Rheumatology Fellowship Curriculum

Faculty and fellows participate in bedside teaching and the care of the diverse patient populations in the different pavilions. The trainee has responsibility for consultative and teaching activities involving inpatients and outpatients at:

• Harris Health System and Ben Taub Hospital
• Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center
• University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
• Baylor Medicine - McNair Campus
• Texas Children's Hospital Pavilion for Women

Throughout both years, fellows have outpatient continuity clinic experiences at the Smith Clinic (Harris Health) and Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center. 

Fellows will gain a thorough understanding of the principles of musculoskeletal ultrasound through didactics, a hands-on workshop and designated ultrasound clinics with rheumatology faculty at Baylor Medicine-McNair Campus and MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Fellows will also gain experience in outpatient pediatric rheumatology at Texas Children’s Hospital. Finally, second-year fellows have the opportunity to gain additional clinical experiences in a variety of electives in all of our clinical sites.

Didactics: The didactic curriculum includes an orientation lecture series covering the essentials of rheumatology to rapidly prepare fellows for their clinical rotations. These lectures are followed by a lecture series given by rheumatology faculty covering pathogenesis, diagnosis, and evidence-based management of all rheumatologic diseases. Faculty from other subspecialties are also invited to present lectures on diseases where patients require multidisciplinary care.
 
Case Conference: In the weekly rheumatology case conference, trainees present clinical cases which are discussed by fellows and faculty in attendance. 

Journal Club: Fellows and faculty also participate in a journal club, where current clinical, translational and basic research articles are discussed in depth. 

Radiology Conference: Fellows attend a monthly radiology conference, specifically tailored to teach fellows the essentials of musculoskeletal radiology. 

Research Seminars: Faculty and fellows will attend and participate in regularly scheduled research and quality improvement conferences presented by fellows, local faculty and invited scholars from other institutions.

Research and scholarly projects are an integral part of our fellows’ well-rounded education. Projects are tailored to the specific skills and needs of the fellows. Fellows have the opportunity to work with faculty on research projects focusing on clinical and health outcomes in rheumatic diseases or basic and translational projects in inflammation and autoimmunity. Fellows will also participate in quality improvement projects. All of these activities are supervised by our faculty at Baylor College of Medicine and MD Anderson Cancer Center.