Thank you for your inquiry about the Medical Oncology fellowship at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in Galveston. The Oncology Program at UTMB is centered around the John Sealy Hospital and University Hospitals Clinics. A multi-specialty
medical center, the John Sealy Hospital has approximately 600 beds and is the principle teaching hospital for UTMB. The faculty and medical staff of UTMB also provide medical care to patients in the TDCJ Hospital, a tertiary care medical center for
inmates of the Texas Department of Correctional Justice.
The TDCJ Hospital is physically connected to John Sealy Hospital. The University Hospitals Clinics building is also physically connected to John Sealy Hospital and is located close to the Division's main office. We now have a clinic in Dickinson, Texas
that offers infusion also.
The number Among the new cancer patients that are diagnosed or referred to UTMB, the most common are carcinomas of the lung, breast, cervix, prostate, head and neck, and colorectal. We have a unique cadre of patient at the TDCJ hospital. The TDCJ gives
unique opportunities to treat testicular cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma and HIV related cancers
The first year of the Oncology Training Program is the primary clinical year. First year fellows rotate between the Hematology consult service, which sees both malignant and non-malignant hematological problems, the Solid Tumor Oncology Consult Service,
which sees solid tumor neoplasm, and the Inpatient Service.
In the second year of the training program, considerable time is set aside to allow fellows to develop their research area of interest. In addition, they can do elective rotations in transfusion medicine and blood banking, Radiation Oncology, Gynecologic
Oncology, ENT and Pathology. Fellows have to take a required elective Bone Marrow Transplant UT M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas.
Fellows are expected to participate in clinical or bench research. In the first year, fellows are expected to identify a potential area of research interest, which they can develop during the second year. Research projects can be done under the direction
of a member of the Hematology/Oncology Faculty, or in other departments doing Oncology related research. It is anticipated that research projects will develop data which can be presented at a national meeting or result in publications in the form
of abstracts, papers in a referred journal, or both.
Throughout the week there are various lectures, seminars, and tumor conferences presented by the staff in the Division of Hematology/Oncology, by other subspecialties within the Department of Internal Medicine, and by physicians in disciplines outside
of Internal Medicine (e.g. Radiation Oncology, ENT, Surgery, Clinical Pathology or Gynecology). The training program in Oncology accepts three fellows per year. Planning for a free-standing NCI designated multidisciplinary cancer center is actively
underway.
Rohit Venkatesan, MD
Assistant Professor
Program Director, Fellowship Program
Division of Hematology/Oncology
Department of Internal Medicine