Fellowship - Division of Infectious Diseases

Welcome to the Washington University Infectious Diseases Fellowship Program. Join us while we take you on the journey to an exceptional training opportunity… love where your work, live and spend your time!

The Division of Infectious Diseases Fellowship Training Program is an Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) approved program designed to attract outstanding young physicians and train them for academic and clinical careers in infectious diseases. Our faculty are engaged in a wide range of clinical services and research from which our fellows gain experience.

How to apply

Welcome to Our Fellowship Program

Welcome to the Infectious Diseases Fellowship Program at Washington University School of Medicine (WUSM). The goal of our fellowship program is to train outstanding clinicians and physician-scientists in the subspecialty of infectious diseases.
All of our program’s graduates receive excellent training in inpatient and outpatient infectious diseases. Many graduates become physician-scientists performing high-quality, laboratory-based research or investigators who engage in clinical research. Others become successful educators, epidemiologists, administrators, or private infectious disease clinicians.
Our fellows are offered outstanding opportunities in clinical services and research from which they gain experience. These include:

At Washington University School of Medicine, we strive for excellence in clinical care, education and research. We are pleased that you are interested in learning more about our Infectious Diseases Fellowship and invite you to explore our website. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have questions or if we can provide further information.

Sincerely,

Darcy Wooten, MD, MS, FIDSA
Professor of Medicine
Director, Infectious Diseases Fellowship Program

Caline Mattar, MD
Associate Professor of Medicine
Associate Director, Infectious Diseases Fellowship Program

Stephanie McManus
Fellowship Coordinator
314-454-8293
smcmanus@wustl.edu

Overview

The Infectious Diseases Fellowship is an integrated, two-year program that combines broad and intensive training in clinical infectious diseases with protected time to pursue basic or clinical research after the first year. A third research year is offered to fellows engaged in funded, productive research projects in infectious diseases. Five fellows are selected each year.
In an effort to provide the highest quality care in both inpatient and outpatient settings, faculty of the division and their colleagues in the departments of Molecular Microbiology, Biology, Cell Biology and Physiology, Pathology and Genetics foster and maintain excellent communication between basic scientists and clinicians. The fellowship training program places a high value on a fertile collaborative atmosphere in which basic and clinical investigations alike pursue knowledge relevant to understanding the pathogenesis, pathophysiology, clinical consequences, and treatment of infectious diseases.

Program Goal

Our program trains fellows to be excellent clinicians and well-trained physician-scientists doing clinical, translational or basic science research. Our fellows are prepared to respond to national and global challenges such as emerging infectious diseases, rising antimicrobial resistance, and threats to public health and patient safety. Whether you choose a clinical or research career, become an educator, choose a public health careers, or work for industry, we want to inculcate a culture of excellence that you will adhere to throughout your career. We foster values that stress honesty, integrity, and fairness and encourage all fellows to provide compassionate clinical care and respect diversity in their patient population.

Learn about past trainees’ achievements on our alumni page.

Learn more

Clinical

Our fellows gain a wealth of clinical experience from patients seen at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, one of the largest hospitals in the United States with over 1,400 beds. The Infectious Diseases Fellowship is an integrated, two-year program that combines broad and intensive training in clinical infectious diseases with protected time to pursue basic or clinical research after the first year. A third research year is offered to fellows engaged in funded, productive research projects in infectious diseases.

	1st Year	2nd Year (Flexible)
General	20-22 Weeks • 2 fellow-run services • ALL services provided with 1 NP and 1 ID-PharmD • 3-5 new consults/day • Rotating students and residents	2 Weeks
Transplant	10 – 12 Weeks • Solid organ • HSCT • 1 fellow-run service with 1 NP and 1 ID-PharmD • 2-4 new consults/day • Rotating students and residents	2 Weeks
VA	10-12 Weeks • 1 fellow-run service • 3-5 new consults per day • Rotating students and residents	N/A
Elective	12 Weeks Per fellow discretion. Past examples include: • Microbiology (mandatory) • Solid organ/BMT • Critical care • Patient safety/Quality Improvement • Infection Control • Bone and Joint • Tuberculosis Clinic • STD Clinic • Wound Care • Opportunity to plan for following year, choose mentors, writing IRB/protocols and scholarly work	N/A
Outpatient	Weekly • 1 half-day of HIV clinic supervised by faculty mentor	Weekly • 1 half-day of HIV clinic • 1 half-day of rotating clinics in Transplant, Mycology, Mycobacteria, VA
Call	4 Weeks • 1 half-day of HIV clinic supervised by faculty mentor 4 Weeks • Telephone only Mon-Fri; 5pm-8am • Sees new consults after cap on the weekend • Telephone calls on the weekend	6-7 Weeks

3 weeks of vacation per year, plus 7 personal days
Specialized Tracks available as an option for second year

Optional Third Year

Continue research pursuits
No inpatient requirements
1-3 clinics per week depending on clinical/research track

First year of fellowship

The first year of fellowship is devoted to clinical care and infectious disease consultation (pdf) on inpatient services at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and the St. Louis Veterans Administration (pdf) Medical Center (John Cochran). Under the supervision and mentorship of an attending physician, fellows will gain practical and wide-ranging experience in managing infectious diseases in a large urban academic medical center. These busy services provide more than 4,000 inpatient consultations annually.

A dedicated transplant infectious diseases consult service (pdf) follows complex and challenging infections in both solid organ and hematopoietic stem cell transplant populations. A bone and joint consult service provides concentrated exposure to orthopedic infections.

Elective time during the first year affords ample opportunity to identify and meet with potential faculty mentors as fellows make plans to pursue research in later years. Electives in Patient Safety, Infection Prevention, Hepatology, Bone and Joint Infection and Pediatric Infectious Diseases are available. Additionally, a two-week clinical microbiology option provides exposure to clinical microbiology, including bench time in different areas.

Finally, fellows will provide outpatient HIV primary care including care of patients co-infected with HCV and HBV, and infectious disease consultation one half-day a week at the Washington University Infectious Diseases Clinic year round (Ambulatory curriculum). Additional training experiences are also available at the St. Louis County Department of Health Sexually Transmitted Diseases and Tuberculosis Clinics.

Second year of fellowship

The concentration of clinical work in the first year allows fellows to pursue research and scholarly activities in their second year and beyond. The second year of fellowship allows protected time to pursue research. The division holds a NIH Infectious Disease/Basic Microbial Pathogenesis Training Grant, established in 1980, and now with over 40 plus continuous years of funding. More than 30 full-time faculty in the basic and clinical sciences participate in the training of infectious diseases fellows. A great deal of flexibility is accorded fellows in their choice of research mentors. A faculty advisory committee formed for each fellow will assure that their training goals are achieved. Opportunities to participate in formal didactic research training are available to interested fellows through the Clinical Research Training Center (CRTC) at Washington University School of Medicine.

Fellows pursuing research are offered multiple opportunities for funding additional training.

Competitive and dedicated tracks in Global Health, Antimicrobial Stewardship, Infection Prevention, Transplant ID, Sexually Transmitted Infection, and in Medical Education are available as an option during the second year of fellowship.

Third year of fellowship

Research

The basic research laboratories of the fellowship training program are focused on investigations into the pathogenesis of bacterial, fungal, parasitic, viral, and mycobacterial diseases and the host immunologic responses which control these infections. Washington University School of Medicine has a highly collaborative research environment and fellows are welcome to join a lab in any department or division in the university. Fellows have joined labs in other clinical divisions in Internal Medicine, and in other departments, including Microbiology, Pathology and Immunology, and Genetics. Fellows in basic research training are traditionally supported by the division’s NIH-sponsored Infectious Diseases/Basic Microbial Pathogenesis Training Grant. Our fellows have also been very successful in competing for extramural funding through the NIH, including obtaining K08 and K23 awards. Washington University is also home to a premier Medical Science Training Program (MSTP) whose mission is to train future leaders in medicine and science.

The Clinical Research Training Center (CRTC), a component of the Washington University Institute of Clinical and Translational Sciences (ICTS), provides didactic curriculum and mentored training in clinical and translational research for predoctoral students, house-staff, postdoctoral fellows, and junior faculty. Our fellows have been successful in competing for admission to the postdoctoral program and subsequent institutional career development award programs (KL2, KM1) in clinical, translational, and comparative effectiveness research.

Funding Opportunities

Multiple funding opportunities for funding additional training in research exist for fellows in their second year and beyond. These opportunities exist through:

Our fellows have been highly successful in obtaining grant funding through:

NIH K08 funding
NIH K23 funding
The Doris Duke Foundation
The Burroughs-Wellcome Foundation
The HIV Medicine Association (HIVMA)
The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

AIDS Clinical Trials Unit (ACTU)

The Division of Infectious Diseases operates a NIH-supported AIDS Clinical Trials Unit (ACTU). The presence of the ACTU, coupled with an active outpatient HIV clinic that follows approximately 1,700 HIV-positive patients, offers many clinical research opportunities in HIV disease and AIDS (including training in the design and conduct of clinical trials) as well as the opportunity for training in state-of-the-art care for HIV-positive patients. Collaborative research opportunities with investigators conducting clinical and laboratory research in HIV-related virology, neurology, hepatology and malignancy are also available, as are active clinical research and training programs in sexually transmitted diseases and tuberculosis.

Clinical Research Training Center (CRTC)

The Clinical Research Training Center (CRTC), a component of the Washington University Institute of Clinical and Translational Sciences (ICTS), provides didactic curriculum and mentored training in clinical and translational research for predoctoral students, house-staff, postdoctoral fellows, and junior faculty. Past infectious diseases fellows have been successful in competing for admission to the postdoctoral program and subsequent institutional career development award programs (KL2, KM1) in clinical, translational, and comparative effectiveness research.

Basic, translational and clinical research opportunities

The basic research laboratories of the fellowship training program operate with the philosophy that investigations into the pathogenesis of infectious diseases are carried out at the highest possible molecular resolution. Laboratories are focused on investigations into the pathogenesis of bacterial, fungal, parasitic, viral, and mycobacterial diseases and the host immunologic responses which control these infections.

Washington University has a highly collaborative research environment and fellows are welcome to join a lab in any department or division in the university. Fellows have joined labs in other clinical divisions in Internal Medicine, including pulmonary, hematology-oncology, renal, gastrointestinal, and allergy divisions. Fellows have also joined labs in other departments, including Microbiology, Pathology and Immunology, and Genetics.

Fellows in basic research training are traditionally supported by the division’s NIH-sponsored Infectious Diseases/Basic Microbial Pathogenesis Training Grant. Additional funding opportunities are available through the Biodefense Clinical/Translational Research Fellowship program, sponsored by the Midwest Regional Center of Excellence for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases (MRCE), as well as numerous private organizations, including the Doris Duke Foundation and Burroughs-Wellcome. Our fellows have also been very successful in competing for extramural funding through the NIH, including obtaining K08 and K23 awards.

Washington University is also home to a premier Medical Science Training Program (MSTP) whose mission is to train future leaders in medicine and science.

Conferences

The program has meticulously designed conferences that showcase the complexity and diversity of cases seen in the hospital, the expertise of the faculty on various infectious disease topics, and the program’s commitment in fellow education.

Day	8:00 am	12:00 pm
Monday		Active Case Conferences
Tuesday	*ID Grand Rounds	HIV/Hepatitis
Wednesday	Core Curriculum
Thursday	Journal Club
Friday	Friday Board Review / Microbiology Rounds

Active Case Conferences:

ID Grand Rounds: Fellows prepare and present interesting and unusual cases in this weekly conference. They present a literature review of the topic under discussion.

HIV and Hepaitis Conference: Interesting cases and management challenges, including multi-drug resistant HIV, are discussed at this weekly meeting. In addition, diagnostic and management issues pertaining to Hepatitis B and C mono- or co-infection are likewise discussed. Activities include case presentations, journal clubs, and lectures on important topics in HIV and Hepatitis.

Core Curriculum Lecture: This is a didactic curriculum taught by ID faculty once a week. It includes formal instruction in infection control, anti-infective therapy, and pathogenic mechanisms of a wide variety of bacteria, mycobacteria, fungi, parasites and viruses. Activities for board review are also included (e.g. ID Jeopardy, ID Photo Quiz, review of board questions).

Journal Club: Fellows critique a current journal article, and research the literature on the topic under discussion in this monthly conference. Journal Club is held on the 1st Thursday of each month. Fellows and faculty present updates on their research projects 3rd Thursday of each month.

Friday Board Review: Fifteen-minute session conducted by the Program Directors where board-style multiple choice questions are discussed and techniques on how to answer questions in the boards are taught.

Microbiology Rounds: Case-based discussion on essential topics in Microbiology through actual observation of microbiologic techniques in the laboratory.

St. Louis

The medical campus and Barnes-Jewish Hospital is located in a cosmopolitan neighborhood where sleek modern meets National Historic District. Best known for its culinary delights, galleries and residential variety, the Central West End (CWE) is an ethnically and economically diverse neighborhood. The CWE “downtown” radiates off Euclid Avenue, which runs from inside campus north to Delmar Boulevard.

Explore St. Louis

About St. Louis

Apply

2024 Letter to Applicants

Candidates to the Division of Infectious Diseases Fellowship Training Program must have a MD, MD/PhD, or DO and have completed an accredited residency training program in internal medicine.

July cycle fellowship applicants may begin submitting applications on July 5 through ERAS (Electronic Residency Application Service).

All supporting documents, including three letters of recommendation, should be submitted through ERAS.

Invitations to interview will begin in August 2023.

Fellow stipends range from $74,756 to $80,426 per annum, depending on previous training. Cost of Living in St. Louis, MO is 6% lower than the national average but the fun and culture of a big city are readily available.

Fellowship coordinator

Stephanie McManus
Phone: 314-454-8293
Email: smcmanus@wustl.edu