Education

Division Conferences

• Grand Rounds – Weekly presentations from national and local speakers spanning clinical and research fields of rheumatology
• Case Presentations – Interactive presentations of complex interesting cases from all training sites, with feedback from audience
• Journal Club – Studies published in the literature are critically appraised, followed by discussion of how the research may shape the practice of rheumatology
• Morbidity, Mortality, and Improvement – Case reviewed to stimulate learning and identify areas of practice improvement to deliver optimal patient care. Allows for opportunities to discuss medical ethics and opportunity for quality improvement.
• Multidisciplinary Conferences – Several multidisciplinary conferences including Rheumatology-Dermatology Grand Rounds and Rheumatology-Radiology Conferences were developed to enhance education and discussions regarding clinical care of complex patients. Other multidisciplinary experiences include combined clinics, such as our rheumatology-neurology neuromuscular clinic, along with rheumatology fellow rotations in pediatric rheumatology clinic, endocrinology osteoporosis clinic, and nephrology glomerulonephritis clinic.

Fellow Sessions

• Rheumatology Core Curriculum Sessions – Small group didactic conferences for fellows in an interactive format reviewing autoimmune, inflammatory, and non-inflammatory rheumatic conditions to prepare fellows to become accomplished clinicians.
• Quality Improvement (QI) – Curriculum session to educate fellows regarding the principles of QI along with tools used to perform QI projects, followed by active participation in a QI project of the fellows choice throughout fellowship guided by meetings with a faculty mentor and QI committee. QI projects are encouraged to be submitted as abstracts, posters, and manuscripts.
• Procedures – Fellows receive instruction and supervision for intra-articular injections, arthrocentesis, and interpretation of synovial fluid analysis in both the inpatient and outpatient setting in Parkland and VA.
• Ultrasound – Built into the fellows’ schedules are dedicated times for musculoskeletal ultrasound CME lectures and mentored hands-on scanning sessions. These CME sessions can be used towards future American College of Rheumatology RhMSUS™ certification. Additionally, we have biannual cadaver workshops for mentored diagnostic and injection ultrasound practice in the medical school anatomy lab. During the second year of fellowship, fellows have a supervised dedicated ultrasound procedure clinic weekly at the Dallas VA Medical Center.
• Mentoring – Mentoring program in place to support fellows to choose a scientific content mentor and humanistic career mentor, to guide scholarly work and advise for career planning.