Curriculum

First Year

Inpatient Consultation Service at Mount Sinai Hospital

The rotation involves the consultative care of patients at Mount Sinai Hospital.  The on-service fellow directs the daily working rounds with the rheumatology team, which includes an attending physician, medicine residents, and medical students.  Our hospital serves as a tertiary referral center for patients with a wide array of complex medical illnesses, as well as caring for a diverse community in New York City and beyond. During the first year, fellows receive training in the inpatient assessment and care of patients with both routine and complex rheumatic diseases.

Outpatient Experience

During the first year of training clinical fellows become proficient in the management of outpatient problems through participation in continuity clinics at the Center for Advanced Medicine.  Each fellow will attend three general rheumatology clinics per week. In addition, when off-service, fellows will participate in Dr. Yousaf Ali’s faculty practice, and will also rotate in the following specialty practices:

  • Pediatric Rheumatology
  • Sports Medicine / Rehabilitation Medicine
  • Orthopedic Surgery
  • Dermatology
  • Nephrology
  • Musculoskeletal Radiology

Research Preparation

During the first year, fellows will attend core curriculum conferences, which will outline basic concepts in clinical epidemiology, biostatistics, and how these may be applied in clinical investigation.  Fellows are encouraged to explore basic science approaches as well, and during the elective months, to delineate a project with the guidance of a faculty preceptor.

Second Year

Inpatient Consultation Service at Mount Sinai Hospital

Second year fellows provide consultative care during the first month of the academic year, in order to ensure a smooth clinical and educational transition; they also participate in weekend coverage for the service.  At the same time, continued participation in continuity clinics and clinical conferences fosters maturation of clinical judgment and prepares the trainee for independent practice.

Research Rotations

In the second year of fellowship, rigorous scientific training in the rheumatic diseases is emphasized.  An individualized program of laboratory or clinical research is devised with the guidance of a mentor from the rheumatology core faculty, along with training in immunology, molecular biology, genetics, clinical trial, biostatistics and ethical issues through courses or conferences.

The major basic science research component of the Division of Rheumatology is the laboratory of Dr. Percio Gulko, Division Chief.  Research in the Gulko lab focuses on the discovery of new genes implicated in rheumatoid arthritis, identifying prognostic biomarkers and generating new targets and more effective therapies to cure autoimmune diseases. Over the past twenty years, Dr. Gulko and his team have published a number of studies demonstrating the importance of modulating severity and joint damage in RA.

The genetics and biology of fibroblast-like synoviocytes are areas of particular interest.

Training opportunities are also available in patient-oriented or translational research, including clinical trials in rheumatic diseases.  Notable resources available at Mount Sinai include the BioMe Biobank, which is administered by the Institute for Personalized Medicine, and numerous opportunities for advanced degrees (Master’s and Doctorates) offered by the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences.

View a sample training schedule here.

Core Curriculum

A core curriculum daily lecture series runs through the first eight weeks of the Rheumatology Fellowship, designed to introduce fellows to key topics in rheumatologic disease, the musculoskeletal examination and arthrocentesis, and principles of immunology.

Rheumatology Grand Rounds

Weekly Rheumatology Grand Rounds are held on Monday afternoons. Faculty lecturers are invited from Mount Sinai or from other academic medical centers, both near and far, speak at this conference.

Journal Club / Thursday Conferences

Journal club is held once per month on Thursday afternoons, and articles are presented by one fellow and one faculty member for discussion.   Disease mechanisms and treatment of rheumatic diseases are highlighted.  On alternate Thursday afternoons, a Clinical Case Conference or Research Conference is held in which fellows present cases from the consultation service or their research in progress. 

Interdisciplinary Case Conferences

Once per month on a rotating basis, faculty from the Departments of Musculoskeletal Radiology, Dermatopathology and Neuropathology review imaging and histopathology from patients recently evaluated by our faculty and fellows.

Department of Medicine Grand Rounds

On Tuesday mornings, fellows are encouraged to attend Medical Grand Rounds at Mount Sinai.  In addition, the Institute for Medical Education Grand Rounds occur on Wednesdays at 12 pm.

Teaching Opportunities

Fellows participate in the teaching of Mount Sinai medical residents and students, at the bedside when providing consultative care in the hospital, by giving didactic lectures, and participating in the Musculoskeletal Medicine course.

Inpatient Consultation Service at Mount Sinai Hospital

The rotation involves the consultative care of patients at Mount Sinai Hospital.  The on-service fellow directs the daily working rounds with the rheumatology team, which includes an attending physician, medicine residents, and medical students.  Our hospital serves as a tertiary referral center for patients with a wide array of complex medical illnesses, as well as caring for a diverse community in New York City and beyond. During the first year, fellows receive training in the inpatient assessment and care of patients with both routine and complex rheumatic diseases.

Ambulatory Subspecialties

Fellows will participate in Dr. Yousaf Ali’s faculty practice, and will also rotate in the following specialty practices:

  • Pediatric Rheumatology
  • Sports Medicine / Rehabilitation Medicine
  • Orthopedic Surgery
  • Dermatology
  • Nephrology
  • Musculoskeletal Radiology

Research

During the first year, fellows are encouraged to explore basic science approaches as well as clinical and translational research methods and projects.  The goal is to delineate a project, with the guidance of a faculty preceptor, that can then be brought to fruition in the second year of training.

The Center for Advanced Medicine

The Center for Advanced Medicine, a multispecialty practice, houses the three weekly rheumatology clinics staffed by our fellows.  Patients traveling from a large catchment area in New York City are evaluated for a wide spectrum of rheumatic diseases, ranging from musculoskeletal overuse disorders to crystal arthritis and systemic autoimmunity.

Clinic responsibilities

Continuity of care is a key feature of the ambulatory experience for our trainees.  Fellows are responsible for a panel of patients, under the guidance of four faculty preceptors, thus fostering maturation of clinical judgment and the opportunity to observe the evolution of rheumatic disease over time.