Duke’s Endocrinology and Diabetes Training Program provides broad-based training to fellows in the evaluation and management of the vast array of diseases encountered in the subspecialty of endocrinology.

 

The training program usually consists of one year of clinical training followed by two years of clinical or basic research training. Periodically, select individuals may be accepted for two years of clinical training, with modified exposure to clinical research concepts, in preparation for a clinical career.

 

All fellows in training are expected to:

 

 

During the first year of training, we place particular emphasis on teaching about commonly occurring problems such as diabetes mellitus, thyroid disorders, hyperparathyroidism and osteoporosis, as well as disorders of less frequent incidence such as those of the pituitary, adrenal, and gonads.

 

The overall value of fellowship training is the necessary detailed exposure to the diagnosis and management of a complement of diseases that  will be frequently encountered throughout the career of an endocrinologist in his or her anticipated role as a respected consultant in the community. This includes exposure to thyroid ultrasound and biopsy and bone density interpretation.

 

To help achieve this goal, we assign the fellows significant responsibilities for patient evaluation and care in a carefully supervised environment. In patient care areas, endocrinology faculty provide teaching and supervision .

 

These experiences are supplemented by a number of didactic conferences that focus on clinical and basic science aspects of endocrinology and metabolism. Based on the complex needs of patients with common endocrine disorders such as diabetes mellitus and osteoporosis, fellows are presented an approach in which medical problems are integrated with cultural, socioeconomic, and behavioral issues.

 

 

In years two and three of training, fellows concentrate their activities on investigative endocrinology under the tutelage of a faculty preceptor and a research mentoring committee.

 

Our program emphasizes a one-to-one relationship between trainee and preceptor as the major instrument for learning. Trainees devote at least 80 percent effort to specific research projects and participate in the research meetings, journal clubs and other activities of the preceptor's laboratory.

 

With faculty who have primary or secondary appointments in basic science departments, trainees work alongside pre- and post-doctoral PhD students as well as other physicians. Continued exposure to basic science and clinical faculty, as well as other trainees, remains an essential component of the training program.

 

For more information about this program, please select one of the Fellowship Program links to the right.