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Opportunities in Fellowship

Scholarly activity

Fellows participate in local, regional and national professional activities. The division finances travel to one national conference, either IDSA or ICAAC, annually. Fellows may attend other appropriate professional meetings with approval from the program director with funding when monies are available. Fellows participate actively in the annual Louisiana-Mississippi Infectious Diseases Society meeting (LAMIDS) with funding provided by this regional chapter of the IDSA. We encourage fellows to submit abstracts for presentation at national, regional and local meetings. Faculty members mentor fellows’ participation in scientific meetings. 

Research is an important part of infectious diseases fellowship training. The ACGME and ABIM now define scholarly activity as including hypothesis-driven basic science or clinical research. The division provides compiled scientific investigation descriptions suitable for ID fellow research projects. 

Fellows are, with the guidance of faculty mentors, expected to present at scientific sessions and publish either basic science or clinical research papers. Fellows, during their subspecialty training, see many interesting medical problems that inspire both clinical and basic science research projects.

Optional third year of training

The division offers an optional third year of training to ID residents who are interested in and show particular promise with regard to academic careers in infectious diseases. The entire third year of training is dedicated to research with minimal clinical responsibilities. Third-year ID residents continue to participate in the infectious diseases ambulatory clinics one half-day per week to maintain clinical skills. Third-year ID residents may share call with other fellows and faculty.

The third year of fellowship programming for trainees interested in academic careers provides the additional research and academic experience essential for competing successfully for extramural, peer-reviewed grant funding.rated for interdisciplinary participation.