Abstract Advocacy has long been at the core of the infectious diseases (ID) field, with clinicians and researchers advocating to ensure patients can access the care they need on an individual and global scale. The Infectious Diseases Society of America Training Program Directors’ (PD) Committee met in 2024 and discussed ways that advocacy is and should be incorporated into fellowship training, as well as highlighted the role PDs play in advocating for their trainees. Policies with a negative impact on ID clinical care, public health, and research underscore the importance of mobilizing the field of ID to advocate for the patients and communities we serve, as well as for ourselves. This paper presents ideas generated at this meeting and is meant to serve as a reference for ID PDs, as well as the wider ID community, as a call to action for teaching and participating in advocacy work.
Shaping the Future of Infectious Diseases: The Journey to Promote Value, Opportunity, and Positive Messaging
Abstract The field of infectious diseases (ID) offers a rewarding career path and is widely viewed as an essential subspecialty in medicine. However, in recent years, these positive aspects have been overshadowed by concerns surrounding low fellowship match rates, undercompensation, and burnout. The Infectious Diseases Society of America Fellowship Training Program Directors Committee met in 2023, discussed the future of ID as a specialty, and sought to develop strategies to highlight the value and opportunities of ID for future generations, as well as underscore the importance of and provide tools for positive messaging to trainees about the subspecialty. This paper presents ideas generated at this meeting and is meant to serve as a reference for ID training program directors, as well as the wider ID community, in uplifting and shaping the future of the field.
Education of Infectious Diseases Fellows During the COVID-19 Pandemic Crisis: Challenges and Opportunities
AbstractOne of the many challenges that has befallen the Infectious Diseases and Graduate Medical Education communities during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is the maintenance of continued effective education and training of the future leaders of our field. With the remarkable speed and innovation that has characterized the responses to this pandemic, educators everywhere have adapted existing robust and safe learning environments to meet the needs of our learners. This paper will review distinct aspects of education and training of the Infectious Diseases fellows we believe the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted most, including mentoring, didactics, and wellness. We anticipate that several strategies developed in this context and described herein will help to inform training and best practices during the pandemic and beyond.