The continuity clinic is fed by a new patient clinic that the fellow has during the first year of the fellowship rotation, and from inpatient consultations Amy Sawyer, RN, MScN, is an advanced practice nurse working within our group focusing in sleep and adult cystic fibrosis. She sees patients both independently and collaboratively. We believe the use of advanced practice nurses is the wave of the future, and we are training fellows to be comfortable with this practice model. We also work with an outpatient clinical case manager who is a nurse focused on care coordination for our most challenging patients. Research training is an important element of the fellowship program.
Many fellows choose clinical research projects mentored by division faculty.
Fellows may also choose from a wide array of mentors within the institution ranging from basic scientists, such as Joanna Floros, Ph.D., a surfactant geneticist and David Phelps, Ph.D., who is a surfactant protein and surfactant biologist, to Mark Young, MD, health evaluation scientists and epidemiologists. Duanping Liao, MD, Ph.D., an air pollution epidemiologist, and James Ultman, Ph.D., a chemical engineer, collaborate in air pollution research and also available for research training. Active research within the section is a part of each faculty member s activities. Rebecca Bascom, MD, MPH, is interested in the basis for differential sensitivity to common irritants and studies these using model exposures such as tobacco smoke, ozone, and allergens. She examines the role of the airway surface fluid in determining a pollutant dose and availability of pharmacologic agents to the airway surface.