fellows and faculty designed to build clinical education skills and knowledge
  • Radiology Conference Monthly virtual case conference facilitated by MSK radiology faculty
  • Rheumatology Grand Rounds Monthly conference highlighting local, national and international experts in rheumatology research and care
  • Journal Club Twice-monthly sessions discussing high-impact publications in rheumatology research and care
  • Morning Report Periodic morning report style discussion of challenging and educational cases facilitated by a faculty member
  • Bruce Gilliland, MD Immunology Lecture Series Annual lecture series focusing on topics in clinical immunology
  • Works in Progress Fellows, faculty, and research staff present their research / scholarly projects.