Introduction

The Mount Sinai Hematology/Medical Oncology Fellowship Program is dedicated to training and mentoring academic leaders. Candidate selection is based upon evidence of superior clinical ability and commitment to an investigative career in either basic science or clinical research.

The Mount Sinai curriculum is designed to provide thorough exposure to the clinical practice of hematology and oncology while providing maximal educational content. Clinical rotations have been formulated to promote scholarly academic discussion and debate among fellows, faculty, and allied health professionals. Thus, while the clinical component includes patient care, the program is education oriented.

During training, fellows choose a research mentor and are guided through the process of developing clinical or basic science research protocols with the expectation that these will result in training grants and other funding, and with the expectation that fellows will further develop their interests and become academic leaders.

We offer a three-year combined Hematology-Oncology program. During the course of three years, 18 months is dedicated to mandatory clinical rotations with the remaining 18 months devoted to research and elective rotations.

There are several mandatory rotations lasting two to four months. These core components are:

1. General Hematology
   Fellows’ provide consultation on patients with a wide variety of hematologic disorders, including hemoglobinopathies, coagulation disorders, hematologic malignancies and cytopenias. Supervision is provided during daily rounds with hematology attendings. During this time, fellows spend one afternoon per week learning hematology diagnostic techniques in laboratories (including tumor cytogenetics, immunohematology, flow cytometry, etc.). Fellows also attend outpatient hematology clinics.
2. Outpatient Hematology and Oncology
   This rotation involves daily participation in the Mount Sinai Hospital’s outpatient clinics, with disease-emphasis detailed in the table below. Please note that all fellows maintain a continuity clinic one half-day per week during all three years of fellowship.

• The two to four month experience at Queens Hospital provides a predominantly outpatient experience in a setting closer to that seen in a community-based setting with the additional availability of clinical trial participation.

3. Inpatient Solid and Hematologic Malignancy
   Fellows play an essential role in the inpatient oncology care team. In general, teams are comprised by the attending, fellow, and oncology-specific nurse practitioners. Although the fellow has responsibility for the care of patients, his or her main role is to focus on cancer treatment protocols, cancer and treatment-related complications, and teaching. Daily rounds include discussion of all cases, teaching and planning of therapeutic strategies. Teams focus on hematologic or solid tumors.
4. Bone Marrow Transplant
   The rotating fellow is a member of the transplant team and has responsibility for his/her patients. Fellows participate significantly in the outpatient care of these patients and in regular interdisciplinary care meetings, enabling a long-term view of BMT-related management. 

Activities include: 

• • daily work rounds
  • outpatient clinics
  • radiology rounds
  • interdisciplinary rounds
  • bone marrow and stem cell harvesting
  • HLA typing.

Educational Program

An extensive educational program is provided throughout the academic year. The educational program includes basic and clinical sciences, and entails traditional didactic lectures as well as more interactive sessions, including activities in which the fellows present their assessment of clinical cases, evidence-based and science-based management. These include:

Additional disease specific tumor boards and research conferences occur regularly; fellows’ participation is welcome.

Research Opportunities

Mount Sinai is a leading research center in hematology-oncology. More than 70 investigators in basic and clinical research comprise the Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology and affiliated divisions. Major efforts include gene therapy, oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes, hematopoeisis, coagulation and vascular pathology, and many others. In addition, there are over 75 active clinical trials.

In order to best utilize these resources, fellows spend the second half of their fellowship involved in basic or clinical research, during which time they are supervised by the mentor of their choice. Fellows are encouraged to pursue a research career and apply for NIH and other grant awards with the support of faculty members.

The information contained herein is to assist in your orientation and to familiarize you with the program.