Curriculum
The Hematology/Oncology Fellowship program at Upstate Medical University is dedicated to producing knowledgeable and skilled clinicians and scholars. The program's rigorous curriculum is comprehensive, allowing fellows to gain valuable hands-on experience across various subspecialties within Hematology and Oncology from faculty and researchers who know it best.
Upstate Medical University Hospital Clinical Service/Covered Teams
Fellows rotate through the inpatient service of Hematology and Oncology. The teams are comprised of an attending, a fellow, Internal Medicine residents, and two interns and medical students. Support staff includes a case manager, social workers, and an Oncology pharmacist. The fellow is responsible for overseeing and coordinating patient care, performing bone marrow biopsies, and writing chemotherapy orders. The fellow serves as a liaison between the attending and the house staff with graded responsibility throughout the fellowship. The Medicine House staff are assigned the role of admissions, discharges, and day-to-day work, allowing the fellow to focus on Hematology Oncology issues. The fellow is also expected to attend didactics and fulfill clinical responsibilities in the outpatient clinics twice weekly.
Upstate Medical University Hospital Consult Service
The fellow receives the initial call from the various services at the University Hospital and is responsible for the initial evaluation of the patient. The fellow works one-on-one with the attending on the consult service and coordinates patient care. The fellow also coordinates care with Oncology nurse practitioners in seeing patients on the uncovered service. It is the fellow's responsibility to delegate work and give recommendations to the primary team appropriately. The fellow attends didactics and continuity clinics during this rotation. Bone marrow biopsies and chemotherapy orders are also primarily handled by the fellow under the supervision of the Consult attending.
Upstate Medical University Hospital—Leukemia/Stem Cell Transplant
The team is comprised of a fellow, two nurse practitioners and an attending. Fellows rotate through the Leukemia/Stem Cell transplant service and get to work one one-on-one with the attending and actively participate in autologous and allogeneic (matched donor) stem cell transplants. The fellow also works in the clinic evaluating new outpatient stem cell transplant consults.
The Syracuse Veteran's Administration Medical Center Clinical Service
The fellow receives the initial call from various services and are responsible for the initial evaluation of the patient. The fellow works one-on-one with the attending on the consult service and coordinates care with the social worker and Palliative Care services. At times, an Internal Medicine resident rotates through the service if they choose it as an elective. It is the fellow's responsibility to delegate work and give recommendations to the primary team appropriately. The fellow also coordinates and oversees the care of the patients in the Infusion area. The fellow attends didactics and continuity clinics during this rotation. Bone marrow biopsies and chemotherapy orders are also primarily handled by the fellow under the supervision of the Consult attending.
Upstate Medical University Hospital at Community Campus—Consultative Service
The Hematology Oncology fellow works with a designated faculty member to provide consultative Hematology Oncology services at this community hospital that has recently become a part of the Upstate healthcare system.
Research
Clinical and basic science research projects are available at Upstate Medical University. Those interested in basic science research primarily work with Dr. Bernard Poiesz in his lab. Fellows have frequently represented the program at ACP, ASH and, ASCO, AACR with Oral and Poster presentations.
Special Rotations
- Hematopathology/Blood Bank/Coagulation: Fellows work with our pathologists and blood bank/pheresis attendings and hematopathologists during these rotations
- Gynecologic Oncology
- Radiation Oncology
- Palliative Care
Outpatient Clinics
Each fellow has two half-day clinics a week at either the Upstate Cancer Center, the VAMC, or both.