Microbiology and microbial diagnostics are core to the study of infectious diseases. To ensure our fellows have thorough and clear working knowledge of bench and molecular microbiology, our first-year fellows spend the first month of fellowship in a “Micro Month” that is focused on microbiology education as well as some core concepts in ID clinical practice before starting clinical rotations in August. This experience includes a practical experience in the laboratory accompanied by a series of learning sessions with core infectious diseases and microbiology teaching faculty.

For inpatient rotations, we have spread these months across two years to both ensure first year fellows have time to explore professional development interests early in their training and to balance fellow wellness with time on the busy clinical service. As demonstrated below, first-year fellows will rotate about 7 months on an inpatient consult service (5 General ID, 2 Transplant ID) and spend 4 months on professional development blocks. In the second year, fellows generally spend 3 months on the General ID consult service, 1 month on the Transplant ID consult service, and the rest pursuing professional development activities based on the career interest of each fellow and the training pathway each fellow has selected.