Endocrinology Fellowship

Stanford University and the Division of Endocrinology have a long history of outstanding research and clinical excellence. The clinical program encompasses inpatient consultations and outpatient clinics at three hospitals: Stanford Health Care (SHC) in Stanford, the VA Palo Alto Health Care System (VA) in Palo Alto, and the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center (SCVMC) in San Jose.

Fellow Application Instructions

Our subspecialty training program is designed to provide two to three years or more of advanced clinical and research training in the field of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism. Our major emphasis is on training academic endocrinologists who have an interest in basic and/or clinical research or wish to become clinician-educators. Our program recognizes that some trainees may evolve into specialists whose activities encompass more than one of the above career paths.

Trainees are given increasing responsibility as they progress through the program and demonstrate their expanding knowledge base and expertise in diagnosis and management of endocrine disease. They serve as leaders of the endocrine team, which consists of the fellow, internal medicine residents and medical students, with attending supervision. Our program emphasizes a scholarly approach to diagnosis and management. Self-instruction is expected of the trainee along with critical analysis of the patient’s problems and appropriate decision analysis regarding further evaluation and/or management

In both tracks, there is emphasis on training in all the competencies, including practice-based learning and systems-based practice, through participation in quality improvement projects and the Stanford Hospital diabetes task force. There is a dedicated endocrine fellow curriculum as well as a multitude or regular educational conferences, including patient conferences, grand rounds, journal club, and various tumor boards.  In addition, there are ample opportunities for fellows to participate in teaching of medical students and residents as well as the opportunity to obtain more formal training in clinical education through the Clinical Teaching Seminar Series.

The first year is similar between the research and clinical tracks and is devoted entirely to a clinical experience. Since most endocrine care is delivered in an ambulatory setting, the ambulatory experience is emphasized throughout the entire duration of the program. A variety of clinics are included in the teaching program to provide a wide diversity of patients. At Stanford, there are weekly clinics in general endocrinology, neuroendocrinology, thyroid disease, bone metabolic disease, as well as a diabetes clinic devoted to transplant patients and patients with cystic fibrosis. At the VA Hospital, there is a weekly general endocrine clinic. General endocrinology clinics at SCVMC provide exposure to both common endocrinology disorders as well as late presentations of rare diseases. First year fellows participate in all of these clinics at Stanford, the VA and SCVMC.

Second year fellows in the research track will participate in a continuity care ambulatory clinic in general endocrinology, participate in all didactic conferences, have inpatient service commitment a few weeks a year, while spending the vast majority of their time on their research activities. Second year fellows in the clinical track, in addition to the same inpatient clinical experience of the first year, will have the opportunity to participate in several specialty clinics at Stanford which are available for further in-depth training, including thyroid cancer, pediatric endocrinology, bariatric care, andrology, and reproductive endocrinology, depending on their interest and career goals.

Research fellows participate in a 1 week Intensive Course in Clinical Research in the beginning of their first year. Starting in year 2, research fellows work on basic, translational, or clinical research projects with one of the endocrine division research faculty members as a mentor, or a mentor among other Stanford interdepartmental faculty that conduct endocrine research. The fellows can also take advantage of multiple research-related courses offered throughout Stanford University or elect to pursue additional advanced degrees during their training, such as a Master of Science Degree in Epidemiology and Clinical Research. Clinical fellows have 2 weeks or dedicated research time per year to engage in scholarly activity. 

Fellows participate in extensive consultative activities in the general wards. During their clinical training, endocrine fellows spend time on the inpatient consultation services at Stanford, the VA and SCVMC. A Stanford/VA fellow leads the Stanford/VA general endocrine consultation team which includes an attending endocrinologist, rotating residents and students. The Stanford diabetes fellow and team provide consultative management to patients with diabetes who are inpatients at Stanford. During the SCVMC rotation, the endocrinology fellow leads the inpatient consultative team at SCVMC that includes an attending endocrinologist, a SCVMC internal medicine resident and a medical student. The team is responsible for general endocrine consultations at SCVMC.