Message from Program Leadership

Dear Prospective Applicants,

It is such a joy to have the privilege of practicing and teaching infectious diseases at UMMC. ID is the most intriguing field to practice medicine, and UMMC as the tertiary referral base for the entire state serves as the perfect teaching environment with a diverse mix of both common general infectious diseases patients and complex or rare cases. Our program is complimented by some of the best teaching faculty in the institution and a large subspecialty network that provides an excellent teaching and practice environment. Our inpatient practice includes advanced HIV/AIDS patients, all surgical subspecialties, and solid organ and hematopoietic stem cell transplant programs.

We have a robust inpatient experience that provides clinical training that is unmatchable, but I am especially proud of our outpatient ID training (as an HIV medicine physician myself), which is consistently rated as the top experience for our fellows. UMMC has the largest Ryan White clinic in the state, along with a large clinic population at the adjacent VA hospital, that Mississippi State Department of Health and the UMMC John D. Bower School of Population Health, which provides additional opportunities for training for our fellows.

I have been proud to call Jackson my home for two decades now. Both the neighborhoods around the medical center and in the suburbs are affordable for residents/fellows, with a short commute for suburbanites, garage parking on campus, good environments for singles and those with families, Jackson and UMMC have something to offer for everyone. I really hope that you will consider taking a closer look at our program as it is a gem, and it is truly an honor to care for an underserved population in the most underserved of states. Practicing ID in Mississippi is a calling and the most rewarding job I can imagine.

Prakhar Vijayvargiya, MD
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Program Director, Infectious Diseases Fellowship Program