The first year of fellowship is primarily devoted to clinical training, which is largely conducted in the outpatient setting, where first year fellows attend approximately six half-day clinics per week.

In the second year, each fellow attends from two to four half-day clinics per week. Each fellow follows his or her patients for the entire two years of training. Each clinic is supervised by one of the five attending faculty, and each fellow has an opportunity to work with each faculty member.

The second major component of the clinical experience is the inpatient service. During the first year of training, the fellow spends approximately six months on the inpatient service, and during the second year from two to four months. When on call, the trainee sees all consults and follows all inpatients admitted to the rheumatology service.

Other required clinical rotations include Pediatric Rheumatology and Immunopathology. Trainees also have the opportunity to rotate through Sports Medicine, Hand Surgery, Reconstructive Surgery, Radiology, and Physical and Occupational Therapy.

The clinical rotations for the first year of fellowship are relatively fixed, with more flexibility in the second year schedule to accommodate the career goals of the trainees. Trainees interested in research and a career in academic medicine are provided protected time to engage in research early in the fellowship, and depending on the availability of funds, may request an additional year of training that is devoted primarily to research.

An important component of the training program is to acquire knowledge of research principles and methods related to investigative medicine. Fellows are expected to engage in an original laboratory or clinical research project. Trainees attend the weekly laboratory meeting where they are exposed to the basic laboratory research projects of the faculty.

During the first nine months of the first year, trainees meet with faculty to develop plans for their research project. Each fellow chooses a research mentor, and a written outline for an original research project is prepared and reviewed by the Program Director and faculty.