LEAP program establishes ID, public health partnership
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Key takeaways:
- One-year fellowship program helps new ID physicians develop partnerships with doctors and public health departments.
- IDSA and the CDC plan to launch the first class of a new ID-EIS fellowship program this year.
A 1-year fellowship for senior trainees and early career infectious diseases physicians can help establish relationships with public health agencies and is an effective career development pathway, according to a study.
The Leaders in Epidemiology, Antimicrobial Stewardship and Public Health (LEAP) fellowship was established in 2017 by Infectious Diseases Society of America, the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America and the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society and is supported by the CDC.
“The 1-year LEAP program facilitates collaborations between ID clinicians and public health departments, specifically in the fields of antimicrobial stewardship, infection prevention and health care epidemiology,” the IDSA said in a statement. “Nearly all LEAP graduates continue to collaborate with public health departments while remaining clinically active, many with medical leadership positions.”
Kevin Hsueh, MD, associate professor of infectious diseases at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, and colleagues analyzed the outcomes of participants from the program’s first three completed fellowship classes.
Among the three completed classes, which included 12 fellows, 50% focused on adult ID, 42% focused pediatric ID and 8.3% followed a combined course. A third of fellows were still completing their ID training at the time of the analysis, while another third had graduated and the rest were early in their post-ID fellowship careers.
According to Hsueh and colleagues, 11 fellows are in faculty positions at academic institutions and four are in medical directorship positions.
The researchers called the LEAP fellowship an effective method for public health training outside the CDC’s Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) program, which has been a primary way for clinicians to enter public health.
Additionally, because LEAP grants are administered through the fellow’s existing employer, LEAP made it easier for early-career ID clinicians to explore a career path while maintaining their current position and growing relationships they already have.
In addition to LEAP, the IDSA in 2022 announced a 4-year program in collaboration with the CDC to offer a combined ID-EIS program that includes 2 years in an ID fellowship program and 2 years working with the EIS. The first fellows in the new program are expected to be placed in ID programs by July 2024.
“Few established career development pathways exist for ID physicians interested in working with public health departments, but the success of LEAP could serve as a training model that could be adapted into the traditional ID fellowship curriculum,” the IDSA said. “Recent years have seen an increasing number of ID-related challenges extending into the health care domain — demonstrating the need for longitudinal partnerships between clinical ID physicians and public health.”
References:
- Hsueh K, et al. Clin Infect Dis. 2024;doi:10.1093/cid/ciad787.
- LEAP fellowship program builds ID-public health partnerships. https://www.idsociety.org/news--publications-new/articles/2024/leap-fellowship-program-builds-id-public-health-partnerships/. Published Jan. 24, 2024. Accessed Feb. 6, 2024.
- IDSA. ID/EIS joint fellowship. https://www.idsociety.org/professional-development/fellows-in-training-career--education-center/joint-id-eis-fellowship/id-eis-fellowship/. Accessed Feb. 6, 2024
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