Indiana University School of Medicine’s Medical and Public Health Laboratory Microbiology Fellowship is a two-year postdoctoral training program designed to prepare trainees to direct clinical and public health microbiology laboratories. The program is hosted by the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and is accredited by the American Society for Microbiology’s Subcommittee on Postgraduate Educational Programs (CPEP).
The program accepts one doctoral-level scientist (PhD) or other doctoral-level professionals (MD, MD-PhD, etc.) each year. Throughout the first year of training, fellows spend most of their time (~70%) working alongside medical laboratory scientists during daily bench rotations to gain fundamental knowledge and experience in microbial pathogen isolation, recognition, identification, and antimicrobial susceptibility testing. Following each bench rotation, the fellow’s technical proficiency is assessed by formal examinations. Fellows will also lead weekly laboratory rounds on an alternating schedule, which serves as in-laboratory education for medical students, pathology residents, and external fellows (i.e. pathology, infectious diseases, ID pharmacy). When fellows are not rotating in the clinical laboratory, time is spent preparing lectures for bi-weekly microbiology case conferences and teaching rounds, consulting with patient care providers, assisting with diagnostic assay verifications and validations, attending weekly Infectious Disease Clinical Conferences, and preparing for board examinations.
The second year of training is largely dedicated to hospital-based clinical rotations and patient rounds (interacting with infectious diseases physicians, pharmacists, and infection control/prevention practitioners), research, public health laboratory microbiology training, and clinical consultation for laboratory testing. Fellows also continue to participate in microbiology laboratory case conferences and rounds.
