Curriculum

The curriculum is designed to cover the broad spectrum of hematology-oncology. The curriculum is reviewed every other month at our fellowship meetings, and more in depth at our annual review fellowship committee meeting.  Unique aspects of our curriculum include the focus on outpatient care, as opposed to hospital care. The curriculum provides most of its rotations in the outpatient offices of the teaching faculty.

The outpatient office experience includes

• care and management of patients
• chemotherapy administration techniques
• chemotherapy dosing
• clinical trials and coordination of care

First year

The fellows will spend their first year predominantly in clinical rotations that include exposure to

• inpatient and outpatient oncology
• hematology consultation in the inpatient and outpatient setting
• hematopathology
• anatomic pathology
• cytogenetics/FISH
• research/genetics

Fellows will also have an ongoing outpatient continuity clinical experience including a personal group of patients they will follow throughout the duration of training.  Fellows also spend time at the beginning of their fellowship formulating their research interest with the designated attending/mentor.  Most of the research projects are translational. 

Second year

The second year fellows will spend one month at the Karmanos Cancer Institute rotating through the inpatient bone marrow transplant service. The remaining portion of the second year will be

• Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak doing clinical research
• inpatient and outpatient hematology-oncology service
• radiation oncology
• gynecologic oncology
• blood bank
• coagulation
• chemistry

Third year

The third year fellows will spend a significant amount of time dedicated to clinical research.  They will  spend time on a palliative care rotation, coagulation, and have elective months to repeat any rotation or select from a number of elective rotations such as

• pediatric hematology
• neuro-oncology
• legal affairs  

They will also spend time at the Karmanos Cancer Institute doing an outpatient bone marrow transplant rotation as well as an outpatient white blood cell rotation.

The education activities within the division include weekly tumor conferences in the management of a wide variety of cancers that includes

• head and neck cancers
• GU cancer, liver tumors
• thoracic and breast malignancies
• hematolymphoid

Conferences and lectures

• monthly hem/onc journal club and research conference as well as a weekly hematology lecture 
• weekly core curriculum conferences regarding the management and biology of malignancies in both hematology and solid tumors
• weekly morning case briefing tumor conference on hematology as well as a planned formal monthly presentation of new information or problems or diagnosis and treatment of patients particularly with hematology malignancies as well as benign hematology diseases
• weekly post clinic conference where select cases from the fellows continuity clinic are discussed for the purpose of education in the areas of clinical research, fellows may work with any number of mentors in hematology malignancies and solid tumor programs at Beaumont, Royal Oak as well as the bone marrow transplant program at Karmanos Cancer Institute. Support is available for clinical research from the proper sources by the fellows in cooperation with mentors on clinical trial methodology, biostatistics and support from Beaumont Community Oncology Research Program, is also available.  The hematology-oncology fellowship program is also an excellent opportunity for clinical exposure for the field of hematology-oncology with an emphasis on outpatient management as well as inpatient management of the complications of cancer and treatment

Fellowship program is built on six core competencies

• practice-based learning and improvemen
• patient care
• professionalism
• interpersonal and communication skills
• medical knowledge
• systems-based practice

Through translational research they will learn the application of new basic laboratory knowledge through patient care.  The hematology-oncology fellowship program seeks to train physicians in a very compassionate and caring setting. The fellows will learn the art of communication with patients and other healthcare professionals.  They will also obtain the necessary skills to control pain and care for patients at the end of their life.

The program is designed to allow the fellow maximum time for education and professional growth.

Didactics

The education activities within the division include weekly tumor conferences in the management of a wide variety of cancers that includes head and neck cancers, GU cancer, liver tumors, thoracic and breast malignancies, as well as hematolymphoid. There is a monthly hem/onc journal club and research conference as well as a weekly hematology lecture. There are weekly core curriculum conferences where the faculty members or outside lecturers provide the division with information regarding the management and biology of malignancies in both hematology and solid tumors.

There is also a weekly morning case briefing tumor conference on hematology as well as a planned formal monthly presentation of new information or problems or diagnosis and treatment of patients particularly with hematology malignancies as well as benign hematology diseases. Every week following the continuity clinic there is a post clinic conference where select cases from the fellows continuity clinic are discussed for the purpose of education.

In the areas of clinical research, fellows may work with any number of mentors in hematology malignancies and solid tumor programs at Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak as well as the bone marrow transplant program at Karmanos Cancer Institute. Support is available for clinical research from the proper sources by the fellows in cooperation with mentors on clinical trial methodology, biostatistics and support from Beaumont Community Oncology Research Program, is also available. The hematology-oncology fellowship program is also an excellent opportunity for clinical exposure for the field of hematology-oncology with an emphasis on outpatient management as well as inpatient management of the complications of cancer and treatment.