Curriculum
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Curriculum by track
Each track is designed to prepare NP and PA graduates to become skilled, compassionate, and confident providers in medical oncology specialties or hematology specialties. Learn more about each track and their curriculum.
Hematology track curriculum
During this program, learning experiences allow you to:
- Enhance your knowledge and acquire practical skills of assessment, evaluation, diagnosis, intervention, and treatment outcome for various hematologic disorders
- Advance competency in management of chemotherapy and related treatment complications
- Increase critical thinking skills in comprehensive care
- Develop self-directed skills to maintain updated clinical knowledge and practice guidelines
- Demonstrate cultural competency and respect for diversity in all professional interactions
- Promote the advancement of hematology through practice, education, and research
Hematology clinical rotations
The curriculum includes the following clinical experiences.
Core rotations:
- Hematology inpatient services
- Hematology hospital-based outpatient
- Hematology diagnostic clinic
- Leukemia and myelodysplastic syndrome
- Lymphoma
- Dysproteinemia
- Benign hematology and coagulation
- Blood and marrow transplant
Additional required rotations:
- Transfusion medicine
- Palliative care
- Hematopathology
- Infectious disease
Hematology didactic coursework
The hematology track offers a five-week hematology lecture with the medical students at Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine. The didactic responsibilities include required readings, online learning modules, skills training at the Mayo Clinic Multidisciplinary Simulation Center, Grand Rounds, journal club presentations, and educational conferences.
The curriculum includes dedicated research time to provide you with opportunities to participate in a clinical research project and authorship for publication.
Medical oncology track curriculum
Curriculum in the medical oncology track consists of online didactics, dedicated research time, and mentored clinical rotations in the medical oncology subspecialty outpatient clinics.
Fellows will rotate on our inpatient medical oncology hospital service as well as specialties integral to cancer care including palliative care, oncology acute care, and immunotherapy clinic.
There is ample elective/selective time for fellows to tailor their education to meet their specific medical oncology interests.
During this program, learning experiences allow you to:
- Enhance your knowledge and acquire practical skills of assessment, evaluation, diagnosis, intervention, and treatment outcome for various solid tumors
- Advance competency in management of chemotherapy, immunotherapy, targeted therapy, and related treatment complications
- Increase critical thinking skills in comprehensive care
- Develop self-directed skills to maintain updated clinical knowledge and practice guidelines
- Demonstrate cultural competency and respect for diversity in all professional interactions
- Promote the advancement of medical oncology through practice, education, and research
Medical oncology clinical rotations
The curriculum includes the following clinical experience.
- Core curriculum:
- Gastrointestinal
- Breast
- Lung
- Genitourinary
- Inpatient oncology, oncology acute care clinic, immunotherapy clinic, palliative care, benign hematology, thrombophilia
- Selective:
- Head/neck, melanoma, brain/neuro, GYN, sarcoma, endocrinology, general/unknown, community oncology in Mayo Clinic Health Systems, early therapeutics (phase 1), cardio oncology, nephro oncology, infectious disease, hospice
- Elective:
- Two months of any previous rotation per fellow preference
Medical oncology didactic coursework
Didactic education:
- Access to ASCO University
- Institutional educational conferences, grand rounds, journal club, self-learning modules
Schedule and hours
For the majority of the fellowship, the learning schedule includes primarily weekday hours with approximately 40 hours weekly. This does not include additional time spent on didactic responsibilities. The rotations may vary with eight- to 12-hour days, four to five days a week depending on outpatient or inpatient schedule.
The program provides you with four hours every other week as dedicated research time to achieve the best learning opportunities in clinical research to improve patient care outcomes.
Department and faculty
The Nurse Practitioner or Physician Assistant Hematology/Medical Oncology Fellowship is coordinated and taught by the clinical, scientific, and technical staff of Mayo Clinic. Faculty members are chosen for their commitment to teaching, as well as their clinical practice and research experience. Many have published and lectured extensively and are highly regarded in their fields. Fellows will work closely with APPs as well as M.D.s in subspecialty clinics and hospital rotations. You have direct access to these individuals throughout the training program.
Visiting professors and lecturers
A hallmark of higher education excellence is the breadth and depth of information and experience provided to you by faculty and visiting experts. Many prominent professors visit Mayo Clinic each year to lecture in their areas of medical and scientific expertise.
As a student at Mayo Clinic School of Health Sciences, you are encouraged to learn from these valuable resources by attending all relevant conferences, lectures, and seminars prepared for students, interns, residents, fellows, and consulting staff.
Facilities
Mayo Clinic's campus in Rochester, Minnesota, includes an extensive outpatient complex, Mayo Clinic Hospital — Rochester, and substantial research and education facilities. This Mayo Clinic site is among the largest, most advanced medical centers in the world.
Evaluation
Mayo Clinic School of Health Sciences uses these evaluative tools:
- Written examination
- Demonstration of skills
- Self-assessment exercises
- Faculty reviews
- Research participation, formal presentations, or publications
Mayo Clinic's system of evaluation provides students and faculty with a comprehensive look at individual performance. This allows faculty and administrative staff to direct students who are experiencing academic difficulty to the appropriate support resources, including tutoring programs and counseling opportunities.