Eligibility, Appointments and Reappointments

Eligibility

To be eligible for consideration, applicants must 

• meet the institutional requirements for fellowship eligibility.

• have completed or anticipate completion of an ACGME-accredited (U.S.) Internal Medicine or Med-Peds residency program prior to starting fellowship.

• possess U.S. citizenship, permanent resident status, or a J-1 visa. The Medical School at the University of Minnesota discourages residency and fellowship applications from individuals holding H-1 visas because all of our residents and fellows are considered students, not employees. Only under unusual circumstances are H-1 visa holders accepted into a training position.

Non-Discrimination Policy

The Medical School does not discriminate with regard to sex, race, color, creed, religion, national origin, age, marital status, disability, public assistance status, veteran’s status or sexual orientation. 

Program Specific Visa Policies

The J-1 alien physician visa sponsored by ECFMG is the preferred visa status for foreign national trainees in all UMN graduate medical education programs; therefore, the Infectious Diseases Fellowship Program sponsors only J-1 visas. H-1B visas are not sponsored. The program follows the Medical School's Visa Policy.

Appointment and Promotion

GME clarifies the appropriate classification and appointment types for fellows. For this program, fellows must have a primary paid appointment in one of the following classifications.

·    9555 Medical Fellow

·    9554 Medical Fellow – Graduate Program

·    9568 NIH NRSA Medical Fellow

·    9569 NIH NRSA Medical Fellow – Graduate Program

Trainees in accredited (Medicare eligible) training programs may not hold a secondary appointment at the University of Minnesota or University of Minnesota Physicians.

Policy Statement

The residency/fellowship (trainee) agreement is a required, binding contract between the trainee and the institution.  The effective date of the initial agreement is the first mandatory date the trainee is required to report to their GME training program.

If the resident/fellow is in satisfactory standing, the agreement will be automatically renewed on an annual basis for the duration of the training program.

There are no restrictive covenants on the post-training employment opportunities of trainees.  Residents/fellows are free to compete for any physician or academic positions in any geographic area following completion of their training.

Procedures

The agreement template is reviewed no less than annually by GME Administration in collaboration with the Office of the General Counsel.  GME Administration presents recommended revisions to the Graduate Medical Education Committee (GMEC) for their review, discussion and approval.  The agreement template is available on the GME website.

GME Administration ensures that each trainee’s agreement is fully executed (all parties have signed and dated the document) prior to the effective date, and saved to the trainee’s RMS Personnel record.  The scanned copy is the official agreement.

Stipend

As noted in the GME Fellowship Program Agreement, the University will pay resident/fellow an annual stipend commensurate with their level of training.  The stipend is payable on a biweekly basis. The Graduate Medical Education Committee sets stipend rates annually, effective for the July 1 – June 30 academic year.  For established ID fellow stipend levels and annually updated information, please refer to stipend information available at http://z.umn.edu/rfstipends. 

Chief ID Fellow Position

Nominations for the position can be submitted in the spring of the academic year by current ID fellows who will be continuing their training beyond the end of the current academic year.  Fellows will have the opportunity to vote for which individual they would like for the position, and the person receiving the most votes will assume the responsibilities of the chief fellow position. The fellowship program director will help to break any tied votes by choosing an individual among the fellows receiving the most votes for the position. There is no added fiscal term for this position.

The Chief ID Fellow will have the following responsibilities.

Representative Duties

• Lead any discussions among the fellows pertaining to fellow-generated programmatic suggestions or concerns, curriculum suggestions or concerns, or general fellowship issues. These discussions will be passed along to the Program Coordinator and Program Director, as appropriate

• Interview each fellowship candidate, coordinate the fellows’ assessments of interviewed fellowship candidates and provide this information to the Program Director

• Participate in fellowship committee meetings  

• Represent the ID division at any fellow-oriented meetings within the Department of Medicine

Logistical Duties

• Develop and annually edit a packet of recommended readings and resources to be given to incoming first-year infectious disease fellows

• Work with faculty mentors to set up and coordinate dates for the ID fellows’ Journal Club

• Coordinate monthly fellow-directed social/learning event (journal club vs. board review) 

• Assist in the planning of the Mayo/UMN ID Fellows’ Forum in the Spring

If there is no Chief ID Fellow selected for a given academic year, the above duties will be distributed among the current fellows. 

Requirements for Completion of Training and Graduation

Training and Graduation requirements consist of 

• At least 12 months clinical training (including clinical microbiology training)

• At least 24 months of a weekly half-day continuity clinic (including a minimum of 12 months of longitudinal HIV/AIDS

• Care of at least 20 patients

• Participation in all required conferences

• Completion of a substantial research project

• Satisfactory performance evaluations from faculty members and the Scholarship Oversight Committee (SOC) for all the above activities

The program director makes all final determinations regarding fellow graduation status.

Policy of Effect of Leave for Satisfying Completion of Program

All fellows must meet the twenty-four-month training requirements established by the American Board of Internal Medicine. Fellows may miss 35 days per year or 70 days per fellowship (two-year fellowship), including vacations, sick leave, leaves of absence (LOAs), etc. Time in excess of 70 days, whether for vacations, sick leave, maternity or paternity leave, must be made up to meet this requirement.  This requirement does not include any additional year(s) for research that many fellows undertake.

Any request for a LOA should be considered carefully. A requested LOA must be discussed with the fellowship program director. The fellowship program director must approve the request at least three months prior to the requested LOA date. Exceptions may be made if the request falls under the definition of the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA). (Please see Part A of the Department of Medicine Policies and Procedure manual for the Medical School policy on FMLA). Do not assume that a LOA will be granted automatically. Obtain approval before making plans. Please refer to the Institution Manual for information on the disciplinary and grievance procedures.

The Graduate Medical Education Leave Policy is available on the GME website.

Fellows and the Program Director are to take into consideration the American Board of Internal Medicine's policy as well.

ABIM Language (taken from most recent ABIM Policies and Procedures for Certification)

Leave of Absence and Vacation

This policy applies to internal medicine residency and subspecialty fellowships in all ABIM disciplines.

Up to 5 weeks (35 days) per academic year are cumulatively permitted over the course of the training program for time away from training, which includes vacation, illness, parental or family leave, or pregnancy-related disabilities. For example, a resident could take 105 days of leave during a three-year internal medicine residency without needing to extend training. Training must be extended to make up any absences exceeding 5 weeks (35 days) per year of training unless the Deficits in Required Training Time policy is used. Vacation leave is essential and should not be forfeited or postponed in any year of training and cannot be used to reduce the total required training period.  ABIM does not establish how much time per year should be used for vacation and recognizes that leave policies vary from institution to institution. Program Directors may apply their local requirements within these guidelines to ensure trainees have completed the requisite period of training with adequate vacation over the total training duration.

ABIM considers activities such as attendance at training-related seminars, courses, interviews for subsequent training positions or jobs, etc., as bona fide educational experiences or duties essential for the continuity of education in internal medicine and its subspecialties. These activities need not be counted as part of the allocation for leave time in the academic year for purposes of tracking training time for ABIM. Similarly, ABIM does not require that this time be counted among the educational experiences of the training program; rather, the program director has the discretion to apply this policy to ensure the balance of time needed to assure competency in the discipline is achieved at the end of training.

Deficits in Required Training Time

This policy applies to internal medicine residency and subspecialty fellowships in all ABIM disciplines.

ABIM recognizes that delays or interruptions may arise during training such that the required training cannot be completed within the standard total training time for the training type. In such circum-stances, if the trainee's program director and clinical competency committee attest to ABIM that the trainee has achieved required competence with a deficit of less than 5 weeks (35 days), extended training may not be required. Only program directors may request that ABIM apply the Deficits in Required Training Time policy on a trainee's behalf, and such a request may only be made during the trainee's final year of training. Program directors may request a deficit in training time when submitting evaluations for the final year of standard training via FasTrack, subject to ABIM review.

The Deficits in Required Training Time policy is not intended to be used to shorten training before the end of the academic year.

Any final decision regarding fellow leave is at the discretion of the Program Director.

Non-Renewal of Appointment

Please see Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures. The Program follows the GME Institutional Policy on Discipline, Dismissal, Failure to Advance Policy and Procedure.