Transitional Care Medicine Fellowship Program

Welcome! The mission of this fellowship program is to train physicians to become primary care physicians and consultants for the growing population of adults with complex childhood-onset medical conditions. Graduates of our fellowship will be prepared to practice in a variety of settings and be leaders well prepared to care for this population independently in a multidisciplinary setting.

I look forward to meeting you.

Francis Coyne, M.D.
Program Director

Program Aims

• Primarily, to provide clinical training in Transition Care Medicine to prepare our graduates to be outstanding clinicians equipped to provide comprehensive care for the growing population of young adults with childhood-onset illnesses, answering the calls of the American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of Physicians, and American Academy of Family Physicians.
• To train collaborative leaders of multidisciplinary teams, with focus on inter-professional collaboration, team building, and community-based resources.
• To provide dedicated training in the process and practice of healthcare transition, with a focus on implementation of the six core elements of transition.
• To innovate training curricula methods to train the first generation of physicians who specialize in adults with childhood onset illnesses.
• To create regional and national leaders in the field of transitional care medicine, promoting access to care for this vulnerable population, especially in western and central New York.

Curriculum

Fellows in the one year Transitional Care Medicine program will participate in a one-year program as part of a faculty-level appointment to prepare them for successful careers as leaders in the field of Transitional Care Medicine, providing health care and advocating for adults with complex childhood-onset conditions. The foundation of each fellow’s training will occur in their continuity clinic, which will take place throughout the year at the Complex Care Center with supervision from core Transitional Care Medicine Faculty. Fellows spend the remainder of their time divided between the Complex Care Center, inpatient care, subspecialty immersion tailored to each fellow’s clinical interests and career trajectory, and dedicated research time.

• Continuity clinic: Fellows will care for their own panel of adult patients with complex childhood-onset illnesses, with a specific focus on illnesses such as cystic fibrosis, sickle cell disease, intellectual and developmental disabilities, congenital heart disease, childhood cancer survivorship, in addition to genetic and metabolic disorders.
• Inpatient care: fellows will provide primary service care to patients with childhood-onset conditions while admitted to the hospital, caring for a wide variety of patient issues including pulmonary transplant complications, cystic fibrosis exacerbations, complications of sickle cell disease, and other general medical issues. Fellows will also provide consultative care to pediatric patients to aid in transition planning.
• Office-based experience: Central to the care of medically complex adults is a collaborative multidisciplinary team. Fellows will directly work with and learn from allied professionals within our division, including but not limited to mental and behavioral health, physical therapy, respiratory therapy, care management, pharmacy, and nutrition. Specific focus will be placed on interdisciplinary teaming. An additional curricular component will be dedicated specifically to leadership with emphasis on effective team leadership, collaboration, and emotional intelligence.
• Subspecialty elective: We realize that prospective fellows will come from a widely varying clinical experience, interests, and career trajectories. To meet this need, each fellow will have an individualized curriculum designed that is tailored to their needs and interests. Examples of experiences include:
  • Developmental/behavioral pediatrics
  • Hematology
  • Adult cancer survivorship
  • Rheumatology
  • Cardiology
  • Endocrinology
  • Gastroenterology
  • Physical medicine and rehabilitation
  • Genetics
  • Neuromuscular
  • Pulmonology
  • General pediatrics transition
• Research/QI: Dispersed throughout the fellow’s year, they will complete twelve weeks of scholarly activity. Given the brief nature of this position, scholarly projects may involve educational innovation, quality improvement in our office, or primary research based on retrospective chart review. Fellows will meet monthly with the director to aid in project design, identification of a mentor, and progress in their project.

Interested in Applying?

Please contact Alisa Malave and Francis Coyne for more information on the application process.