Mission

To provide our endocrine fellows with the skills and tools to become leaders in the fields of clinical care, research, and education so that they may best serve the military and the communities.

Vision

To inspire, motivate and train endocrine fellows for academic careers, clinician-educators or researchers for medical readiness and for improvement of patient care.

Aims

To train our endocrine fellows to become competent endocrinologists and leaders in the fields of endocrine clinical care, research and medical education.

To understand the etiology, pathogenesis, clinical presentation, natural history, and management of endocrine disorders (these topics are arranged by month during the 2-year curriculum). Fellows will receive education and practical experience in the understanding of radionuclide and radiological diagnostic techniques used in endocrine disorders (DXA, FNA with ultrasound guidance, interpretation of imaging studies, metabolic testing, insulin pump, CGM, etc.):

Didactics Frequency

Monthly/Bi-Monthly Per Month

• Grand rounds, journal club
• Endocrine tumor board
• Endocrine pathology conference
• Board review session

Monthly

• Metabolic case review
• Basic Science curriculum
• DXA interpretation session

Quarterly

• Joint Endocrinology Neurosurgery conference
• Visiting Professors

Annually

• In Training Exam (January - March)
• National Conferences (Endocrine Society, AACE, ATA, ADA, ICE, etc..)

Bi-Annually

• Pediatric conference

Periodically

• DEI training

First Year

• Outpatient: Three blocks
• Inpatient consult: Three blocks
• Clinic only: Three blocks
• Research: One block
• Pediatric Endocrinology: One block
• Elective/Vacation: One block

Second Year

• Outpatient: Three blocks
• Inpatient consult: Three blocks
• Clinic only: Three blocks
• National Institutes of Health: One block
• Research: One block
• Elective/Vacation: One block

Our program offers the following elective rotations:

• Reproductive Endocrine Infertility
• Nuclear Medicine
• Otolaryngology (observing thyroidectomy, parathyroidectomy, etc...)
• Neurosurgery (trans-sphenoidal surgery, etc..)

Regular Clinic Hours

• Monday - Friday
• 7:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

At Home On Call Hours

• Covered by the consult fellow 24 hr./day, 7 days/week.
• Fellows receive (at least) 1 full weekend off duty (Friday 4:30 p.m. to Monday 7:30 a.m.) every second weekend.

Work Hour Additional Specifics

• There should be 10-hour duty-free period between each duty day.
• As morning duty hours start at 7:30 a.m., a fellow would need to ensure to complete duties by 9:30 p.m. the evening prior.
• This 10-hour period does not include time spent at home reading, studying, preparing presentations nor at home on-call duties.

• Integrated into curriculum at USUHS
• Integrated into TBI for lecture series
• Active research protocols for TBI and other military relevant topics (diabetes, obesity, bone, thyroid disorders, etc)
• Telemedicine to cover other military facilities

Annual

• Thyroid ultrasound and FNA Course
• NIH board review Course
• Diabetes Technology 2-day Course
• Endo University
• Pituitary Course by Pituitary Society
• Mid-Atlantic Chapter AACE Annual Meeting

Bi-Annual

• Medstar Thyroid Course 

• Diabetes technology (insulin pump, continuous glucose monitoring, etc)
• Thyroid ultrasound and fine needle aspiration biopsy

• Faculty development lectures every six months (both mid- and end of year)
• Academic leadership course by USUHS

Every Fellow:

• Is expected to be active in scholarly efforts during their Fellowship.
• Should present at least 1-2 posters/presentations at national meetings.
• Must publish at least one peer-reviewed article i.e. case report, case series, review article or original research project by the fellowship.
• Must be involved in submitting creating an Institutional Review Board (IRB) protocol or working on an IRB-approved protocol.

Additionally: On occasion, fellows have the opportunity to contribute to writing a book chapter or other articles with one of our staff Endocrinologists which would also satisfy the above objectives.

Each fellow is expected to perform at least one Practice-based Learning Improvement (PBLI) project as defined and under the oversight of the Program Director, to be completed by end of first semester of senior year.

Faculty development courses and professional development trainings are available for our fellows.

Senior fellows will rotate at NIH for one month to experience rare endocrine diseases and expose to other national/ international endocrine experts.

• Students/ residents/ trainees can rotate with our endocrine program all year around.
• College students via SCOOP observership program
• Medical students from USUHS and HPSP program
• Internal medicine residents/ interns
• Fellows from NIH and Medstar

• Applicants are encouraged to rotate with our program to experience the dynamics and daily work of our fellows and endocrine staff.
• Applicants should consider requesting a letter of recommendation from our faculty.
• There is an opportunity for scholarly activities including participating in our research protocols, writing up case reports, book chapters, review articles, etc.
• Applicants should show enthusiasm in learning & passion in endocrinology as well as demonstrate respect, kindness and professionalism towards patients and the healthcare team.

Program graduates take the ABIM Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism Board exam. This exam is offered annually. To become fully board certified, applicants are eligible to take board certification exam after graduation from our fellowship program. To be eligible to take specialty board exams, graduates must complete all pre-requisites required by the ABIM by September 30th of that year.

Fellows will serve and will be appointed as Instructor of medicine/ Assistant Professor for USUHS medical students, IM interns/residents via academic half days, small group discussions (ICR) and hands on teaching at USUHS simulation center.

Fellows give lectures to other services as requested such as emergency medicine, dental service, oncology, nuclear medicine, etc..

• Faculty development
• Research mentorship
• Editorial board
• Clinical practice guideline committee
• Certified clinical densitometrist (CCD)

Our program offers mentorship opportunities including:

• Research and Institutional Review Board Mentorship
• Military Career Development Mentorship

Our program offers well-being and burnout didactics 1-2 times per year.