Program Description

The Rheumatology Fellowship Program is a two-year program shared by the Division of Rheumatology, Allergy and Immunology at Georgetown University and the Washington Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center. The full-time faculty members at Georgetown are: Thomas R. Cupps, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine and Interim Chief of the Division; James N. Baraniuk, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine; S. Ray Mitchell, MD, Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics and Dean, Georgetown University School of Medicine; Niveditha Mohan, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine; Virginia D. Steen, MD, Professor of Medicine and Director of the Rheumatology Fellowship Program; and Sean A. Whelton, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine. The Chief of the Rheumatology Section at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center is Gail Kerr, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine. She is joined by David J. Nashel, MD, Professor and Chief of Medicine, VAMC; and by J. Steuart Richards, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine and Assistant Chief of the Rheumatology Section, VAMC. The program maintains active interactions with clinical rheumatologists throughout the community who hold faculty positions at the University. A third year of fellowship is available on an individual basis for fellows interested in research.

At the University, the inpatient consultation service consists of approximately 10 patients who are formally followed by a senior staff member, fellows, residents and students rotating through the service. Outpatient clinics consist of a Fellows' Clinic attended by senior staff and fellows; usually 1-2 new patients and 6-8 return patients per fellow are seen. These patients are followed by the fellows for the duration of the fellowship program. Clinics for each attending meet 2-3 times per week, and the fellows rotating at Georgetown attend these. We currently average over 5000 patient visits per year at these clinics.

At the V.A. Hospital, an average of 10-15 inpatients are followed at any time. There are two busy weekly clinics, one of which is attended by all fellows. The second clinic is devoted to patients with complex therapeutic regimens requiring close monitoring.

All members of the Division have active research interests at the clinical and/or basic level; fellows have the opportunity to participate in these efforts, and it is anticipated that these will result in publications, abstracts and invited presentations.

The Rheumatology Clinical Laboratory at Georgetown closely interacts with the Division. Fellows gain "hands-on" experience and an in-depth knowledge of the techniques involved in the diagnosis and management of connective tissue diseases.

Division conferences include weekly Rheumatology Grand Rounds, Research Conference, Journal Club Case Management Conference, and a combined Rheumatology-Orthopaedic Conference. These are also attended by interested physicians in the community who provide different viewpoints and approaches. Fellows also participate as lecturers in a "core" lecture series in Rheumatology given to residents and students on our service.

These conferences are complemented by the Department of Medicine conferences. In addition to Medical Grand Rounds, Clinicopathology Conference, Morbidity and Mortality Conference, and Research Conference, the Department has developed a new Research Core Curriculum. The purpose of this course is to introduce fellows to basic concepts of clinical and bench research. Topics include epidemiology, biostatistics, basic principles of molecular biology, molecular pharmacology, grant writing skills, and ethical issues in clinical research. Additionally, our Division has an Immunology Core Curriculum, which will be given biannually.

Conferences at the V.A. Hospital include a weekly X-ray conference and a biweekly Orthopaedic Conference, as well as meetings presented by the Medical Service.

Additional educational rotations for the fellows include a yearly 4-6 week inpatient rotation at the Arthritis and Rheumatism Branch at the National Institutes of Health. This is a unique opportunity to participate in the care of patients enrolled in special programs and to interact with recognized authorities in Rheumatology.

Fellows may spend time in the second year attending Rehabilitation Clinics at the National Rehabilitation Hospital under the direction of Robert Bunning, MD, Director of Rehabilitation Medicine, who is also a rheumatologist. Additionally, Dr. Mitchell, who is board certified in Medicine and Pediatric Rheumatology, is the Director of the Childhood Arthritis Clinic at Georgetown, increasing the exposure of our fellows to pediatric rheumatology. There are formalized interactions with the Department of Orthopaedics under the direction of Sam Wiesel, MD, and second year fellows attend the specialized orthopedic clinics. Therefore, we believe we can provide extremely worthwhile experiences in these important areas.

There are a number of educational opportunities in the metropolitan area. The Rheumatism Society of D.C. holds a bimonthly dinner meeting featuring a nationally known guest speaker.

The members of the Division are committed to the continued growth of our training program, and we firmly believe that we can provide a complete and well-rounded program for training fellows in rheumatologic and immunologically-mediated diseases.