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Endocrine University: no fellow left behind
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Endocrine University is a unique educational opportunity for senior endocrinology fellows-in-training. It is cosponsored by the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists and the Mayo Foundation, division of endocrinology. Held yearly since 2002 at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., Endocrine University is a six-day course aimed to enhance the endocrine curriculum of individual fellow training institutions.
Its mission is to ensure that adequate training is achieved by all endocrine fellows-in-training, particularly in areas such as thyroid ultrasound and bone densitometry. The need for this course was identified primarily from two sources: first, AACE fellow-in-training members who indicated a need for such an endocrinology course, and second, AACE itself noted the great demand by endocrinologists for accreditation/certification offerings provided by AACE since 1951.
 Suzanne Myers Adler |
The first two days of the 2007 course consisted of the AACE Diagnostic Endocrine Neck Ultrasound and Ultrasound Guided FNA Course, which included two laboratory sessions to teach proper ultrasound technique, normal neck anatomy and ultrasound guided five-needle aspiration (FNA) technique. The experience of fellow attendees varies from those whose programs are just beginning to incorporate thyroid ultrasound including ultrasound-guided FNA into endocrinology training to those who regularly incorporate thyroid ultrasound. Participants of last years’ university were asked for a show of hands as to whether the endocrinology division of their home institution was now using ultrasound guided FNA, and members of the program committee and faculty seemed pleased at the positive increase compared to those made of years earlier.
The following two days of the course included Bone Mass Measurement Certification, including examination and Meet the Expert sessions encompassing diverse areas of endocrinology. A half-day of the course was devoted to intensive insulin management and new technologies. The remainder of the course covered various half-day topics particularly relevant to careers in private practice. For example, a section on Practice Management incorporated contract negotiation, dynamics of coding, implications for implementing clinical research into private practice, and overviews of office-based laboratories and office-based nuclear medicine. The initiation of Metabolic Laboratory (CLIA) certification comprised another section of the course and specific testing for adrenal tumors, molecular genetic testing and thyroid function was also reviewed. As an added perk, tours of the Mayo Clinic are available and participants were provided with free board, multiple meals and a travel grant.
The 2008 Endocrine University course was held March 8-13.
Suzanne Myers Adler, MD, is a Fellow at Georgetown University Hospital and Washington Hospital Center.