Career-Development Timeline for Fourth Year of Fellowship

Summary: 

  • Rationale for a 4th year of fellowship 
  • Planning for the research year 
    • Obtain grant funding 
  • Executing a successful research year 
    • Participate in clinical research training institutes 
    • Develop a teaching portfolio 
    • Publish your work (abstracts, oral presentations, journals) 
    • Prepare for an academic career

Why Do A Fourth Year of Fellowship:

A fourth year of Hematology/Oncology fellowship may be provided for trainees that require greater amounts of protected time for research. MD/PhDs that fast-tracked through IM residency to fellowship may be required to complete a fourth year of fellowship. Clinical fellows that desire more time to develop a portfolio that allows for competitive transition to a tenure-track position may benefit from a fourth year of fellowship/clinical lecturer year.  This latter group of individuals may take a position as a clinical lecturer at their home institution.

Planning For a Fourth Year

During your second and third year of fellowship, effort should be made to obtain grant funding through your institution, industry, or government for research efforts during that fourth year. If planning to stay at same institution, government mentored awards like K08 and K23 grants are ideal. Funding obtained for the fourth year should support productivity that allows for career development award applications.

What To Do During Your Fourth Year: 

Consider applying for the ASH Clinical Research Training Institute during fellowship or fourth year. If interested in clinical research, this experience will allow expert mentorship and fine tuning of a protocol that can be initiated during the fourth year.

  • Clinical lecturers should develop a teaching portfolio as they take the leadership role when rotating on inpatient services and in clinics.
  • Attend scientific meetings, ideally presenting any available data as an oral abstract or poster, remembering that these meetings are valuable opportunities for networking.
  • Similar to third year fellows who are exiting their program, fourth year fellows need to begin to identify the types of professional environments they favor and identify academic institutions that they believe can meet their needs.
  • Plan research presentations that can be given when on interviews highlighting your individual accomplishments and contributions to your mentored research.

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