Endocrine Fellowship Program with Harbor-UCLA Medical Center

The endocrine fellowship program at Harbor-UCLA was expanded to include an additional site at the City of Hope National Medical Center. The Department of Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism at the City of Hope National Medical Center possesses several features that make it an ideal site to support a strong fellowship program. It has advanced clinical programs in diabetes, thyroid cancer, neuroendocrine tumors, osteoporosis, calcium and electrolyte disturbances, and sexual and reproductive disorders. The department also established in several clinical and basic science research programs such as molecular signaling, hormonal factors and hormone discovery, cellular mechanisms of atherosclerosis, development of advanced glycation end-products (AGE) inhibitors and AGE breakers, and diabetic immunology and islet isolation, proliferation and transplantation. Additionally, joint studies with the Divisions of Hematology, Bone Marrow Transplantation, and Medical Oncology are being conducted to evaluate endocrine-related complications to cancer and cancer treatment.

Fellowship training at City of Hope will focus on the treatment of patients with diabetes, including patients with type 1, type 2 and those with drug and disease-induced forms of diabetes, such as that seen in cancer patients on steroid therapy and IV nutritional support. The fellows will gain experience with advanced monitoring and treatment strategies for diabetes, including continuous glucose monitoring, oral medications, and insulin pump therapy. At City of Hope, the fellows will also participate in the ongoing clinical islet transplantation program and will be involved in the screening and follow-up care of islet transplant recipients with and without prior renal transplants. Fellows will also gain important experience with the diagnosis and management of diabetes-related complications and diabetes-associated disorders, including acute metabolic deteriorations, retinopathy, neuropathy, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, coronary disease, peripheral vascular disease and sexual dysfunction. Fellows will also receive training on the implementation of non-drug strategies for the management of diabetes and its complications, including weight reduction and behavioral modification. Furthermore, at City of Hope, the fellows will receive training in other endocrine disciplines, including: thyroid disorders and thyroid cancers, adrenal gland dysfunctions and tumors, pituitary gland disorders, metabolic abnormalities associated with cancer and its treatments, and osteoporosis and other metabolic bone diseases.

The training at Harbor-UCLA will be useful to the City of Hope endocrine fellows as it will provide them with an introduction in the care of underserved populations. It will also allow the fellows to gain experience with management of disease manifestations and disorders that are not frequently encountered in the populations seeking care at City of Hope (i.e., severe neuropathy requiring leg amputation and vision-threatening retinopathy) as well as gestational diabetes. Another benefit from the association with Harbor-UCLA is to maintain a high level of academic challenge for City of Hope faculty through continuing interactions with the faculty and trainees of another highly rated program. Physicians participating in the joint fellowship program at City of Hope and Harbor-UCLA will have the opportunity to receive training in islet transplantation that will prepare them to meet the requirements set by the United Network of Organ Sharing (UNOS), a national organ procurement agency, for establishing new islet transplantation centers.

Please Send Resumes To:
Ronald S. Swerdloff, M.D.
Chief
Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Nutrition
Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Box 446
1000 West Carson Street
Torrance, CA 90509
Phone:  310-222-1867
Fax:  310-533-0627
Email: swerdloff@labiomed.org