Educational Conferences

Fellows are required to attend multiple regularly scheduled core educational conferences within the Emory ID Division. During all required conferences fellows on clinical services are relieved of pager coverage.

Case of the Week (COW) is the ID Division’s weekly clinical case conference and takes place weekly on Wednesday afternoons throughout the year. Fellows present clinical cases encountered in the inpatient or outpatient setting in one of several formats. This may include presentation of cases followed by a discussion based on focused clinical questions/learning goals which are then answered by review of the literature, as well as cases presented as clinical unknowns in a CPC or M&M format with faculty discussant(s). Each fellow presents five to six times over the first two years of fellowship. Following the fellow presentation a faculty member also briefly presents a case or research update.

The Division of Infectious Disease Research Seminar is a weekly research conference that takes place on Thursday mornings throughout the academic year. Speakers include faculty members from across Emory University (including from the Division of ID, Rollins School of Public Health, Laney Graduate School, Emory Vaccine Center, etc.) as well as nationally and internationally recognized individuals from other institutions (including CDC). ID Seminar is attended by faculty members and fellows in the ID Division, basic science researchers in microbiology, immunology and other related fields, faculty at the School of Public Health, scientists and physicians at the CDC and other interested individuals. Each fellow is asked to present their progress and outcomes of their fellowship research projects at the end of each research year.

Journal Club meets monthly on Tuesday evenings at the home of a faculty member (drinks and dinner provided by the faculty member!). Two fellows present one article each (one clinical article and one basic science article) and fellows and faculty discuss the content of the articles as well as aspects of interpretation of medical literature during the session. Content experts, including individuals that may have been involved in the studies under discussion, are often in attendance to provide perspective on the study design, methods, and field as a whole.

ID Didactic is a weekly lecture series exclusively for fellows that takes place on Thursday mornings before ID Research Seminar. The curriculum is delivered over two years and includes case-based interactive sessions about basic science methods, mechanisms of action and resistance of antimicrobial agents, infectious disease syndromes, and infectious agents. The entire faculty participates in teaching this conference.

HIV Conference is directed by Dr. Wendy Armstrong, and is a weekly lecture series that takes place on Tuesday mornings during the academic year and is primarily targeted to second and third year fellows. The course covers a full HIV curriculum including basic science and clinical topics in a small group, often case-based and highly interactive format.

In addition to the educational conferences offered by the ID Division, a wide array of conferences and programs are available in Atlanta including at Emory and CDC. Weekly research seminars are sponsored by the Graduate Departments of Microbiology and Immunology and monthly seminars by the Emory Vaccine Center. In addition, weekly epidemiology seminars, monthly Infectious Diseases Grand Rounds, and frequent special presentations are held at the CDC. Conferences and seminars are also sponsored by the Department of Medicine and by each division within the department and at the Rollins School of Public Health of Emory University. Of particular relevance to our Division are the Center for AIDS Research (CFAR)-sponsored events and the Vaccine Dinner Club meetings.

Support is provided for trainees to attend at least two scientific meetings (typically IDWeek during Year 1 and another conference of their choice in Year 2 or beyond) during their fellowship. Attendance at additional meetings is encouraged and supported financially when feasible, especially for those who are making presentations.

Citywide Conference takes place on a Wednesday evening every other month in place of the regular Case of the Week conference. This dinner conference is organized by community ID physicians, supported by the ID Society of Georgia, and is held at restaurants around Atlanta. There are a variety of interesting presentations including cases presented by infectious diseases practitioners in the community and interesting reports or outbreaks presented by staff from the CDC. ID fellows also have the opportunity to present cases at this conference. This conference facilitates interaction with the outstanding clinical community in Atlanta as well as infectious diseases physicians at CDC. It is also the venue for the ID Society of Georgia meetings and CME credit is available for participating physicians.