Pictured above is the OKC County Health Department where fellows participate in the Travel Medicine and Refugee Clinics.
Antimicrobial Stewardship/Outpatient Parenteral Anti-infective Therapy
Fellows have the opportunity to participate in the AST rotation to gain familiarity with conducting audits and feedback for antimicrobial alerts in a tertiary-care hospital and participate in hospital administrative committee proceedings related to stewardship and infection control. Fellows will be exposed to coordination of care with home health agencies, infusion centers, and nursing facilities to help prevent complications that may occur while on IV antimicrobials.
Oklahoma City County Health Department STD Clinic
Fellows have the opportunity to participate in the Oklahoma Health Department sponsored STD clinics. These are low-cost clinic that screen and treat common communicable diseases. Fellows interview, examine, and collect specimens from patients that present for evaluation. Fellows also have the opportunity to perform bedside testing for some STDs. Additionally, fellows also have the opportunity to work with the Disease Intervention Specialists within the Acute Disease Service of the Oklahoma State Health Department. The purpose of the Acute Disease Service is to perform surveillance and investigation of infectious diseases outbreaks and evaluate and implement disease prevention and control.
Travel Medicine Clinic
The Travel Medicine Clinic was developed in conjunction with the Oklahoma City County Health Department. Travel health services include: pre-travel consultation, medications for protection of travelers, immunizations required for international travel, and counseling. The clinic is part of the Global TravEpiNet (GTEN).
University of Oklahoma Center for Travel and Immigrant Health
The University of Oklahoma Center for Travel and Immigrant Health was established December 2019 in partnership with Catholic Charities. The clinic provides medical care to refugees and asylees in accordance to published guidelines for post-arrival screening and treatment of U.S. bound refugees. Fellows have the opportunity to screen for and treat diseases not typically seen in the continental U.S. The goal of the rotation is to offer a framework for multidisciplinary training in cross-cultural care, human rights, health disparities, and advocacy in order to train globally-minded, empathetic and culturally-competent physicians.
Hepatitis C Clinic
The Hepatitis C Clinic is held once a month in partnership with OU's Health Transplant Center. Oklahoma is disproportionally affected by hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections when compared to other states. There are between 83,800 and 112,900 Oklahomans infected with HCV according to data from 2010. The estimated prevalence of chronic HCV in both males and females is the second highest in the nation with minorities being disproportionally affected. Fellows have the opportunity to work in a multidisciplinary and experiences team in order to become skilled in the evaluation and management of the virus in a diverse patient population.
Clinical Microbiology Rotation
Fellows spend one month at the microbiology lab of OUMC. During the rotation, fellows are expected to select appropriate tests, know basic guidelines for collection, and transportation and processing of specimens. They are also able to understand and discuss common stains and diagnostic and susceptibility testing done in the lab. Fellows also have the opportunity to work with the Department of Microbiology and Immunology.
The Section of Infectious Diseases is in the process of developing new electives available in the campus. These include multidisciplinary management of infective endocarditis, additional exposure to hepatitis C, employee health and telehealth.
Research Elective
Fellows have between 6-8 months dedicated to the development of scholarly activities. These range from the authorship of manuscripts, preparation of conferences for local, national or international meetings. Coursework in areas that include experimental design, analytical methods, statistics, molecular biology, genetics, cell biology, and grant manuscript can also be incorporated based on the fellowship track. Fellows can also work on developing and implementing quality improvement projects.