Infectious Diseases Fellowship

Application Information

Applications are only accepted through the Electronic Residency Applications Service (ERAS).

The candidate must register for both ERAS and the National Residency Match Program (NRMP). A candidate who has not registered with the NRMP cannot be considered during the ranking process. It is very important to remember to register.

Requirements for GW Fellowships

Fellowship applicants must have completed three years in an ACGME-Accredited Internal Medicine Residency, and be board-certified or board-eligible.

Required Documents for Complete myERAS Application

• myERAS application
• Curriculum Vitae (CV)
• Personal Statement
• Three Letters of Recommendation (one from the program director)
• USMLE / COMLEX Scores (must have passed Steps I-III prior to start of fellowship year)
• Medical Student Performance Evaluation (MSPE)
• ECFMG Status Report for International Medical Graduates (must have certification)
• Licensing Information and Board-Eligibility/Certifications (if applicable)
• Citizenship Status

International Medical Graduates

We can only consider applicants with J1 visas. Please see our GME Visa policy.

IMGs must have completed an ACGME-accredited residency program.

Graduates of International Medical Schools must also be certified by the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG).

If you have any questions, please contact Lisa Horvath, fellowship program coordinator, at 202-677-6056 or imfellowships@gwu.edu.

Our program offers a comprehensive selection of conferences:

Case Conferences: Case conferences are held weekly. Fellows choose challenging cases which are presented as unknowns. The cases are discussed first by the fellows and then by the faculty. In addition, GWIDS (Greater Washington Infectious Disease Society) is a monthly case conference attended by all the infectious disease programs within the city. Each program presents their most challenging and interesting cases of the year.

Didactic conferences are also held weekly. The GW and VA faculty present most of the lecture series, but invited guests contribute their expertise. Faculty that serve as invited guests include NIH faculty, as well faculty from the departments of Microbiology, Immunology and Tropical Medicine; Epidemiology and Biostatistics; and Pharmacology. 

Journal Club is held monthly. The meeting takes place at the home of one of the faculty in the evenings. Faculty and fellows take turns presenting articles of interest.

Our fellows have the opportunity to serve as lecturers for residents and students both at GW, at the VA as well as other programs in the area. 

Mentors and Research

Fellows meet with each of the faculty to decide what areas of research may be of most interest to them.  Fellows are not required to develop their own research projects, but usually work closely with a faculty member on a project of mutual interest.  However, there is nothing precluding a fellow from developing their own project under the guidance of a faculty member

In addition, each fellow is assigned a mentor to provide them guidance and feedback throughout the fellowship and to be available to the fellow regarding any fellowship concerns. 

Other Activities

Each fellow is funded by the department to go to one national meeting per year. Usually fellows attend the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) meeting or the American Society of Microbiology (ASM Microbe). Fellows usually present some of their original research at these meetings.

Sample Schedule

Explore the Infectious Diseases fellowship sample schedule.

Sample Schedule - Year 1

Sample Schedule - Year 2

GW/VA Infectious Diseases Fellows rotate on the inpatient clinical service at the following training sites.

George Washington University Hospital

The George Washington University Hospital (GWUH) is tertiary care center with 379 acute care beds. The patient population is diverse with a broad spectrum of infectious diseases including tropical and parasitic infections, complications of HIV, and transplant-associated infections. Consultations are performed in all areas of the hospital Including 3 medical-surgical intensive care units (56 beds), one specializing in cardiovascular care and one specializing in neuro/trauma. There is a multispecialty wound care center with a focus on long term wound management and limb salvage. The transplant experience at GW is continuing to grow with kidney and bone marrow transplant consultations on the GW clinical service. The NIH elective also includes patients with complicated stem cell transplants. Additional transplant experiences can be structured on request.

• GW/VA Infectious Diseases Fellows rotate on the inpatient clinical service at the George Washington University during their first and second year of training, as well as in the HIV/Infectious Diseases Clinic, for their continuity clinic experience. Every year, more than 50 GW students (both PA and medical students) and Internal Medicine residents participate in the Infectious Diseases Consult Elective. Our students and residents visit the program from international destinations and from multiple programs within the United States.
• The GW HIV/Infectious Disease clinic is one of the clinics that provides a continuity clinic experience for our fellows. The clinic provides both HIV care as well as consultative care. The HIV clinic at the George Washington University, Medical Faculty Associates, cares for approximately 1200 patients infected with HIV. Our fellows have their own clinic, closely supervised by their clinic mentor.  We have a vibrant clinical trial unit and our fellows work closely with our clinical trials staff recruiting patients for appropriate clinical trials. Fellows have the opportunity to care for patients they have consulted on during their in service rotations. The clinic consultations are diverse and include Hepatitis B and C management (including HIV-Hep C co-infection), tropical medicine, Lyme disease and a broad base of general infectious disease consultations.
• Our fellows are encouraged to participate in the Infection Control Committee to learn about policies related to infection control and nosocomially acquired infections, hospital epidemiology, outbreak tracking and antibiotic stewardship.
• The research experience at the George Washington University is tailored to each fellow’s interests. Each fellow is asked to meet with faculty members at GWU and VA to explore research interests at the beginning of the fellowship.  They are expected to be active in research during both years of training, but primarily during the second year.  Fellows are expected to have abstracts for submission to the infectious disease meetings during their second years and to submit manuscripts for publication subsequent to that.  There is a close collaboration with the School of Public Health, which has resulted in multiple collaborative research projects.
• The District of Columbia Center for AIDS Research (DC CFAR) is a unique city-wide consortium representing 190 HIV investigators at six collaborating academic research institutions in Washington, D.C, including George Washington University and The VA Medical Center. The DC CFAR is a part of a larger network of Centers for AIDS Research (CFARs) funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to provide scientific leadership and institutional infrastructure for HIV/AIDS research. The mission of the DC CFAR is to expand multi-institutional effort to support research aimed at ending the HIV epidemic in Washington, D.C. and beyond in partnership with local government and community. Our GW and VA faculty have been active in contributing to the DC CFAR efforts, by recruiting and enrolling patients, as well as research funded through CFAR grants.

The Washington DC Veterans Affairs Medical Center (DC-VAMC)

The Washington DC Veterans Affairs Medical Center (DC-VAMC) is a 295-bed acute-care hospital and the only VA within the District of Columbia. The DC-VAMC mission is to respect and serve our Nation’s Veterans by honoring them with excellent health care at our main facility, at our six community-based outpatient clinics and at the 120-bed rehabilitation center and hospice located on the campus in Northwest DC. There are 22 ICU beds in addition to two step-down units. Renovations are currently underway to further expand beds in acute and intensive care facilities. In addition to an active emergency department, medical and surgical services, the hospital is the regional VA referral center for cardiac surgery and catheterization and hematologic malignancies. A regional solid-organ transplant center is set to open by December 2021.

The DC-VAMC meets the needs of more than 100,000 Veterans from the greater metropolitan Washington, DC area. The medical center also serves as a referral center for a variety of medical and surgical specialties for smaller VA medical centers across parts of Virginia, Maryland and West Virginia. The DC-VAMC plays an active role in the pandemic response to COVID-19 serving as a diagnostic and treatment referral center for veterans and VA medical centers across our region. In addition to participating with our robust and well-staffed Infection Control, Antimicrobial Stewardship and HIV-Primary Care clinical programs, our GW/VA Infectious Diseases fellows receive consultations across the spectrum of acute care including patients in critical-care, medical and surgical settings.

• GW/VA Infectious Diseases Fellows rotate on the inpatient clinical service at the DC-VAMC during their first and second year of training, as well as in the HIV-Infectious Diseases Clinic, for their continuity clinic experience. GW/VA Infectious Diseases Fellows are encouraged to participate in ongoing research, quality-improvement and educational endeavors at the DC-VAMC and to consider developing their fellowship projects under the professional and research mentoring of our five full-time ID faculty members.
• Fellows interested in Medical Education have a number of opportunities to become involved in teaching opportunities at both institutions. The DC-VAMC hosts students, residents and fellows in training from GWU, Walter Reed, Georgetown and Howard Universities. Each year, medical students and Internal Medicine residents participate in the DC-VAMC Infectious Diseases Consult Elective and the DC-VAMC Antimicrobial Stewardship Elective.
• The medical center’s clinical Microbiology Laboratory has state-of-the art on site diagnostic capabilities including rapid technologies such as MALDI-TOF and PCR based technologies to support patient care, the ID consult services and the COVID-19 pandemic response. The lab is staffed on-site with experienced and responsive microbiologists who work closely with the ID team on a day-to-day basis and are an excellent resource in improving patient care.
• The DC-VAMC Infectious Diseases Laboratory (ID Lab) performs specialty testing for clinical care of patients and is directed by Dr. Virginia Kan, the Chief of the Section of Infectious Diseases. The ID Lab is a part of the Basic Science Core of the District of Columbia Center for AIDS Research. The ID Lab performs COVID-19 diagnostics, CD4 counts by flow cytometry for DC-VAMC and molecular testing for HIV, hepatitis C virus and chlamydia/gonorrhea in the regional VA area which consists of VA Medical Centers in Washington, DC, Baltimore, MD, Clarksburg, WV, Martinsburg, WV, Beckley, WV and Huntington, WV. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the ID Lab at the DCVAMC performed rapid-testing for the entire region and contributed to the safety of employees and care of patients over several states. Fellows, students and residents interested in learning more about the ID laboratory should contact Dr. Virginia Kan.
• The DC-VAMC has a dedicated HIV-HCV Co-infection Clinic at the DC-VAMC provides both ID Consultative care and HIV and primary care to approximately 1,200 patients with HIV infection. Fellows are a part of the larger fabric of the clinic. This is an integrated patient-centered program with more than 25 physicians and four nurse practitioners, an HIV and HCV Nurse Navigator and on-site HIV Psychology, Social Work, an HIV Pharmacist, HIV Hepatologist, and an HIV Diabetologist. Fellows have the opportunity to engage with ID and HIV specialists from VA Central Office, the FDA, NIH and others working in local and national HIV/AIDS policy in the DC area. Students and residents interested in learning more about the ID clinic should contact Dr. Debra Benator.
• The DC-VAMC Antimicrobial Stewardship Program (ASP) monitors antimicrobial usage and promotes the selection of the optimal antimicrobial regimens in the inpatient and outpatient setting. The ASP also directs and monitors the outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy (OPAT) program. The ASP-OPAT program is dedicated to the improving individual patient outcomes, addressing patient safety and prevention of unintended consequences of antibiotic usage including the selection for antibiotic resistant organisms and preventable drug-related complications and is staffed by an Infectious Diseases physician, two full-time Pharmacists and a Nurse-Practitioner. During the COVID pandemic the ASP was involved in obtaining access to and conducting the necessary monitoring and reporting of COVID-related therapeutics for our patients. Interested fellows are encouraged to participate in both the local and regional work of the program. GW residents are invited to sign up for a one week Antimicrobial Stewardship Elective. At the end of the elective, residents will be expected to serve as an educational resource for other house staff and to promote and teach stewardship principles in the care of patients. Residents and interested students should contact Dr. Angelike Liappis to learn more about the ASP and how to participate in the elective and/or shadowing opportunities.
• The Infection Control Program at the DC-VAMC is a medical-center and community oriented program dedicated to patient safety and providing quality patient care which results in positive patient outcomes. The program has been crucial to the pandemic COVID-19 response and is involved with tracking and monitoring active cases, as well as prevention of disease across the medical center. In addition the program monitors acute care, long term care, behavioral health and home based primary care at the DC-VAMC. The Infection Control Program is staffed by several full-time Infection Control Practitioners and an Infection Control Manager. The program is under the guidance of Dr. Weintrob, the Medical Center Epidemiologist. Students and residents interested in learning more about the program should contact Dr. Amy Weintrob.
• There are a wide variety of research opportunities at the DC-VAMC. The Infectious Diseases Section has a team of investigators, research coordinators, and other research support staff who participate in local investigator driven research projects as well as larger, multi-site studies. The electronic medical record and available clinical care registries are prime material for studies that can be completed during fellowship. The section also includes a team of Research Site Managers who are responsible for the management, oversight, performance evaluation, training and monitoring of more than 80 domestic and international clinical research sites that participate in NIH-funded clinical trials in COVID-19, HIV prevention and therapeutics as well as other infectious diseases research through the INSIGHT, ACTG and HPTN clinical trials networks. DC-VAMC faculty have been investigators and project leaders in the Tuberculosis Trials Consortium, a CDC sponsored consortium of 20 sites in the United States, Africa, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Peru, Spain and Brazil, who conduct research concerning the diagnosis, clinical management, and prevention of tuberculosis infection and disease. The DC-VAMC participates in a nationwide study on the impact of antibacterial choices in lower extremity infections among diabetic veterans. The DC-VAMC Clinic is also heavily involved in important cross institution research among patients with HIV infection in Washington, including DC Cohort (the City-Wide Cohort of HIV-Infected Persons In Care In The District of Columbia), Family Centered Advanced Care Planning among HIV infected patients, and the Veterans Aging Cohort Study.

National Institutes of Health (NIH)

The NIH Clinical Center is a 234-bed clinical research hospital located in Bethesda, MD. All patients at the NIH Clinical Center are enrolled in clinical trials. These may be trials of experimental therapies or natural history studies of rare diseases, in which patients are followed and treated with the best available therapy. Most patients seen by the ID Consultation Service are immune-suppressed due to malignancies or their treatment. The consult service oversees the infection management of adult and pediatric patients undergoing stem cell transplantation, intensive chemotherapy, or immune-modulatory treatment for cancer, autoimmunity, or immune-deficiency. In addition, there is a large surgical service with patients undergoing intensive experimental chemotherapeutic, surgical, and immune therapies. The consult team works closely with the Microbiology Service and its four attendings and cadre of expert technologists. There is also a two-week clinical microbiology training segment at the NIH Clinical Center, with exposure to advanced diagnostic techniques.

Fellows and Alumni

Current Fellows | PGY 5

Sarah Turki

Medicine Residency: George Washington University

Medical School: King Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia

Alexander Ogilvy

Medicine Residency: Westchester Medical Center NY

Medical School: New York Medical College

Current Fellows | PGY 4

Christina Pugliese

Medicine Residency: New York Presbyterian-Weill Cornell Medical Center

Medical School: George Washington University

George W. Jowsey

Medicine Residency: Greenwich Hospital/Yale University

Medical School: Newcastle University, United Kingdom

Helena Holmgren

Medicine Residency: Kaiser Permanente Hawaii

Medical School: Northeast Ohio Medical University

Recent Alumni

2024

Rachel Lee, Transplant ID fellowship at NIH

Daniel Seeger, academic ID (George Washington University/VA Medical Center)

Stephen Stone, private practice, Virginia

2023

Elizabeth Braden, academic ID (Thomas Jefferson University)

Conor Grey, medical director at AHF (Washington, DC)

2022

Oleksandr Semeniuk, academic ID (George Washington University)

Surabhi Uppal, private practice, Maryland

Shiren Meledathu, private practice, New Jersey

2021

Rachel Denyer, academic ID (George Washington University/VA Medical Center).

Adam Klein, academic ID (Georgetown University/Washington Hospital Center)