The Infectious Diseases Training Program has three major goals:
- Provide educational opportunities for trainees in both ambulatory and in-patient care for patients with infectious diseases
- Provide an environment where trainees develop critical research skills through participation as investigators in original projects
- Provide training to other health professionals including medical students and internal medicine residents in infectious diseases management
The fellowship program is limited to physicians who have completed internal medicine training and is designed to prepare the trainee as an infectious diseases specialist. Priority is given to trainees interested in a career in academic research. The program is approved by the American Board of Internal Medicine to accept up to three new trainees per year. Each trainee is expected to complete American Board of Internal Medicine certification requirements within two years: twelve months of clinical training and twelve months of research experience (with four weeks of vacation each year). Trainees at UNC are expected to continue in the program to finish an advanced degree and/or undertake additional independent research for one to two additional years for a total of at least 3 years of training. Throughout training, each participant is required to attend two conferences per week, a weekly board review session and a monthly journal club.
Research training is directed by a training mentor with the permission of the program director and a training advisory committee. All trainees interested are required to write an individual research award (NRSA, K23, K08) during their second or third year, since the process of securing such funding is critical to a successful career in academic medicine. While receipt of funding is not required for continued fellowship training, nearly all trainees are successful in these applications and have received independent support from organizations such as the National Institutes of Health, The American Cancer Society, The Howard Hughes Medical Institute and The American Foundation for AIDS Research.
