Education | Endocrinology Fellowship

The University of Maryland Fellowship is a committed learning environment for trainees, faculty and staff.

In addition to experiential learning, a formal curriculum over the two years of training covers all elements of endocrinology.

Fellows are immersed in blocks structured around the blueprint for the ABIM endocrinology boards. These blocks (diabetes and hypoglycemia, calcium and bone disorders, thyroid disorders, female and male reproduction, lipids/obesity/nutrition, adrenal disorders and pituitary disorders) are covered one at a time with formal didactics and active learning activities. Journal club and board review stay on the topic of the block. In addition to formal didactics, fellows begin the journey of life-long learning with independent instruction via an ambulatory curriculum.

Each ambulatory month, the fellow is immersed in a discipline (diabetes, adrenal, thyroid, women's health, pituitary, bone, obesity, transgender care), reviewing evidence based guidelines as well as completing several active learning modules (continuous glucose monitors, thyroid cancer staging, adrenal vein sampling) and select board review. This independent work is then reviewed by a supervising attending physician.

Health Equity Curriculum

With the launching of a health equity curriculum in 2019, our fellowship highlighted the need to train fellows in the role social determinants of health play in their patients' health and the importance of the physician as advocate. Issues related to food insecurity, physical environment, economic stability, education, and community are particularly important to patients with diabetes and obesity. Incorporated into the UMMC at Midtown rotations, fellows work on activities to understand how zip codes influence diabetes outcomes.

Using the Community Health Needs Assessment, in which our surrounding communities have identified diabetes as a health priority, we train our fellows to understand our community's priorities and how we, both as a health system and as individual providers, can attempt to address them. Fellows also provide care to incarcerated individuals, a significant proportion of whom are transgender, and contribute to the development of best practices to this vulnerable patient population. 

Structured Conferences

Endocrine Multidisciplinary Conference (Monthly)

At this monthly multidisciplinary conference, endocrine fellows and faculty and attendings from endocrine surgery, radiology, pathology and cytology present and discuss challenging cases and diagnostic dilemmas, review the relevant imaging, procedures and findings of the case and address therapeutic questions.

Pituitary Multidisciplinary Conference (Monthly)

At this monthly multidisciplinary conference, endocrine fellows and faculty and attendings from neurosurgery, surgery, radiology, and pathology present and discuss challenging cases and diagnostic dilemmas, review the relevant imaging, procedures and findings of the case and address therapeutic questions.

Case Presentation and Discussion (Weekly), Thursday 11:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m.

Fellows select and present patients who pose challenging diagnostic and/or management dilemmas. These cases are used as a springboard to review the scientific and evidence basis for diagnosis and treatment.

Diabetes and Endocrine Journal Club (Monthly), Thursday 12:00-1:00 p.m.

Fellows present analyses of articles in the current diabetes and endocrine literature. Their presentations include analysis of experimental groups and design, methodology, and statistical analysis. Six times a year, journal club covers an article addressing a health disparity in endocrinology.

Endocrine Grand Rounds (Bi-monthly), Thursday 12:00-1:00 p.m.

Endocrine Grand Rounds is a formal didactic conference that focuses on presenting experts in their respective clinical or basic research areas in diabetes, metabolism and endocrinology.

Endocrine Board Review (Monthly), Thursday 11:30-12:00 p.m.

Endocrine Board Review follows the Block curriculum, focusing on group-based learning on review board questions.

Morbidity and Mortality (Quarterly), Thursday 12:00-1:00 p.m.

Held quarterly, M&M is an opportunity to explore systems-based problems in patient care. M&M conferences provide a forum for faculty and trainees to analyze the management details of identified cases wherein morbidity and mortality occurred. There are opportunities to identify areas of practice improvement at micro- and macro-levels.

Fellows Research Presentations (Semi-annually), Thursday 12:00-1:00 p.m.

Second year research fellows present current results or status of ongoing research and QI projects to the faculty and peers. This presents opportunities to collaborate, seek and receive feedback. Fellows may also present recently accepted publications or scholarly activity.

Medical Compliance and Billing (Quarterly), Thursday 12:00-1:00 p.m.

These lectures seek to reinforce the principles of billing and coding to prepare fellows for clinical practice. There are opportunities to identify areas of practice improvement.

Diabetes and Endocrine Core Conference (Weekly), Friday 12:00-1:00 p.m.

These conferences are predominantly didactic sessions that are taught by fellows and faculty in which the pathophysiology and treatment for all aspects of endocrine, diabetes and metabolic disorders are discussed.