University of North Carolina

TRAINING PROGRAM DIRECTOR:  Thomas Belhorn, MD, PhD

COORDINATOR:  Jaime Cooke

CHIEF, INFECTIOUS DISEASES:  Toni Darville, MD

MAJOR FEATURES OF TRAINING PROGRAM:  The Division of Pediatric Infectious Disease at UNC offers a rich training environment for physicians and researchers to receive a comprehensive educational experience, drawing on our close relationship with other world-class clinical teachers and researchers within the UNC School of Medicine community. UNC offers an unparalleled opportunity for studying pediatric infectious diseases within a strong general and subspecialty pediatric setting. Our training program consists of a comprehensive clinical and research experience spanning three years. This program is intended for physicians who desire to pursue a career in academic medicine that combines clinical, research, and educational activities.

Clinical experience on the UNC Pediatric Infectious Disease Consult Service and in outpatient Pediatric Infectious Disease and HIV Clinics will provide most of the clinical experiences in this subspecialty.

Fellows will rotate on the inpatient consult service 6 months during their first year, and 2 months each during the second and third years. The subspecialty fellows spend a half-day session each week that they are not on inpatient service during the 1st year of training and a half-day two times per month in their second and third year of training. Our curriculum is very flexible and duration and participation in some rotations is dependent upon the fellow’s specific interests.

TITLE(S) OF RECENT FELLOWS’ PUBLISHED PAPERS OF RESEARCH PROJECTS:

1. Schwartz SP, Thompson P, Smith M, Lercher DM, Rimland CA, Bartelt L, Park YA, Weiss S, Markmann AJ, Raut R, Premkumar L, Kuruc J, Willis Z. Convalescent Plasma Therapy in Four Critically Ill Pediatric Patients With Coronavirus Disease 2019: A Case Series. Crit Care Explor. 2020 Oct 1;2(10):e0237. doi: 10.1097/CCE.0000000000000237.
2. Thompson P, Parr JB, Holzmayer V, Carrel M, Tshefu A, Mwandagalirwa K, Muwonga J, Welo PO, Fwamba F, Kuhns M, Jhaveri R, Meshnick SR, Cloherty G. Seroepidemiology of Hepatitis B in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2019 Jul;101(1):226-229. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.18-0883.
3. Wilson P, Taylor G, Blythe E, Knowles J, Laux J, Lohr J, Jhaveri R. Missed hepatitis B dose vaccine is a risk factor for incomplete vaccination at 18 and 24 months. J Infect. 2019 Feb;78(2):134-139. doi: 10.1016/j.jinf.2018.09.014
4. Wilson P, Jhaveri R, Meshnick S. Call to Action: Prevention of mother-to-child transmission of hepatitis B in sub-Saharan Africa. J Infect Dis. 2018 Mar 28;217(8):1180-1183. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiy028
5. Wilson P, Nassef C, Sutton A, Falato C, Jhaveri R. Persistent Gaps in Appropriate Use of Empiric Acyclovir in Neonates. Clin Pediatr 2017;56(5):472-479. doi: 10.1177/0009922816678975.

AFFILIATED HOSPITALS:

NC Children’s Hospital
UNC Hospitals

NUMBER OF INPATIENT/OUTPATIENT CONSULTS PER YEAR:  1,826

FELLOWS ACCEPTED EACH YEAR:  1

VISAS ACCEPTED:  J1

FUNDING ENSURED FOR ALL 3 YEARS:  Yes

IS COMPLETION OF PEDIATRIC RESIDENCY TRAINING IN THE U.S. OR CANADA A REQUIREMENT:  Yes

Program provides training (didactic lectures, hands on experience, or antimicrobial stewardship meetings/membership) in:

1. Microbiology lab on site
2. Infection control and hospital epidemiology
3. Antimicrobial stewardship
4. Immunocompromised hosts

Opportunities to fulfill the ABP requirements for scholarly activity is available in the following general areas:

1. 1. Antimicrobial agents
   2. Antimicrobial stewardship
   3. Bacteriology/bacterial infections
   4. Bioethics
   5. Clinical trials
   6. Epidemiology and statistics
   7. Global health
   8. HIV
   9. Immunizations
   10. Infection control/hospital epidemiology
   11. Medical education
   12. Mycology/fungal infections
   13. Parasitology/parasitic diseases
   14. Public health
   15. Quality improvement
   16. Transplant medicine
   17. Virology/viral diseases

Opportunities exist for research outside of the ID Division:  Yes

Program offers the opportunity to obtain a Master’s degree in a field such as Public Health, Education, Clinical Sciences, or Epidemiology (assuming appropriate are made):  Yes