Fellowship Overview

Division of Hematology:  Conferences & Lectures

Fellow Specific Seminars in Hematology

Weekly seminars involving one specialized faculty member and all fellows.  Pertinent literature on a weekly topic is discussed in depth, at the fellow level.

Hematology Grand Rounds Conference

Formal Hematology Grand Rounds is held weekly, with with invited speakers from all over the world, who discuss various topics in benign and malignant hematology.. Each fellow is responsible for serving as chief discussant at one Grand Rounds per year.

Hematology Patient Care Conference

At this weekly conference, hematology fellows provide a brief clinical review of the patient’s problem, which is then followed by a display of the patient’s morphologic material, scans, and radiographs. Further diagnostic and therapeutic recommendations are then discussed by the multidisciplinary team. The fellow is responsible for providing an overview of the literature concerning the case under discussion.

Cancer Center Grand Rounds

This multidisciplinary weekly conference includes all of the departments and divisions involved in the care of patients with various types of cancer. This is a mandatory conference for all combined Hematology-Oncology fellows.

Hematology Seminars

Two one-hour didactic seminars are held each week. The topics are regularly assigned to faculty during the forst six months of the year. However, during the second half of the year, the fellow is expected to select four topics for presentation. The purpose of these sessions is to present common hematological subjects in a more didactic but informal atmosphere. The preparation for and presentation at this session is a superb training experience since the fellow must organize his/her own thoughts on each subject. The fellows performance is evaluated by faculty, who also attend these seminars.

Hematology Ward Rounds

During daily rounds, faculty and the fellow and ward team go over all cases on ward 14-600 at LAC+USC or inpatients at USC/Norris Cancer Hospital. The purpose of these sessions is to teach clinical malignant hematology at the bedside and microscope, with a small group in an informal atmosphere, while allowing provision of optimal patient care.

Consultative Rounds

Patients with general hematologic problems are seen on the various wards of the LAC-USC Medical Center, or the University Hospital, and their morphologic material is reviewed. The cases are selected for faculty by the fellows either because they present difficult clinical decisions or because of their clinical teaching value. Once weekly, the services have combined rounds with one of the senior voluntary attending staff.

Hematopathology Conference

While hematology fellows routinely examine peripheral blood smears, bone marrow aspirates and biopsies, and tissue biopsies and cytology during their clinical services, this is a formal weekly conference for fellows, led by Dr. Russell Brynes, Director of Hematopathology.  Fellows obtain intensive teaching on the approach to diagnosis using a variety of modalities, including histology, immunohistochemistry, flow cytometry, and cytogenetics.

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