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Internal Medicine HIV Specialty Track

Since 2014, SUNY Downstate has offered an HIV specialty track option within the Categorical Internal Medicine Residency Program. This track has been developed in response to a decrease in the number of primary care physicians in the U.S. who provide HIV care. As HIV has become a chronically managed disease, there is an increasing need to incorporate primary care providers into the spectrum of HIV care. Our nationally recognized HIV treatment and research programs, our large Internal Medicine residency program, and our diverse patient population make us uniquely suited to offer this training opportunity. All incoming PGY-I and rising PGY2 Categorical Medicine house staff are given the opportunity to apply. Four residents are selected to participate in the program which continues throughout the three years of residency.

Goals of the Program

The overall mission of the program is to build the capacity of a generation of primary care / internal medicine physicians who can provide expert specialist care to people with HIV. Additionally, we seek to develop expertise in HIV care among providers who go on to specialize in other disciplines, including cardiology, gastroenterology, hematology-oncology, pulmonology, and other medicine subspecialties.

By the end of this program, selected residents will be able to:

  • Perform key elements of the initial evaluation of a patient with HIV, including risk assessment, history, physical examination, and laboratory assessment.
  • Select and utilize appropriate antiretroviral regimens.
  • Diagnose and treat opportunistic infections and co-morbidities associated with HIV disease in the primary care setting.
  • Manage patients in the context of an interdisciplinary primary healthcare setting that provides prevention counseling, psychosocial management, and culturally competent care.

 

The HIV Track Option offers enhanced mentorship, integration of people with HIV (PWH) into a general medicine panel, and specialized education.

  • HIV specialist physicians are assigned to mentor and supervise the residents in their provision of ambulatory HIV care.
  • Residents within the track provide continuity care for a consistent panel of PWH throughout their training.
  • Didactic lectures on HIV care are integrated into the residents’ formal ambulatory didactics.
  • HIV Track residents are also invited to participate in additional on-campus and off-site HIV-related educational opportunities and have the opportunity to engage in research and quality improvement work.

didactic topics

  • Global perspective: Epidemiology of HIV and diagnostics
  • Pathophysiology of HIV
  • HIV primary care basics: 1st provider visit
  • Basics of ART and first line regimens
  • Adverse effects of ART/ drug-drug interactions with ART
  • Opportunistic infections
  • HIV associated malignancies and cancer screening.
  • HIV and chronic kidney disease
  • HIV and cardiovascular health
  • Osteoporosis and HIV
  • Substance use disorders
  • Women’s health
  • ART resistance
  • HIV prevention
  • STIs
  • Hepatitis B & C
  • Special populations: HIV -2, elite controllers

For further information, contact:
Manisha Singh, MD
Clinical Assistant Professor,
STAR Program, Department of Medicine
SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University
E-mail: manisha.singh@downstate.edu