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Curriculum

Scenario team leader approaches the manikin patient to begin the assessment in the Simulation Center.

Trainee experience

The Cellular Therapy and Blood and Marrow Transplant Physician Assistant Fellowship prepares the fellow for professional practice in hematology, oncology, and cellular therapy. You will complete rotations primarily in inpatient settings with additional experience in outpatient clinical environments across various medical specialties. The curriculum has been designed using a diverse format to include didactic instruction, hands-on simulation learning, and case review.

By the end of fellowship year, you will have knowledge, skills, and understanding of the following healthcare areas: 

  • Acute coronary syndrome
  • Acute renal failure
  • Cardiac dysrhythmia
  • Care of critically ill patients
  • Community-acquired and hospital-acquired pneumonia
  • Cytokine release syndrome
  • Gastrointestinal disorders
  • Hematologic disorders and malignancies including but not limited to:
    • Acute and chronic myeloid leukemia
    • Acute and chronic lymphoblastic leukemia
    • Acute promyelocytic leukemia
    • Myelodysplastic syndrome
    • Myeloproliferative neoplasms including myelofibrosis
    • Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma
    • Multiple myeloma 
  • Immune effector cell-associated neurotoxicity syndrome
  • Neutropenic fever
  • Pulmonary embolism
  • Solid tumor malignancies
  • Sepsis
  • Shock
  • Stem cell transplant associated complications including but not limited to:
    • Delayed engraftment
    • Engraftment syndrome
    • Graft-versus-host disease
    • Transplant-associated thrombotic microangiopathy
  • Stroke
  • Venous thromboembolism 

By the conclusion of the fellowship year, you will have gained experience in performing the following skills and procedures: 

  • Bone marrow biopsy
  • Chest radiograph interpretation
  • Electrocardiogram interpretation
  • Focused patient presentation to supervising faculty
  • Point of Care Ultrasound
  • Problem-focused physical exam 

Curriculum goals

The Physician Assistant Fellowship in Cellular Therapy and Blood and Marrow Transplant sets the following general curriculum goals for our fellows.

Learn more about our curriculum goals

The PA fellow will: 

  1. Possess a deep and broad knowledge base of the common disease processes for which patients are hospitalized, understanding the pathophysiology, various presenting clinical presentations and disease prognosis. 
  2. Based on the patient's presenting symptoms, formulate a comprehensive differential diagnosis and corresponding diagnostic and treatment plan that is both evidence-based and cost-effective.
  3. Identify logistical and systemic measures within the institution to maintain the highest standards of patient care, while enhancing outcomes including hospital length of stay and patient safety.
  4. Effectively manage patients throughout their entire hospital stay, including admission, daily rounds, ongoing evaluation, and discharge, while remaining attentive to their emotional, physical, and spiritual needs.
  5. Understand the continuum of care which extends into the outpatient setting.
  6. Develop exceptional verbal skills to effectively communicate with colleagues, physicians, patients, and ancillary staff to ultimately become an integral part of the healthcare delivery team.
  7. Learn practice management including strategies in training allied health staff and students.

Clinical training and rotations

The Physician Assistant Cellular Therapy and Blood and Marrow Transplant Fellowship is composed of rotations in various specialty areas including an elective rotation. These rotations will vary from two to four weeks in length and are subject to availability.  

  • Inpatient hematology service/bone marrow transplant
  • Cellular therapy clinic
  • Hematology consult service
  • Hospital internal medicine
  • Critical care medicine
  • Palliative care
  • Cardiology
  • Pulmonary
  • Infectious disease
  • Neurology
  • Pediatric hematology/oncology

Schedule and hours

A typical fellow schedule comprises of 10 to 12 hours days, five days a week. This may include weekends and nights depending on the specialty rotation. An average work week will consist of 40 to 50 hours. All hours worked are in accordance with the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) medical resident hour restrictions. 

Department and faculty

Faculty members are chosen for their commitment to teaching, as well as their clinical practice and research. Many have published and lectured extensively and are highly regarded in their fields.

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. Each year, many prominent professors visit Mayo Clinic to lecture in their areas of medical and scientific expertise.

As a fellow of 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, residents, fellows, physician assistants, nurse practitioners and consulting staff.

Facilities

Mayo Clinic has two campuses in Arizona. The Mayo Clinic campus in Phoenix, Arizona includes the state-of-the-art Mayo Clinic Hospital, the first hospital entirely designed and built by Mayo Clinic. Services in numerous medical and surgical disciplines are provided, including outstanding programs in cancer treatment and organ transplantation. Mayo Clinic is top-ranked in more specialties than any other hospital and has two hospitals recognized as Honor Roll members — the highest honor — in U.S. News & World Report's 2024-2025 "Best Hospitals" rankings. U.S. News continues to rank hospitals numerically within states. Once again, Mayo Clinic holds the No. 1 position in Arizona, Minnesota and Florida.

Mayo Clinic's campus in Scottsdale, Arizona, is centered around a beautiful, five-storey outpatient clinic. This modern facility contains extensive exam rooms, an outpatient surgery center equipped for general anesthesia, a full-service laboratory, a pharmacy, a patient education library, an endoscopy suite, and a 188-seat auditorium for patient, staff, and student education programs.

During the fellowship, the majority of your time is spent at the Phoenix campus.

Evaluation

Mayo Clinic School of Health Sciences uses these evaluative tools:

  • Written examination
  • Demonstration of skills
  • Self-assessment exercises
  • Faculty reviews

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.

Curriculum enhancements

Mayo Clinic School of Health Sciences is committed to developing and maintaining the best education programs. The curriculum and other aspects of this program are routinely assessed and changed as necessary to ensure the highest quality training.

Academics ▸ Health Sciences Education ▸ Physician Assistant Fellowship, Cellular Therapy and Blood and Marrow Transplant (Arizona) ▸ Curriculum
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