Hematology Oncology Fellowship Program
Clinical and Scientific Hematology/Oncology Training at UCLA
The UCLA hematology and oncology combined training program provides trainees with the necessary skills to become astute clinicians, educators and future leaders in clinical, health policy or basic science and translational research. As such, the three-year training program includes a total of 18 months of clinical service and 18 months of dedicated research. The work done during the research component may be applied toward a PhD through the UCLA Specialty Training and Advanced Research (STAR) Program. UCLA is also one of four national sites for the Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program. Fellows interested in health policy research careers may complete a PhD in health services through this program.
The clinical component introduces fellows to the full spectrum of hematology and oncology practice, including inpatient oncology; inpatient malignant hematology and bone marrow transplantation; consultative hematology/oncology; and outpatient rotations through a wide range of diseases in both general and sub-specialized clinic settings.
In addition, educational conferences and didactic lectures organized by the fellowship program and the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center (JCCC) at UCLA are designed to provide a well-rounded education in hematology and oncology practice as well as clinical and basic science/translational research.
Together with the UCLA Division of Geriatrics, the UCLA Division of Hematology-Oncology also offers a combined three-year geriatrics and oncology fellowship program.
How to Apply
What Our Program Offers
The UCLA hematology-oncology program offers an ACGME-accredited three-year program and accepts eight fellows per year. The goal of the training program is to develop academic physicians who will become leaders in the field. The program is constantly evolving and is dedicated to providing the optimal experience for each individual fellow. Our intent is to provide a comprehensive clinical experience and outstanding research mentorship. Physicians completing the program will be board eligible for both hematology and medical oncology.
Applying
Applicants must apply through ERAS as this is the mechanism through which the program will be reviewing, selecting, and matching candidates. The UCLA Hematology-Oncology Fellowship Program is ERAS Program Code # 155-05-21-123. We are also listed on the AMA FRIEDA Online directory here. We require at least four letters of recommendation, one of which must be from your program director.
Learn more about the hematology-oncology fellowship program through the sections below:
Clinical Curriculum
Hematologic Malignancies Rotation
This month-long rotation for first-year fellows increases your inpatient and outpatient exposure to malignant hematology. You will attend outpatient clinics focusing on lymphoma, MDS/MPNs, myeloma, and bone marrow transplant. You will also rotate through the new CAR-T unit at Santa Monica Hospital, which is staffed by an attending and nurse practitioners.
Inpatient Rotations
Trainees in the program rotate on primary and consultative inpatient services, including the 30-bed bone marrow transplant unit at Ronald Reagan-UCLA Medical Center, the 40-bed solid oncology ward at Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center and Orthopedic Hospital, and hematology-oncology consult services at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, Santa Monica UCLA Medical Center and Orthopedic Hospital, and the West Los Angeles VA hospital.
Outpatient Rotations
During the training program, fellows rotate through a variety of the division's hematology and oncology outpatient clinics held 5-days a week on the UCLA campus and in Santa Monica. In addition, fellows care for outpatient hematology-oncology patients at the West Los Angeles VA Medical Center and the Sepulveda VA Medical Center. Fellows who wish to gain experience in community models of hematology-oncology may also choose outpatient rotations at UCLA satellite clinics in Pasadena, Valencia, Westlake Village, Porter Ranch, Irvine Laguna Hills and Ventura. Additional satellite clinic locations can be found in the link.
Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center
The main inpatient clinical training site for fellows.
Santa Monica UCLA Medical Center and Orthopaedic Hospital
Location of the inpatient oncology service
BLOCK: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
DATE: | 1-Jul | 1-Aug | 1-Sep | 1-Oct | 1-Nov | 1-Dec |
Joe Bruin | SO/SMH Ward | VA-Inp | IN-J/BMT | Heme-Malig | VACATION | SO/SMH Ward |
Josephine Bruin | WW CONSULT | VA-Out | SO/SMH Ward | VA-Inp | WW CONSULT | IN-J/BMT |
BLOCK | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
DATE; | 1-Jan | 1-Feb | 1-Mar | 1-Apr | 1-May | 1-June |
Joe Bruin | WW Consult | VA-Out | VA-Inp | WW Consult | VA-Out | IN-J/BMT |
Josephine Bruin | VA-Out | SO/SMH Ward | VACATION | IN-J/BMT | INT-OUT | VA-Inp |
Fellows in the UCLA Hematology-Oncology Training Program undertake research projects ranging from benchtop, basic science and investigator-initiated clinical trials to projects in public health and health care policy. There will be scheduled formal one-on-one meetings with the fellowship research committee members in the fall of Year 1 to review the process of finding and selecting a research area as well as prospective mentors. Research mentors are faculty within any division in the UCLA campus, as well as the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center (JCCC), and Caltech.
Additionally, some fellows complete a PhD in addition to the MD through the STAR Program. Fellows interested in health policy research may also apply to the Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program at UCLA to pursue a Master of Science in Health Services. Research progress reports are given by all research fellows during our fall and spring research retreats.
Research Highlights
Over the course of your three years at UCLA you will have the opportunity to learn a wide range of inpatient and outpatient hematology and oncology services. The diversity in practice settings includes a quaternary care hospital, community-based hospital, VA Hospital, and clinic sites ranging from San Luis Obispo to Irvine. The fellowship is front-loaded, with the majority of your inpatient clinical time occurring during the first year. There is more schedule flexibility during the second and third year to conduct research and work in the outpatient clinics.
First years rotate through each service twice during their first year. A sample schedule is shown below.
- Westwood Consult service: Each first year is paired with a senior fellow for the month to provide inpatient hematology-oncology consultations for the main campus hospital. This is a great opportunity to establish new diagnoses, learn benign hematology and practice hematology in a complex hospital with a large transplant population. Second and third years rotate through this service once per year.
- Bone Marrow Transplant (J): Referred to as the “J” service, the first-year fellow oversees transplant and acute leukemia patients with a transplant/leukemia attending. Highly experienced nurse practitioners serve as the primary caregivers for this service. The fellow is responsible for writing and supervising chemotherapy and transplant orders, performing bone marrow biopsies and lumbar punctures, and providing guidance to the team as needed.
- VA Inpatient: The first-year fellow provides inpatient hematology-oncology consultations for the patients at the West LA VA hospital and attends twice weekly outpatient clinic.
- VA Outpatient: The first-year fellow attends three to four outpatient clinics each week, provides one noon conference to the internal medicine residents during the month, performs bone marrow biopsies and assists with the inpatient service as needed.
- Santa Monica Solid Oncology: The solid oncology service is at a community hospital in Santa Monica, where the majority of inpatient chemotherapy is done. This is where you learn about chemotherapy regimens and side effects, as well as the complications experienced by cancer patients. You will have the opportunity to learn how to discuss important end of life, goals of care, and advanced care planning with patients and may perform bone marrow biopsies and lumbar punctures as needed. Although the service is large (40 patients), the first-year fellow is in a supervisory role, and the primary caregiving is provided by two NPs and two teams of internal medicine residents.
- Intensive Outpatient: This rotation is completed one time by each fellow each year. It is composed of full-time clinic with two half-days for reading or to establish and perform research. This provides an opportunity to explore the more distant satellite communities should you be interested in doing so.
The second and third years are much more flexible, allowing time for you to decide how to schedule your clinics. You have the opportunity to participate in general or subspecialty clinics for 3, 6, 12 or 24 months. Most fellows participate in half day clinics two to three times per week. There are multiple opportunities for additional learning should you feel you need additional skills. Second and third year is the time many fellows attend conferences and/or take classes through the main campus or CTSI.
Didactics occur three times each week in the morning, consisting of formal lecture, journal club, and hematology case conference. These all occur on the main campus, but you are able to call in or video conference if you aren’t on campus that day.
We often get together outside of work, and there are more things to do in LA than is possible to do! LA has great beaches, hikes, museums, amusement parks, comedy clubs, music venues, restaurants and more. Weekend trips are easy to Palm Springs, Big Bear, San Diego, Santa Barbara/Ojai and Paso Robles/San Luis Obispo.
Curriculum | Conferences and Didactics
The fellowship program maintains a curriculum of weekly conferences and didactic lectures. During the first month of fellowship, first-year fellows attend a primer series designed to cover the basics. This series includes introductory lectures on evaluation of peripheral smears, basics
of chemotherapy, and practicum on performing bone marrow biopsies.
Weekly Didactics are held on Tuesdays and Journal Club is held on Thursday mornings. For each conference a fellow is paired with an expert faculty member to present and review current literature and landmark papers on key areas of hematology or oncology.
Hematology–case conferences are held weekly on Friday mornings and provides a forum for case presentations by group of UCLA distinguished faculty on their area of clinical or research expertise.
Research Retreats: Two research retreats are held annually. In the fall, second-year fellows beginning the bulk of their research curriculum present and discuss their proposed research projects. Each Spring, second- and third-year fellows present progress updates on their projects.
Tumor Boards are interdisciplinary meetings to present new patients, review pathology and radiographic studies, and discuss evidence-based management; tumor boards are held weekly for each multidisciplinary disease-specific unit.
Weekly Grand Rounds are given by distinguished UCLA faculty on their area of research or clinical interest.
Who We Are
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Sophie Carlson, MD
Medical School: Oregon Health & Science University
Internship/Residency: UCLA Internal Medicine Residency ProgramRui Li, MD, PhD
Medical School: Zhejiang University, School of Medicine
Internship/Residency: UCLA Internal Medicine Residency ProgramEileen Shiuan, MD, PhD
Medical School: Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
Internship/Residency: UCLA Internal Medicine Residency ProgramJordyn Silverstein, MD
Medical School: University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine
Internship/Residency: University of California, San Francisco Internal Medicine Residency ProgramAlexander Sun, MD, PhD
Medical School: University of California, Los Angeles David Geffen School of Medicine
Internship/Residency: Columbia University-New York Presbyterian Internal Medicine Residency ProgramYuliya Zektser, MD
Medical School: University of California, Los Angeles David Geffen School of Medicine
Internship/Residency: UCLA Internal Medicine Residency Program"Lisa" Shiliang Zhang, MD
Medical School: University of California, Los Angeles David Geffen School of Medicine
Internship/Residency: UCLA Internal Medicine Residency Program -
Jonathan Boiarsky, MD
Medical School: Harvard Medical School
Internship/Residency: UCLA Internal Medicine Residency ProgramGracie Himmelstein, MD, PhD
Medical School: Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Internship/Residency: UCLA Internal MedicineDeborah Jack, MD, MS
Medical School: Howard University College of Medicine
Internship/Residency: Morehouse School of MedicineDaniel Li, MD, PhD
Medical School: Ohio State University College of Medicine
Graduate School: Harvard University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
Internship / Residency: Johns Hopkins Bayview Internal Medicine Residency ProgramGeorgia R. Lill, MD
Medical School: University of California, Los Angeles David Geffen School of Medicine
Internship / Residency: UCLA Internal Medicine Residency ProgramMadeline MacDonald, MD, MS
Medical School: University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine
Internship/Residency: University of Southern California/LA General Internal Medicine Residency ProgramHelen Shang, MD, MS
Medical School: Harvard Medical School
Internship / Residency: UCLA Internal Medicine Residency ProgramShivani Thaker, MD, PhD
Medical School: University of California, Los Angeles David Geffen School of Medicine
Internship / Residency: Massachusetts General Hospital Internal Medicine Residency Program -
Conor Buckley, MD, MS
Medical School: University College Dublin, Ireland
Internship/Residency: Internal Medicine, Royal College of Physicians in Ireland
Internship/Residency: Internal Medicine, Mount Sinai West, NYLizette Garcia, MD
Medical School: University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine of USC
Internship/Residency: UCLA Internal Medicine Residency ProgramPeter John, MD, PhD
Medical School: Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Internship/Residency: University of Maryland Medical CenterTina Kantaria, MD
Medical School: University of California, Los Angeles David Geffen School of Medicine
Internship/Residency: UCLA Internal Medicine Residency ProgramKameron A. Kooshesh, MD
Medical School: Harvard Medical School, Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology (HST) Program
Internship/Residency: Massachusetts General HospitalJeffrey H. Lin, MD, PhD
Medical School: University of Pennsylvania, Perelman School of Medicine
Internship/Residency: Tufts Internal Medicine Residency ProgramAshley Pournamdari MD
Medical School: University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine
Internship/Residency: University of California, Los Angeles Internal Medicine Residency Training ProgramDavid Shabsovich, MD
Medical School: University of California, Los Angeles David Geffen School of Medicine
Internship / Residency: UCLA Internal Medicine Residency Program
Housing
Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, the West LA VA, and UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center are located in West Los Angeles and are surrounded by lovely communities—Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, Culver City, Brentwood, and Santa Monica.
The majority of fellows live around these neighborhoods, where rent is approximately $1500 and above. There is an option of university housing available for graduate students, residents and fellows.
Beverly Hills: Located 2 miles east of UCLA. The neighborhoods are attractive and well-kept with a 15-minute commuting time to UCLA. Excellent school systems; sometimes there are guesthouses or rooms for rents, especially south of Wilshire. Most fellows use Beverly Hills for fantastic window-shopping, people-watching and dining.
West Hollywood: Housing can be found north of Beverly Boulevard to Sunset between Doheny and Crescent Heights. North of Sunset between Fairfax and La Brea are also popular. This area is known for its Melrose Avenue boutiques and theaters, famous restaurants, and the Pacific Design Center. This is a densely populated city and commuting time to UCLA is approximately 20-25 minutes. If you need to get around LA a lot, know that this neighborhood is not freeway friendly.
West Los Angeles: This is a popular location for fellows because of its proximity to UCLA and easy access to shopping, markets, and restaurants. Apartments are clustered near Santa Monica and Olympic Boulevard, west of the 405 freeway. Rents are less expensive than those in Westwood.
Brentwood: Located 2 miles west of UCLA. Most apartments are in the triangle bordered by Wilshire, San Vicente Boulevard, and Bundy. This is another lovely neighborhood for dining and shopping.
Culver City: Located 7 miles south of UCLA. Rental prices tend to be affordable and the downtown area is flourishing. There are apartments between Venice and Washington Boulevard and in the area off Culver Boulevard, south of Sony Studios. Further south, toward Jefferson Boulevard, luxury apartments and condos are common. Schools are very good. Fox Hills Mall is a nearby shopping place.
Santa Monica: This is a more expensive area to live in because of the beach, shopping, and restaurants. There is also more traffic congestion on Wilshire during rush hour.
San Fernando Valley: Consists of a variety of suburban cities that offers a lot of affordable housing. The one drawback is the commute on the 405 freeway during rush hour; it can take up to an hour. Sherman Oaks and Van Nuys are the closest valley communities to UCLA, located eight miles away, a 20-minute drive without traffic. Rents are more reasonable the farther out you go. Warning, summer temperatures hover in the low 100s!
South Bay Area: Includes Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, and Redondo Beach. This is a little far from UCLA and commuting can take 45 minutes or more.
UCLA University Apartments-South: Housing for married students, single parents, and graduate students. These are off campus apartments located in the Palms-Mar Vista area, about 5 miles south of UCLA, approximately 15 minutes driving time to UCLA. There are five unique complexes ranging from 1-bedroom, 1-bathroom apartment, 2-bedroom, 2- bathroom apartment and junior 1-bedroom, 1-bathroom apartment. The monthly rates range from $2000-$3500 per month depending on the location and type of unit.
- University Village: 3200 Sawtelle Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90066
Rose Avenue: 11130 and 11140 Rose Avenue
Keystone/Mentone: 3770-3780 Keystone Avenue and 3767-3777 Mentone Avenue Venice/Barry Apartments: 11811 Venice Blvd.|
Clarington Apartments: 3742 Clarington Avenue
UCLA University Apartments-North: This is for single graduate students only. There are 2 complex, Weyburn Terrace and Hilgard. It is a Mediterranean-style apartment complex consisting of studios, 2- bedroom/2-bath townhouses. Each unit is fully furnished with a bed, sofa, desk, refrigerator, and microwave. In addition, each apartment comes with paid utilities, basic cable, and internet. Rents range from $1600-1900 per month.
- Weyburn Terrace: comprised of nine buildings: approximately 1400 apartments. It is located southwest of the hospital at Weyburn and Veteran Avenue in Westwood Village.
- The Hilgard Apartments: comprised of two buildings. All units within the Hilgard Apartments are studio apartments. Hilgard is much smaller than Weyburn, approximately 80 apartments. It is located on the east edge of campus.
If you want university housing, the best time to apply is right after you match – visit www.housing.ucla.edu to do so. There is also parking available at all units for an additional fee.
Contact US
For more information, please contact:
| Ira Sarian | Alyssa Le | Mailing Address: |
|---|---|---|
| Fellowship Program Manager Health Professions Education Specialist Email: [email protected] | Health Professions Education Specialist Email: [email protected] | Hematology-Oncology Fellowship Program UCLA Division of Hematology-Oncology 700 Tiverton Ave, Factor Bldg. 11-934 Los Angeles, CA 90095 |