Curriculum
We are a 2-year fellowship program that has been steadily expanding, offering 2 positions per academic year for a total of 4 ID Fellows at one time. Additional training is also available for those wanting to pursue academic positions.
Core clinical rotations provide comprehensive training experience in all major aspects of clinical infectious diseases. Our graduates have a solid foundation in general infectious disease and management of HIV with additional experience in more specialized fields including management of Hepatitis, immunocompromised ID in neutropenic and transplant patients, and antimicrobial stewardship. Our faculty have decades of experience with strong focuses in HIV, fungal infections and in immunocompromised/transplant ID and are highly approachable.
Augusta University Medical Center (AUMC) and the adjacent Charlie Norwood Veterans Affairs Medical Center (CNVAMC) are the primary locations for clinical training. Fellows are expected to have at least 12 months of clinical duty divided between AUMC and CNVAMC inpatient consult services over their 2 years of training. The remaining time in fellowship will be divided between time set aside for research or electives. Research activities include opportunities for participation with faculty in clinical trials, retrospective studies, quality improvement with infection control/hospital epidemiology or other topics of interest to our trainees. Moreover, basic science research is also available with either the Thompson Lab or the Vazquez Lab.
- 540-bed tertiary care medical center
- The only level 1 trauma center in the region
- Over 85,000 ER visits and 465,000 outpatient visits per year
- Notable Services
- Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT)
- Renal Transplantation
- Left Ventricular Assist Device Placement
- 156-bed downtown division
- Med/surg inpatient beds, ICU, spinal cord injury unit (SCIU)
- Fellows rotate through downtown division only
- 82-bed uptown division
- Psychiatry and rehabilitation
- 132-bed nursing home care unit
- 60-bed Domiciliary
- Clinical emphasis:
- Extensively resistant organisms in the SCIU
- HIV
- Complicated diabetic infections
- Sequelae of chronic hemodialysis
- One half-day clinic twice monthly
- Clinical emphasis:
- Outpatient parenteral antibiotic therapy (OPAT)
- Chronic hardware infections
- General outpatient referrals
- One half-day continuity clinic twice monthly
- Management of HIV and associated complications
- Extensive support services including clinical nurses, case managers, psychologists, HIV/HCV-specialized PharmD.
Antimicrobial Stewardship at AUMC
The antimicrobial stewardship program (ASP) is committed to ensuring that the right patient receives the right dose of the right antimicrobial via the right route for the right duration of therapy. This goal is achieved through a multidisciplinary team approach, centered upon transparency and shared-decision making with primary care teams. The ASP utilizes preauthorization, prospective audit and feedback, and clinical decision support software to identify patients who may benefit from antimicrobial stewardship interventions. Research, quality improvement, and education are key pillars of success for ASP at AUMC as we strive to advance antimicrobial stewardship practices locally, regionally, and nationally.
Infectious Diseases Fellows are voting members of the Antimicrobial Stewardship Committee, which meets once every 1-2 months. Meetings consist of discussions on items such as changes to the hospital antimicrobial formulary, empiric antibiotic prescribing guidelines, and recent literature reviews as well as other practical considerations on topics being discussed.
Conference Schedule
| Journal Club | First Tuesdays 1-3PM |
| Didactics and Board Review | Thursdays 12-1PM |
| City Wide ID Grand Rounds | Tuesdays 1-3PM |
| Department of Medicine Grand Rounds | Tuesdays 12-1PM |
| Microbiology Rounds | TBD for Academic Year |