Educational Conferences

Fellows are required to attend multiple regularly scheduled core educational conferences within the Emory ID Division. During all required conferences fellows on clinical services are relieved of pager coverage.

Case of the Week (COW) is the ID Division’s weekly clinical case conference and takes place weekly on Wednesday afternoons throughout the year. Fellows present clinical cases encountered in the inpatient or outpatient setting in one of several formats. This may include presentation of cases followed by a discussion based on focused clinical questions/learning goals which are then answered by review of the literature, as well as cases presented as clinical unknowns in a CPC or M&M format with faculty discussant(s). Each fellow presents five to six times over the first two years of fellowship. Following the fellow presentation a faculty member also briefly presents a case or research update.

The Division of Infectious Disease Research Seminar is a weekly research conference that takes place on Thursday mornings throughout the academic year. Speakers include faculty members from across Emory University (including from the Division of ID, Rollins School of Public Health, Laney Graduate School, Emory Vaccine Center, etc.) as well as nationally and internationally recognized individuals from other institutions (including CDC). ID Seminar is attended by faculty members and fellows in the ID Division, basic science researchers in microbiology, immunology and other related fields, faculty at the School of Public Health, scientists and physicians at the CDC and other interested individuals. Each fellow is asked to present their progress and outcomes of their fellowship research projects at the end of each research year.

Journal Club meets monthly on Tuesday evenings at the home of a faculty member (drinks and dinner provided by the faculty member!). Two fellows present one article each (one clinical article and one basic science article) and fellows and faculty discuss the content of the articles as well as aspects of interpretation of medical literature during the session. Content experts, including individuals that may have been involved in the studies under discussion, are often in attendance to provide perspective on the study design, methods, and field as a whole.

ID fellows participate in a monthly in-person academic half-day that takes place on Tuesday mornings throughout the year. This time is protected for fellow education – no fellows have clinic during this time, and fellows on inpatient services have their pagers covered. Each half-day consists of a series of sessions on related topics covering foundational topics in infectious diseases, spanning clinical syndromes, microbiology, pharmacology, immunology, and public health. These sessions are highly interactive, feature case-based small group activities, and provide fellows with structured frameworks for the diagnosis and management of both “bread and butter” and less common ID clinical problems.

The HIV Core Curriculum is a weekly didactic series that is primarily targeted to upper-level fellows. The curriculum includes foundational concepts in the immunology and pathogenesis of HIV infection, antiretroviral pharmacology, basic and advanced HIV treatment principles, diagnosis and management of ART resistance, diagnosis and management of comorbidities and opportunistic infections, and special topics such as PrEP/PEP and HIV in pregnancy. Each session is case-based and involves small-group interactive learning.

The Transplant ID Curriculum is a weekly didactic series that is primarily targeted to upper-level fellows. The curriculum begins with foundational concepts in solid organ and hematopoietic cell transplantation, including transplant immunosuppression, principles of transplant surgery, and non-infectious complications, and then covers a broad spectrum of ID issues in immunocompromised hosts, including viral (herpesvirus, respiratory viruses, viral hepatitis, HIV), bacterial (MDRO, atypical bacteria), fungal (yeasts, molds), and parasitic disease. Each session is led by a faculty member with expertise in TID and is guided by worksheets that include case vignettes that stimulate group discussion.

Citywide Conference is organized by community ID physicians, supported by the ID Society of Georgia, and is held quarterly, often at restaurants around Atlanta. There are a variety of interesting presentations, including cases presented by infectious diseases practitioners in the community and interesting reports or outbreaks presented by staff from the CDC. ID fellows can also present cases at this conference. This conference facilitates interaction with the outstanding clinical ID community in Atlanta as well as infectious diseases physicians at the CDC. It is also the venue for the ID Society of Georgia meetings, and CME credit is available for participating physicians.