Infectious Diseases Education & Training

ACGME-Certified Fellowship Training

MGH/BWH Combined ID Fellowship

The Massachusetts General and Brigham and Women's Hospitals have integrated their Infectious Disease Fellowship Training Programs to offer unparalleled opportunities for clinical and research training in Infectious Diseases at Harvard Medical School. For more information, visit the Infectious Diseases Fellowship Program website.

Adult Infectious Disease & Basic Microbiologic Mechanisms Training Program

The Adult Infectious Disease and Basic Microbiological Mechanisms Training Program is a Harvard-wide training program dedicated to the education of those infectious disease fellows and PhD postdoctoral fellows interested in pursuing careers as physician-scientists or scientists with a focus on investigation into important questions in non-HIV microbiology and infectious diseases.

Research Fellowship Training in Infectious Diseases

The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) Infectious Diseases (ID) Fellowship training program at Massachusetts General Hospital is designed to train individuals for academic careers in clinical medicine and/or medical research. The first year of ID fellowship is an intensive clinical experience. Beginning in the second year, ID fellows pursue a research track or a specialized clinical year focused on HIV or transplant infectious diseases.

The research track is an in-depth research experience under the mentorship of a member of the ID faculty at either Mass General or Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH). Some fellows pursue basic research training with other faculty at Harvard Medical School, in the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, or in the Immunology or Virology Program. Many of the faculty of the Mass General and BWH ID Divisions have joint appointments in these departments and programs and are also part of these training communities. During the first year of fellowship, each ID fellow selects a mentor and, together with their mentor, identifies a research project. Fellows pursuing this track are supported for subsequent research training by training grants or other grants linked to their mentor.

Curriculum

Typically, two or more years are spent in research training. Fellows work with mentors to develop grant writing skills and additional research support funds, and mentors commit to underwrite support for the fellow’s research training if he/she is unable to obtain his/her own individual grant.

Investigative research is supplemented by journal clubs and work-in-progress conferences with research groups with similar interests, e.g., HIV group, bacterial pathogenesis group, and others. These conferences are open to all fellows. Research fellows present their work and actively participate in these conferences. The fellow is expected to prepare the results of his/her research with guidance from the mentor for presentation at national or international scientific meetings and for publication in peer-reviewed scientific journals.

Research Experience

Research training provides mentorship in several areas critical to the fellow's career development:

• Formulation of testable scientific hypotheses and execution of approaches to test these hypotheses
• Critical evaluation of experimental results
• Presentation of results at scientific meetings
• Critical evaluation of the medical and scientific research literature
• Writing and publishing of manuscripts of scientific findings in high quality peer-reviewed journals
• Formulation and writing of grant proposals for competitive review

Contact

Individuals wishing a post-doctoral research fellowship separate from the ACGME fellowship program should contact potential faculty mentors directly.

This program provides advanced training in the infectious disease management of solid organ and stem cell transplant recipients and patients with immunocompromises, i.e. hematopoietic malignancy, those following CAR-T and immunotherapies. Learn More.

The monthly clinical elective in Infectious Diseases at Mass General Hospital is structured around the consultation services provided by the Infectious Disease Division. Each student works with an infectious disease fellow, and together they evaluate and provide continuing care for patients for whom consultative services are requested. Students present those cases that they have worked-up to the Attending (Staff) Physician on daily rounds. Learning about infectious diseases and the role of a consultant is then accomplished at the bedside and on daily rounds. The student will perform approximately one consultation a day. In addition, students are expected to attend three weekly infectious disease conferences, a case-management conference on Monday mornings, a case-based clinical or research conference on Wednesday mornings, and an HIV-focused conference on Friday mornings. To apply please visit the Harvard Medical School website.

Mass General Brigham ID Images Website

The Division of Infectious Diseases, in collaboration with the Mass General Brigham AIDS Research Center and the Division of Infectious Diseases at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, has developed an online, case and image-based learning tool called Mass General Brigham Infectious Disease Images.

CME

Infectious Diseases in Adults 2023

Livestreaming
May 1-5, 2023

The Massachusetts General Hospital ID Division offers a comprehensive postgraduate course in infectious diseases, in conjunction with Harvard Medical School. Participants earn up to 38.25 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits^TM (including 5.75 credits of Risk Management Study). Register by March 31, 2023 for discounted pricing. Highlights of the 2023 course are shown below. For more information, visit the course website.

This comprehensive CME program ensures attendees are current with state-of-the-art approaches to prevention, detection, diagnosis, and treatment of infectious diseases. Updates, best practices, and new guidelines are presented by nationally recognized ID experts and master clinicians. Education is practical and results driven:

• Optimal decision-making in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of infectious diseases 
• Newer antimicrobials and treatment strategies for highly resistant infections
• COVID-19 and Monkeypox: the latest updates
• Prevention and treatment of infection in immunocompromised hosts
• State-of-the-art approaches to common infections, including complicated urinary tract and intra-abdominal infections
• Clinical approaches to complex, rare, "don't-miss" infections
• New, evolving, and emerging infectious diseases
• Update on antifungal diagnostics and therapy
• Optimal management of Staph aureus infections
• Infections in persons with substance use disorder
• What’s new in HIV prevention and management
• Musculoskeletal infectious diseases 

As revised treatment strategies, new diagnostic tests, and guidelines are presented, they are coupled with specific recommendations for incorporating these updates into your day-to-day work.  

Highlights of the 2023 Program

Expanded Case-Based and Problem-Solving Education 

The 2023 program features an expanded range of interactive, case-based, and problem-solving education. The formats are engaging and attendees are encouraged to pose questions of our national experts in live question and answer sessions following the lectures and the workshops.

Treating Highly Resistant Infections, including:

• MRSA and VISA (vancomycin-intermediate Staph aureus)
• Extended spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing gram negative rods
• Carbapenemase-producing Gram negative rods, including the NDM-1 metallo-beta-lactamase-producing organisms
• Vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE)
• Aspergillus and non-aspergillus mold infections
• Candida auris
• Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM)

Common Infectious Diseases: Updates in Prevention, Diagnosis, and Treatment

Updates to keep you current on new strategies, state-of-the-art practices, and the most recent guidelines to address:

• Infections in the expanding populations of immunocompromised hosts
• Infections in persons with substance use disorders
• Infections of travelers and foreign-born persons
• Systemic fungal infections
• Native and device-related orthopedic infections
• Central nervous system (CNS) infections
• Ear, nose and throat (ENT) and eye infections
• Bronchiectasis and pneumonia
• HIV and its infectious and noninfectious complications
• PEP (Post-Exposure Prophylaxis) and PrEP (Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis) to prevent HIV infection
• Sexually transmitted infections
• Hepatitis B and C infections
• Tick- and mosquito-borne infections
• Vaccines and vaccine-preventable infections
• Clostridioides difficile infection
• Complicated urinary tract infections
• Intra-abdominal infections
• Diabetic foot infections

Challenging, Rare, and Emerging Infectious Diseases

Comprehensive updates on:

• COVID-19 and Monkeypox
• EEE, Ebola, Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), and other emerging infectious diseases
• Re-emergence of vaccine-preventable diseases
• Pulmonary and extrapulmonary non-tuberculous (“atypical”) mycobacteria, including Mycobacterium abscessus
• Global infectious diseases of clinical importance

Clinical Decision-Making

Hear directly from world-renowned specialists and master clinicians on their approach and decision-making criteria for:

• Selecting the best antimicrobial and duration of treatment
• Rapid detection and empiric treatment of the life-threatening infectious diseases
• Inpatient or outpatient treatment, and the outpatient antibiotic transition: IV or oral? 
• Optimizing empiric antimicrobial therapy: what to start, when to narrow or stop  

Our multidisciplinary talks and workshops incorporate safety, quality, and practice improvement in infectious diseases, including:

• Antimicrobial stewardship to prevent resistance and reduce cost
• Infection control
• Early inpatient ID consultations to improve outcomes
• Strategies for management of infection in persons who inject drugs (PWID)