Program Curriculum

The fellowship program provides advanced training to acquire the knowledge, skills, attitudes and experience defined by the ACGME competencies:

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  • Patient care that is compassionate, appropriate, and effective for the treatment of health problems and the promotion of health with emphasis on evaluation and management of the disorders relevant to the endocrine and metabolic system
  • Medical knowledge of established and evolving biomedical, clinical, and cognate (e.g. epidemiological and social- behavioral) sciences and the application of this knowledge to patient care as a sub-specialist in endocrinology, diabetes and metabolism.
  • Interpersonal and communication skills for effective information exchange and teaming with patients, their families, and other health professionals
  • Professionalism with a commitment to carrying out professional responsibilities, adherence to ethical principles, and sensitivity to a diverse patient population
  • Practice-based learning and improvement through investigation and evaluation of patient care, appraisal and assimilation of scientific evidence, which leads to further improvements in patient care
  • Systems-based practice with awareness of and responsiveness to the larger context and complex systems for health care and the ability to effectively call on system resources to provide care that is of optimal value

The program shall provide formal instruction and clinical training to the fellows to become competent in the evaluation and management of:

  1. Hormonal problems including diseases, infections, neoplasms and other causes of dysfunction of the hypothalamus and pituitary; thyroid; adrenal cortex and medulla; pancreatic islets; ovaries and testes; and parathyroid.
  2. Type-1 and type-2 diabetes, including the acute, life-threatening complications of hyper- and hypoglycemia; intensive insulin management in critical care and surgical patients; long term goals, counseling, education and monitoring; intensive management of glycemic control in the ambulatory setting; prevention and surveillance of microvascular and macrovascular complications; diabetes detection and management during pregnancy; and multidisciplinary diabetes education and treatment program.
  3. Multifactorial endocrine disorders and hormonal complication of other illnesses such as disorders of bone and mineral metabolism, with particular emphasis on the diagnosis and management of osteoporosis; calcium, phosphorus, and magnesium imbalance; diagnosis and management of ectopic hormone production; endocrine adaptations and maladaptations to systemic diseases; endocrine aspects of psychiatric diseases; parenteral nutrition support; nutritional disorders of obesity, anorexia nervosa, and bulimia; diagnosis and management of lipid and lipoprotein disorders; and genetic screening and counseling for endocrine and metabolic; disorders.

The program shall provide formal instruction and clinical training to the fellows to become competent in the following technical skills:

  1. Interpretation of hormone assays and performance and interpretation of dynamic endocrine tests, stimulation and suppression tests, including the effects of non-endocrine disorders on these studies.
  2. Interpretation of radiologic studies for diagnosis and treatment of endocrine and metabolic diseases. This include radionuclide localization of endocrine tissue and ultrasonography of the soft tissues of the neck.
  3. Performance of fine needle aspiration of the thyroid.
  4. Interpretation of bone density and other tests used in the management of osteoporosis and other metabolic bone diseases.
  5. Interpretation of radiologic studies used in the evaluation of patients with endocrine disorders, such as CT, and MRI.

The program emphasizes biochemistry and physiology, including cell and molecular biology, as they relate to endocrinology, diabetes, and metabolism. The following subjects are covered under the core curriculum lectures and the endocrine research discussion sessions:

  1. Genetics as it relates to endocrine diseases.
  2. Developmental endocrinology, including growth and development, sexual differentiation, and pubertal maturation.
  3. Endocrine physiology and pathophysiology in systemic diseases and principles of hormone action.
  4. Biochemistry and physiology, including cell and molecular biology and immunology, as they relate to endocrinology and metabolism.
  5. Signal transduction pathways and biology of hormone receptors performance of endocrine clinical laboratory and radionuclide studies and basic laboratory techniques, including quality control, quality assurance, and proficiency standards.
  6. Pathogenesis and epidemiology of diabetes mellitus.
  7. Whole organ and islet cell pancreatic transplantation.