Do I have to do a Tropical Medicine Course?
Yes. We’d hope that you want to do this and that is one of the reasons you are interested in this Fellowship program. You must apply for this part separately and the earlier you apply, the better your chances of securing a spot at your preferred location. That is also why we want to have prospective applicants apply early – so as soon as you are accepted, you can get your Tropical Medicine Course application underway.
How long will I be out of country at a time?
The longest time out of country will be because of the Tropical Medicine Course and will depend on the location of the course. Because of the short time of the Fellowship, this time can not be more then 3 months. Other trips will be shorter, usually no more than 2 weeks. See above under Travel [do a link] for additional breakdown of anticipated trips.
Can I take spouse, kids on trips?
Yes, spouse and children are welcomed on trips, with a few reservations:
Pregnancy is a relative contraindication to travel into the Developing World. Small children in the Developing World does expose them to inherent dangers, they would not risk at home. Travel and accommodations for family members cannot be reimbursed by the Fellowship.
Salary? Benefits?
Salary for 2010-11 Fellows was $69,000 plus benefits. Remember you are in the South and cost of living is substantially lower here than other areas of the U.S. The difference between the actual salary and fulltime salary covers all costs and travel expenses of the fellowship. Fellowship faculty teach voluntarily, so fellows do not incur or shoulder any faculty expenses.
Benefits for 2010-11 included insurance coverage for malpractice, full medical, home, and automobiles.
How many shifts do I work in the ED? What are they like?
Shifts are 96 for the 2012-13 year. This averages out to slightly less than 8 shifts/month. Shifts are 9 hours long. There were several months with no shifts due to the tropical medicine course. So other months there were more. This is a teaching hospital with an Emergency Medicine Residency and several other emergency medicine based fellowships (eg Ultrasound, Peds EM, Wilderness Medicine), as well as all other specialty residencies in the hospital, many of which provide guest rotators through the ED. As an International Medicine Fellow, you will be supervising and teaching residents and medical students while on shift. Last year, the ED volume was 80,000. Here is what this year's Fellows’ ED shift allocation looked like.
July - 12.5
August, September, October and December - 14 Shifts
November - 6 Shifts
January, February, March - 0 Shifts
April - 7.5 Shifts
May, June - 7 Shifts
Total - 92 Shifts
