Faculty members in the Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology provide our fellows with an outstanding education in malignant and benign hematologic conditions and solid tumors. Fellows are exposed to a wide spectrum of medical cases, patients, and technologies through the combined, yet distinct, clinical resources at our teaching sites: NYU Langone’s Tisch Hospital and Kimmel Pavilion, NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue, and VA NY Harbor Healthcare System.

Over the past 10 years, the pass rate for the hematology and medical oncology boards after completion of our program has been greater than 90 percent.

Clinical Rotations for Fellows

In the first year of the clinical training program, fellows gain experience in a creative clinical environment. You develop the skills necessary to provide cancer patients with comprehensive care and to diagnose and manage hematologic diseases.

In your second year, you continue your clinical rotations with an increased level of responsibilities, including supervising house staff and junior fellows as they evaluate patients and perform procedures such as bone marrow aspiration, biopsy, and the administration of intrathecal chemotherapy. You attend clinical electives in specific subspecialties of medical oncology and bone marrow transplant, and present cases at multidisciplinary tumor boards.

Clinical Training at Kimmel Pavilion and Tisch Hospital

The clinical experience at NYU Langone includes exposure to a broad range of oncology and nonneoplastic and neoplastic hematologic conditions. Kimmel Pavilion currently has a dedicated hematology ward with 16 beds. The oncology unit is being transitioned from Tisch Hospital for a total of 31 beds dedicated to hematology and medical oncology.

Specialists on the hematology service at Kimmel Pavilion care for inpatients with a variety of benign and malignant hematologic diagnoses, including acute myelogenous leukemia, acute lymphocytic leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma, immune thrombocytopenia, and sickle cell anemia, as well as patients who have undergone stem cell transplantation. Fellows are expected to provide consultations to patients who are referred to the inpatient service attending physician. Fellows also enter chemotherapy orders and treatment plans into the Epic medical records system. The inpatient care teams consist of a service attending, one resident, one intern, and nurse practitioners.

Clinical Training at NYC Health+Hospitals/Bellevue

At Bellevue, fellows in the clinical training program receive training in inpatient and outpatient care.

Fellows maintain their own weekly continuity clinics at Bellevue, where they act as the primary provider with the support of faculty preceptors. Fellows are assigned to both hematology and medical oncology outpatient clinics. Fellows are also expected to be available to see patients during the administration of outpatient chemotherapy. More than 20 clinic sessions each week are staffed by hematology fellows and precepted by clinical faculty.

On the Bellevue inpatient ward, patients receive care for a variety of benign and malignant hematological conditions and solid tumors that require inpatient admission. In addition to the fellow, the inpatient care team consists of a service attending, one resident, and one intern. Nurse practitioners or physician assistants may also have responsibility for patients. Fellows perform inpatient procedures under the supervision of the attending physicians.

The hematology consult service is typically a first-year rotation. The fellow is expected to promptly return all pages, see each patient, and make notes in each patient’s electronic medical record. All consults are seen and staffed by the assigned faculty member. Bone marrow evaluations are performed by certified fellows. If a fellow is not certified, the evaluation is supervised by faculty or an approved preceptor.

The oncology consult service is typically a second-year rotation. The fellow is expected to promptly return all pages, see each patient, and make notes in each patient’s electronic medical record. All consults are seen and staffed by the assigned faculty member.

Clinical Training at the VA NY Harbor Healthcare System

The clinical experience at the VA NY Harbor Healthcare System includes a broad range of nonneoplastic and neoplastic hematological conditions. The hematology service handles more than 300 new inpatient consultations each year and more than 2,000 outpatient clinic visits. The facility is the only Veterans Health Administration facility to house both a designated clinical care unit and a research center for AIDS and HIV infection. It provides an ideal patient population to study diseases more prevalent in the veteran population.

Perlmutter Cancer Center Outpatient Rotations and Electives

The fields of hematology and medical oncology have evolved into highly focused subspecialties. Each subspecialty involves unique molecular prognostic indicators and specific targeted therapies. Rotations within these subspecialties provide the fellows with one-on-one teaching.

During the first 18 months, fellows spend 6 to 8 months completing outpatient electives at Perlmutter Cancer Center locations in their choice of disease types, including the following:

• gastrointestinal oncology
• genitourinary cancer and melanoma
• hematological malignancies
• neuro-oncology and head and neck cancer
• thoracic malignancies and palliative care
• breast cancer
• bone marrow transplantation