Skip to Main

Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Fellowship Program Curriculum and Schedule

First-Year Fellows

The first year focuses almost exclusively on clinical training. Fellows begin with a short orientation block, allowing new trainees to familiarize themselves with both the inpatient and outpatient departments. During this time, the program hosts a series of introductory lectures on important hematology/oncology topics before fellows start taking call. Fellows rotate for approximately 10 weeks each on hematology, oncology, and stem cell transplant services.

Each fellow will also have approximately four months of week-long rotations dispersed throughout the year. These rotations include:

  1. Research blocks, where fellows explore options for and plan a research project
  2. Procedure blocks, where fellows gain proficiency in lumbar punctures and bone marrow aspirates/biopsies
  3. Subspecialty blocks, where fellows explore other disciplines of their choice, including palliative care, survivorship, radiation oncology, pathology, and transfusion medicine, among others
  4. Hematology outpatient blocks, where fellows learn about the outpatient management and new patient counseling of common hematologic disorders such as sickle cell disease, hemophilia, von Willebrand disease, and thrombosis
  5. Palliative care blocks, where fellows rotate with our palliative care team
RotationLength of RotationTotal Weeks per Year
Orientation 1 week 2 weeks
Oncology 2 weeks 10 weeks
Hematology 2 weeks 6 weeks
Hematology Consults 1 week 4 weeks
HSCT 3 weeks 9 weeks
Specialty 1 week 1 week
Research 1 week 4 weeks
Outpatient Hematology 1 week 2 weeks
Procedures 1 week 1 week
Palliative Care 1 week 1 week
Night Float 1 week 8 weeks
Vacation 1-2 weeks 4 weeks

Continuity Clinic

Fellows have continuity clinic one day per week each year. The majority of primary patients are picked up when fellows are on service via new admits or consults, allowing them to participate in all aspects of care from start to finish. To help fellows match their clinical and research efforts, the continuity clinic during the second and third year is tailored thus fellows gain more experience with managing patients in their desired niche (hemostasis/thrombosis, bone marrow transplant, etc.).

Fellows also have ample opportunity to perform lumbar punctures, bone marrow aspirates/biopsies, and bone marrow harvests. Fellows perform procedures in the inpatient and outpatient settings. Outpatient procedures are done in a procedure suite located in clinic with a dedicated anesthesiologist and procedure nurse. By the end of the first year, fellows have completed an average of 100-150 procedures.

Second- and Third-Year Fellows

Second- and third-year fellows continue to spend two half days weekly in the outpatient continuity clinic. These two years are focused almost exclusively on research. All fellows choose a Scholarship Oversight Committee (SOC) to help ensure research projects are progressing as expected and to provide mentorship to fellows to accomplish career goals. Both primary research mentors and SOC members can include faculty outside of the UTSW institution.

Fellows can complete master’s degrees or additional educational training funded by the program. Programs can be in-person locally or virtual through other institutions. Fellows can also audit higher education courses at the School of Public Health, the Clinical Bioinformatics Center, or the School of Education at the University of Texas at Dallas.

Core Curriculum

The following lecture series and educational activities are part of the fellowship curriculum. Fellows are expected to present patients at various tumor boards and conferences when on service and encouraged to do so with primary patients.

ConferenceDayAM/PM
Hematology Case Conference Monday PM
Grand Rounds Tuesday AM
Molecular Tumor Board Tuesday AM
Cellular Therapies Conference Tuesday PM
Solid Tumor Conference Tuesday PM
Sickle Cell Conference Wednesday AM
Neuro-Oncology Tumor Board Thursday AM
Developmental Therapeutics Thursday AM
Liquid Tumor Conference Thursday PM
Musculoskeletal Tumor Board Friday PM
Neuroblastoma Conference Friday PM

Academic Half Day

Faculty led lectures provide fellows with board prep content. These occur in a protected block of two hours every other week. Lectures culminate in a board prep question review led by the Program Director and Associate Program Director, providing adult style learning for fellows.

Professional Conferences

Fellows are encouraged to attend professional meetings each year. Examples include annual meetings of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) or the American Society of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology (ASPHO). The program provides support to attend one meeting per year. Support to attend additional meetings per year is available for fellows presenting their research.

Evaluation

First-year fellows are evaluated after each inpatient rotation by the faculty with whom they work. Every six months, the Fellowship Program Director has a meeting with each fellow to review progress and any challenges to provide feedback for continued success and growth. A similar mechanism is in place for second- and third-year fellows, and the latter also receive regular feedback from their clinical or laboratory research mentors.

Fellows are evaluated by 360-degree evaluations in addition to reviews of their presentations. At the end of each academic year, the fellows will have the opportunity to evaluate the pediatric hematology/oncology faculty and the Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Fellowship Program through a confidential process.

Night and Weekend Call

Weekday night call is taken as home call via a night float system. Fellows on night float work Monday-Thursday night and have no other responsibilities/expectations that week. First-year fellows take approximately seven-to-eight weeks of night float with fewer blocks in the second and third year.

Fellows work in 12-hour shifts on the weekend. All fellows have at least two weekends off per month throughout the course of their fellowship.

Each fellow works two holidays (Thanksgiving and/or Christmas) throughout the duration of their fellowship.

Other Opportunities

Fellows can attend various summer camps for patients and their families, which include:

Back-to top