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Fellowship Program Conferences

Fellows are expected to be very proactive in planning and presenting at conferences. Fellows find the Division of Infectious Diseases conferences excellent educational experiences. The program director seeks feedback on fellows’ impression of the conferences and incorporates trainee suggestions for improving conference format and content.

• ID Clinical Conference – weekly; multidisciplinary attendance and participation (ID faculty - pediatric and  adult, other physicians - UMMC and community-based, nurse practitioners, PharmDs, clinical micro lab technologists, etc); formatted as case presentations with didactic discussions of clinical manifestations, pathogenesis, diagnosis, management and prevention of infectious diseases; first conference every month is dedicated to a specific clinical core topic (e.g., bioterrorism; foodborne diseases; travel medicine; etc.), all remaining topics at the discretion of the presenter(s).
• Bugs-N-Drugs – weekly; multidisciplinary; formatted as an interactive conference based on topics covering a broad spectrum of basic science and core clinical topics related to infectious diseases; basis of discussions are chapters assigned from the required ID text, supplementing with additional educational materials at the discretion of faculty facilitators and trainees alike.
• ID Board Review Conference - biweekly alternating with Bacterial Pathogenesis or Immunology conference; multidisciplinary (ID and PharmD fellows); basis of discussion are board-type questions that trainees answer in advance then discuss interactively with faculty facilitation.
• Bacterial Pathogenesis Conference – biweekly alternating with ID Board Review Conference; multidisciplinary (ID and PharmD fellows); assigned text chapters read in advance form the basis of interactive group discussion with faculty facilitation at each session. Alternates ever other year with Immunology Conference.
• Immunology Review Conference – biweekly alternating with ID Board Review Conference; multidisciplinary (ID and PharmD fellows); assigned text chapters read in advance form the basis of interactive group discussion with faculty facilitation at each session. Alternates ever other year with Immunology Conference.
• Microbial Pathogenesis Conference – biweekly; multidisciplinary (physicians; microbiologists; graduate students; PharmDs, etc); formatted as an interactive microbiology-immunology basic science forum; basis of discussion is current literature distributed days prior to conference, with presenter leading discussion of chosen topic; expert audience participation encouraged. ID fellows attend every conference and present at intervals with faculty supervision available during the preparation of their presentations.
• ID Journal Club – weekly in lieu of research conference; multidisciplinary (clinical and basic science faculty; PharmDs; graduate students, nurse practitioner; etc.) formatted as an interactive review of current literature in Infectious Diseases; topics chosen at the discretion of the presenters; noteworthy that this journal club covered all articles chosen as landmark literature in infectious diseases at the annual national meeting of the IDSA.
• Research Conference – monthly in lieu of ID Journal Club; multidisciplinary (clinical faculty, basic science faculty, graduate students, nurse practitioners, PharmDs, etc.); formatted as an interactive research forum; presenters may discuss their own research or related methodology; expert audience participation encouraged.
• Medicine Grand Rounds – weekly; multidisciplinary; formatted as a formal conference covering a broad spectrum of clinical topics in medicine; the Division of Infectious Diseases participates regularly.
• Special Topics Conference – quarterly & prn; formatted as a formal conference covering special topics including, but not limited to, bioethics, compliance, OSHA regulations, universal precautions, medical literature evaluation, clinical study design, research methodology, medical statistics, medical informatics, risk management, limited resource allocation, cost containment, managed care, etc.
• Ethical Issues in Health Care – quarterly; multidisciplinary; institution-sponsored conference formatted as formal lectures from experts (local, national and international) in bioethics; centered on burning issues is health care ethics.
• Risk management seminars – biannually; multidisciplinary (physicians, nurse clinicians, attorneys, administrators); sponsored by the Medical Assurance Co. of Mississippi (malpractice insurance underwriters), these day-long seminars and evening conferences focus on medicolegal issues relevant to both faculty and trainees; Faculty attend these seminars and symposia. ID fellows are expected to attend these seminars & symposia as determined by the program director. Risk management topics are also covered annually as a part of the ID Clinical Conference curriculum.
• CPC – M&M Conferences – monthly; multidisciplinary (Medicine, Pathology, Radiology); formatted as an interactive departmental conference with faculty discussion of cases; pathology and radiology faculty or residents discuss salient diagnostic features.
• Other conferences – The division finances ID fellows’ attendance at regional and national conferences. ID fellows present their research endeavors at regional and national professional meetings (e.g., IDSA, LAMIDS, ICAAC) when applicable. Although not required, fellows are encouraged to present at other conferences such as the local TB conference, local chapter of the Southern Association for Clinical Microbiology and CME lectures given in community hospitals throughout Mississippi. ID fellows may present interesting cases during the department’s daily Medicine Resident Morning Report sessions. ID fellows may present at conferences held by other departments. Division faculty members attend fellow conference presentations to encourage, support and evaluate trainee performance.