Hematology and Medical Oncology Fellowship
Mission & Vision
The Hematology and Medical Oncology Fellowship prepares academically-oriented physicians to become outstanding clinicians, leaders in clinical and translational research and dedicated clinical educators. As academic physicians, we are expected to be excellent clinicians who deliver care at the highest level, researchers who discover and develop the newest treatments and technologies and clinical educators who educate the next generation of physicians.
Mission & Vision
The Hematology and Medical Oncology Fellowship prepares academically-oriented physicians to become outstanding clinicians, leaders in clinical and translational research and dedicated clinical educators. As academic physicians, we are expected to be excellent clinicians who deliver care at the highest level, researchers who discover and develop the newest treatments and technologies and clinical educators who educate the next generation of physicians.
Program Director’s Welcome
This is a fully accredited, three-year fellowship program in Hematology and Medical Oncology that leads to dual board certification. This program is situated in a university-based medical school (the University of Miami Medical School) which has a global health mission, a safety-net hospital (Jackson Memorial Hospital) that is one of the largest hospitals in the United States and a dedicated university-based academic, NCI-Designated Cancer Center (Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center) which provides state-of-the-art cancer research and care. Our program setting provides broad exposure to different clinical milieus, a broad array of patients and diseases, and access to cutting-edge technology and research labs. We are geographically and strategically at the crossroads of the Caribbean and Latin America. Our community is characterized by cultural, ethnic, geographic, linguistic, racial and socioeconomic diversity.
The majority of modern oncology care is in the outpatient setting and this is reflected in the fellowship program. Since each fellow comes to the fellowship program with different experiences, different expectations and very different career goals, we believe the training program should be individualized. Thus, our fellowship is built for maximum flexibility. The fellow, in collaboration with their designated faculty advisor, their chosen mentor and the fellowship program director, develops a fellowship program that fulfills their educational and career goals, while ensuring completion of the requirements necessary for board eligibility.
We have four fellowship tracks with specific aims, expectations and milestones: Clinical Practice – designed for the fellow who is intellectually curious but does not want a career in academic medicine; Clinical Research – designed to enable the career development of a clinical investigator; Public Health/Global Health/Health Equities – designed for the oncology fellow who has a passion for epidemiology, global health or disparity research and Laboratory/Translational – designed for the fellow who is considering a Master of Science degree in cancer biology and/or who is intellectually curious, but who does not want a career in academic medicine.
Additionally, our program offers unique educational opportunities, including benign hematology curriculum; Creating Educators, a stepwise process that starts in fall of the first year of fellowship with didactic lectures on how to give a presentation, delivering feedback and making use of the teachable moments; grant writing workshops; journal clubs; multiple tumor boards; professionalism series encompassing a broad range of topics; a research symposium; wellness resources including training/lectures and projects focused on addressing fellow workload, as well as quality assurance projects related to the care of patients, hospital formulary, process improvements and transitions in care.
The fellowship pays for attendance at one, high-impact conference a year, and provides the ASCO Essentials for Oncology Fellows and the ASH Fundamentals for Hematology Fellows. Any fellow with a poster or oral presentation at a high-impact national meeting has their expenses paid by the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center. Fellows are also encouraged to attend other conferences, as feasible.
-Director Gilberto Lopes, MD
-Associate Program Director James Hoffman, MD
Program Director’s Welcome
This is a fully accredited, three-year fellowship program in Hematology and Medical Oncology that leads to dual board certification. This program is situated in a university-based medical school (the University of Miami Medical School) which has a global health mission, a safety-net hospital (Jackson Memorial Hospital) that is one of the largest hospitals in the United States and a dedicated university-based academic, NCI-Designated Cancer Center (Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center) which provides state-of-the-art cancer research and care. Our program setting provides broad exposure to different clinical milieus, a broad array of patients and diseases, and access to cutting-edge technology and research labs. We are geographically and strategically at the crossroads of the Caribbean and Latin America. Our community is characterized by cultural, ethnic, geographic, linguistic, racial and socioeconomic diversity.
The majority of modern oncology care is in the outpatient setting and this is reflected in the fellowship program. Since each fellow comes to the fellowship program with different experiences, different expectations and very different career goals, we believe the training program should be individualized. Thus, our fellowship is built for maximum flexibility. The fellow, in collaboration with their designated faculty advisor, their chosen mentor and the fellowship program director, develops a fellowship program that fulfills their educational and career goals, while ensuring completion of the requirements necessary for board eligibility.
We have four fellowship tracks with specific aims, expectations and milestones: Clinical Practice – designed for the fellow who is intellectually curious but does not want a career in academic medicine; Clinical Research – designed to enable the career development of a clinical investigator; Public Health/Global Health/Health Equities – designed for the oncology fellow who has a passion for epidemiology, global health or disparity research and Laboratory/Translational – designed for the fellow who is considering a Master of Science degree in cancer biology and/or who is intellectually curious, but who does not want a career in academic medicine.
Additionally, our program offers unique educational opportunities, including benign hematology curriculum; Creating Educators, a stepwise process that starts in fall of the first year of fellowship with didactic lectures on how to give a presentation, delivering feedback and making use of the teachable moments; grant writing workshops; journal clubs; multiple tumor boards; professionalism series encompassing a broad range of topics; a research symposium; wellness resources including training/lectures and projects focused on addressing fellow workload, as well as quality assurance projects related to the care of patients, hospital formulary, process improvements and transitions in care.
The fellowship pays for attendance at one, high-impact conference a year, and provides the ASCO Essentials for Oncology Fellows and the ASH Fundamentals for Hematology Fellows. Any fellow with a poster or oral presentation at a high-impact national meeting has their expenses paid by the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center. Fellows are also encouraged to attend other conferences, as feasible.
-Director Gilberto Lopes, MD
-Associate Program Director James Hoffman, MD
Fast Facts
Accreditation
Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education
Number of Fellows per Year?
5 or 6
Duration of Fellowship?
3 years
Program Highlights
95% hematology board pass rate
4 distinct tracks for an individualized fellowship experience
Program Highlights
95% hematology board pass rate
4 distinct tracks for an individualized fellowship experience
Clinical Experience
The Hematology and Oncology Medicine Fellowship Program is composed of:
Core Rotation
Inpatient rotations that offer exposure to all elements of hematology/oncology.
Mandatory Rotations
Rotations in benign hematology, bone marrow and hematopathology.
Structured and Individual Electives
This is the fellow’s opportunity for exposure to multiple site disease groups with intensive immersions in a specific SDG. The fellow can choose from a large selection of electives and can decide how many weeks to attend each elective in order to reach their goals. In addition to Structured Electives, the fellow can participate in an Individual Elective where the fellow is paired with a specific attending over many months. These electives are very popular for second and third year fellows who elect to work with their mentor or who desire a one-on-one teaching experience.
Flexible Time
Each fellow is able to individualize their education in order to reach their specific career goals. Flexible time can be used for accruing patients to a clinical trial, attending continuity clinics, bench research, taking a statistics course, undertaking a quality assurance project or writing a clinical trial.
Year 1
Emphasis for the first year is on attaining clinical competency. During the first year, fellows will complete the core rotation for the inpatient unit at Jackson Memorial Hospital and the inpatient oncology consultation service at the hospital. The fellow will pick structured electives and decide what their career goals are with the help of their advisor. By the end of their first year, or during the first six months of their second year, the fellow will be able to pick one of four fellowship tracks.
Fellows are assigned a designated faculty advisor at the start of their first year. The designated faculty advisor will help the fellow pick elective rotations, evaluate the fellow’s progress during the first year, assist the fellow with developing an educational plan for the second and third year of fellowship and facilitate the matching of the fellow with a research mentor based on the fellow’s interests and goals.
The fellow will pick a mentor at the end of their first year. This mentor can be a clinical mentor or a research/scientific mentor. The clinical mentor will assist the fellow with developing a plan for the optimization of their clinical skills. The research mentor will assist the fellow with the development of a research project, provide oversight of the project and monitor the progress of the fellow throughout the research project.
Year 2
Emphasis for the second year is on research training and developing skills as a clinical educator. The fellow will work on the inpatient hematology consultation service at UHealth Tower. The fellow will participate in Individual Electives where they are paired with a specific attending over many months. Fellows will conduct small group sessions in the internal medicine core curriculum, present board review lectures and present clinical topics at divisional grand rounds. Fellows will also have research opportunities during their second year.
Year 3
Emphasis for the third year is on final development of the skills necessary for the attainment of specific career goals. The third year fellow will staff the inpatient hematology consultation service at Jackson Memorial Hospital. The fellow will continue their participation in their Individual Electives and will present their personal research topic/project at divisional grand rounds.
Your Faculty
Pasquale W. Benedetto, MD
Professor, Clinical Medicine
John J. Byrnes, MD
Professor, Clinical Medicine
Thomas J. Harrington, MD
Assistant Professor, Clinical Medicine
James E. Hoffman, MD
Assistant Professor, Clinical Medicine
Judith Hurley, MD
Professor, Clinical Medicine
Albert Lockhart, MD
Professor, Clinical Medicine
Chief, Medical Oncology
Gilberto Lopes, MD
Associate Professor, Clinical Medicine
Medical Director, International Programs
Associate Director, Global Oncology
Director, Hematology and Medical Oncology Fellowship Program
Craig H. Moskowitz, MD
Professor, Clinical Medicine
Cesar Perez, MD
Assistant Professor, Clinical Medicine
Agustin Pimentel, MD
Associate Professor, Clinical Medicine
Joseph D. Rosenblatt, MD
Professor, Clinical Medicine
Chief, Hematology Division
Jonathan H. Schatz, MD
Associate Professor, Clinical Medicine
Alumni Placements Include:
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
MD Anderson Cancer Center
Ohio State University
The University of Utah
University of Arizona
University of California, Irvine
University of California, San Diego
University of Miami
University of Oregon
Alumni Placements Include:
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
MD Anderson Cancer Center
Ohio State University
The University of Utah
University of Arizona
University of California, Irvine
University of California, San Diego
University of Miami
University of Oregon