FRESNO – UCSF Fresno recently began a new internal medicine fellowship training program. The fellowship, which began July 1, will provide physicians with specific training in the treatment of infectious diseases.
According to the World Health Organization, infectious diseases are caused by bacteria, viruses, parasites or fungi. Examples include but are not limited to AIDS, chlamydia and other sexually transmitted diseases, tuberculosis (TB) and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus also known as MRSA or antibiotic-resistant staph infection. Infectious diseases may be spread directly or indirectly from person to person. Statistics from the California Department of Public Health show that San Joaquin Valley counties have a high number of certain infectious disease cases. For example, Fresno County ranks first in California in the number of chlamydia infections and is ranked 11th in the number of TB cases.
“We have a big share of people infected with Valley Fever, TB, HIV, and STDs,” said Naiel Nassar, MD, UCSF Fresno’s infectious disease program director. “Fresno also has a large amount of immigrants and an ethnically diverse population, which brings in a number of tropical diseases and endemic diseases. Our goal is train excellent clinicians with an emphasis on clinical infectious disease research to develop ways to better treat patients with these diseases and to look for possible preventions.”
The fellowship is a two-year program, with two fellows taking part each year. The first two fellows to participate in the program are Christine Boehringer, MD, and Htein Lin, MD. They were selected based on letters of reference, medical board exam scores and overall compatibility with the UCSF Fresno Medical Education Program. .
Training will include inpatient hospital care, ambulatory care, consultative care, and research time. Training will take place primarily at Community Regional Medical Center (CRMC), the VA hospital in Fresno with additional training at Children’s Hospital Central California in Madera, Kaiser Permanente in Fresno and UCSF.
“A great deal of gratitude goes to Community Medical Centers and the Veterans Affairs Central California Health System,” said Michael Peterson, MD, chief of medicine and endowed chair of medicine at UCSF Fresno. “Their contributions make the infectious disease fellowship possible and importantly, enable UCSF Fresno to continue focusing our medical education and research on health issues pertinent to the Valley.”
