Welcome Message from the Program Director
Thank you for your interest in the Infectious Diseases Fellowship program at Hackensack University Medical Center. Our program is a two year comprehensive exposure to inpatient and outpatient infectious diseases including dedicated time training in immunocompromised host populations, pediatric patients, outpatient chronic infections and antibiotic management, antimicrobial stewardship, infection prevention, clinical microbiology and virology, outpatient HIV continuity clinic and scholarly research. Our clinical activities take place at Hackensack University Medical Center, a major teaching affiliate of Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine. Research opportunities are available here as well as in collaboration with the Hackensack Meridian Health’s Center for Discovery and Innovation.
There are two fellows in the program, one starting each year. This small program gives fellows more personalized interactions with members of our teaching team including our teaching faculty and ID specialized PharmD colleagues. Our faculty has been involved in the education of medical students, residents and fellows for over 30 years. They have diverse expertise including in immunocompromised hosts, HIV disease, viral hepatitis, infection control/prevention and antimicrobial stewardship.
The large university hospital setting exposes fellows to a myriad of pathology from routine urinary tract infections and pneumonias to more challenging cases including multidrug resistant pathogens, COVID-19 disease and infections in transplant and complicated surgical patients. This is a strong learning environment interested in the fellows’ well-being and growth. Our fellows will gain progressive responsibility over their training time, getting opportunities to teach students, residents and junior fellows and participating in other aspects of medical training including bioethics and performance improvement.
Our fellowship is unique in its small program size but extensive exposure to the breadth and depth of infectious diseases. We invite you to learn more about our program through our website and wish you luck on the next steps in your educational journey. Please feel free to email or call if you have further questions.
Best,
Samit Desai, MD
Program Director, Infectious Diseases Fellowship Program
Hackensack University Medical Center
Assistant Professor of Medicine, Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine
Program Overview
Welcome to the Infectious Disease Fellowship at Hackensack University Medical Center in Hackensack, New Jersey. Hackensack University Medical Center is a 775 bed state-of-the-art hospital that serves as a tertiary referral center for a 13 hospital network, close to New York City. The medical center is home to one of the largest stem cell transplant programs and cancer centers in the country, and also hosts a growing renal transplant program. HUMC has been nationally ranked in many disciplines. In addition, the hospital is the primary teaching site of the Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine, a new medical school with an innovative curriculum. Trainees in our infectious disease fellowship program will benefit from individualized attention from a dedicated faculty and will have exposure to and learn from diverse patient populations. They have the opportunity to teach residents and students and to interact with trainees in other disciplines such as critical care and pharmacy, as well as engage in scholarly activity, all in a close-knit environment.
Program Mission
Our program’s mission is to educate physicians to provide a compassionate scholarly approach to the care of patients, while expanding the larger knowledge and practice of the discipline of infectious disease and bringing that innovative understanding to the bedside in a humanistic manner. The fellowship creates an environment that fosters life-long learning and innovation in the service of patients today and tomorrow. Furthermore, the infectious disease fellowship is a part of a community of practice where fellows and faculty support each other, as they meet the challenge and embrace the privilege of providing such care.
Program Aim
The aim of the Hackensack University Medical Center Infectious Disease Fellowship Program is to train fellows as infectious disease physicians who are fully competent to independently practice infectious disease in both ambulatory and inpatient settings, while fostering an appreciation for lifelong, self-directed learning.