Medical Oncology-Hematology Fellowship Program

October 05, 2022

Information

Take a tour of the Yale School of Medicine and learn about our unique fellowship program.

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00:06The research here was where
00:07I wanted to be. There
00:08were great mentors here
00:10for me who's someone on the
00:12physician scientist track.
00:13The opportunities are really endless.
00:15Not only am I able to take advantage
00:17of all these learning opportunities,
00:18but also that I have the
00:20support to pursue what what
00:23I really want to do.
00:27I think there's many reasons
00:28people would want to come to Yale.
00:29There's many things that draw people here
00:31and that make our fellows very happy here.
00:34You know, we're an academic program
00:37that really emphasizes individual
00:39career development and mentorship.
00:41We offer outstanding clinical training,
00:44a ton of of research opportunities
00:46all across the the university.
00:49But most importantly, you know,
00:50we're a program that really,
00:51really takes care of its fellows
00:53at the individual level in in
00:54whatever way that means that.
00:55Each person.
00:57This is the first time for
00:59a lot of people that. That.
01:01You're really thinking about your
01:04future forever in your career.
01:06You know, through all the steps
01:07that we go through in training,
01:09and there are a lot of them.
01:09Obviously there's you're
01:11thinking about the next step,
01:13but this is different after this.
01:16This is the last step before you're
01:18doing what you're going to do
01:19potentially for the rest of your career.
01:21So it's vital that you have all
01:22the resources you need because
01:23you may not know exactly what
01:25you're going to do or if you do
01:26know what you're going to do,
01:27you have to make sure that those
01:29resources are there and and that's should
01:31be whatever you're thinking about.
01:33An applicant,
01:33and I think Yale has just a ton
01:36to offer for almost anything
01:37that anyone could want.
01:40I came into fellowship not knowing
01:41exactly what I wanted to do.
01:43And I'd say absolutely every
01:45opportunity was open to me,
01:47and everybody was invested and
01:50interested in helping me find my path.
01:54And that was easy to do because the
01:57dedication to teaching is really,
01:59really strong here
02:01at Yale. Our program is really focused on
02:03trying to understand who our fellows are,
02:06what our interests are, and how.
02:10We can help to support our fellows
02:12in making those things happen.
02:13Diversity, equity and inclusion
02:15are core principles of our
02:17fellowship and at our institution.
02:19In today's era of complex medicine,
02:21it's more important than ever that we
02:24have diversity amongst physicians,
02:26faculty and staff that represent
02:28the diversity of our patients.
02:30This past year,
02:31we became one of the first and
02:33only fellowship programs in the
02:35country to develop a dedicated
02:36curriculum on diversity,
02:38equity and inclusion,
02:39which was created with significant
02:41input by our Chief Fellows,
02:44along with the Vice Chair of Diversity,
02:46Equity and Inclusion at the
02:47Yale Cancer Center.
02:49We don't have a lot of 30 person labs.
02:52We don't have a lot of
02:54gigantic clinical groups.
02:55We have mid sized groups and the because
02:58of that they're more collaborative.
03:00You know when you're not in a
03:02gigantic group you talk to the people
03:04who are next to you and people's
03:06doors are open and it's very easy
03:08to find other people to talk to.
03:10So that I think is really different
03:12here and that's what I think
03:14distinguishes it and maybe it's
03:16also part of the fact that we
03:18are from in a smaller town.
03:19And so, and I think that's
03:21really a huge advantage.
03:24Our curriculum is outstanding.
03:25There's a lot of different facets to it.
03:28So you know certainly there's there's
03:31a whole portion of the curriculum and
03:33and the bulk of of of clinical training
03:35I would say comes from you know what
03:38our fellows are exposed to clinically.
03:41So this is when they're on the
03:42different services in the hospital,
03:44this is when they're in their
03:46their clinic learning from from,
03:47you know, seasoned faculty who
03:48are world experts in their field.
03:50But then on top of that, we have a very
03:52structured curriculum that happens,
03:53you know, quote UN quote,
03:54in the classroom.
03:55And this centers around lots and
03:57lots of different conferences that
03:59are basically spread over the
04:01course of the entire week.
04:02So Ash is the American Society of Hematology.
04:05That's the major professional
04:07organization for hematologists worldwide.
04:09And so Ash created an entirely new
04:11fellowship program called the Hematology
04:13Focused Fellowship training program,
04:16HFTP.
04:16It's a $19 million pilot program.
04:20That they decided to award to 9 institutions.
04:23And so we were one of the nine programs
04:25that now was awarded this ASH Hematology
04:27focused fellowship training program,
04:29which puts us in a very unique
04:31league among other institutions.
04:32And it's sort of a recognition of our
04:34efforts in classical hematology and the
04:36types of resources and the mentorship
04:38that we can provide to train the next
04:39generation of classical hematologists.
04:41There's just a diversity
04:43in the training itself.
04:45So we are trained at Yale New Haven Hospital,
04:48which is a tertiary care center.
04:50And then we also go to the VA hospital.
04:53So when I'm at the main hospital,
04:56I see all of these people who have
04:59really complex diseases with the
05:01experts and really those fields.
05:03And at the VA hospital,
05:06I get to see really bread and
05:07butter oncology and I get to see
05:09a mix of inpatient and outpatient
05:11and benign hematology,
05:12malignant solid oncology.
05:13So the education here is just
05:17really phenomenal and I think
05:19other facets of the program.
05:21For example,
05:21protecting our Fridays for education
05:24and administrative time really
05:26allows us to make the most of
05:28not only our clinical training,
05:30but our other interests as well.
05:32I'm a proud graduate of
05:34this fellowship program.
05:35Over years, we made it an important
05:39aspect to our recruitment policy
05:41that we hire our own fellows as
05:45faculty members after they graduate.
05:48And this is what makes a
05:50fellowship at Yale different.
05:52About 1/3 of my section section
05:54of hematology faculty was
05:56hired out of our fellowship.
05:59The whole
05:59point of our program is for you to succeed,
06:01and the only way that's going to
06:03happen is if you're happy and if
06:04you're doing something that you love.
06:05So that includes things like Wellness
06:07and it includes things like being
06:10supportive and making sure that you're
06:12actually enjoying what you're doing
06:13because that's the way to have a long,
06:15satisfying career where you produce a lot.
06:17I have been blown away by how
06:19support of the leadership is of us
06:22and how approachable everyone is.
06:24There's no one that I can't go
06:26to with any kind of question or
06:29for guidance issue, big or small.
06:31One of the best parts of our fellowship
06:34program is really the people.
06:36You know, I I really can't say
06:38enough about my Co fellows.
06:40There's some of the smartest
06:42and most fun people that you
06:44just want to hang out with.
06:46I just feel so incredibly grateful
06:48to be here every single day.
06:51I genuinely feel happy here in my training,
06:54which I never expected to be able
06:56to say as a first year fellow,
06:57and I just feel really fortunate
06:59to be able to train here.