Midwest AIDS Training and Education Center

The federally-funded Midwest AIDS Training and Education Center (MATEC) provides HIV/AIDS education to clinicians and health care professionals. Their training courses include Test Counseling, Adherence Counseling, and Cultural Competence. Those completing MATEC courses or attending their monthly seminars are eligible for certification and continuing medical education (CME) credits. 

Mini Residency: The Section of Infectious Diseases here at the University of Chicago has been an important MATEC collaborator since 2001. It now occurs every two months during the academic year. HIV Mini-Residency training taught by our physicians. Clinicians with little background in the specifics of HIV/AIDS care who want to begin providing these services to clients come for a week-long two and a half day intensive course that covers material from the intricacies of providing long-term care of people living with HIV and AIDS to recent biomedical innovations to prevent HIV infections.

Topics in HIV is a course designed by Dr. Jean-Luc Benoit and co-taught by several other CCHE faculty members in the Section of Infectious Diseases at the University of Chicago. The class is a comprehensive review of the HIV/AIDS epidemic from basic biology and pathogenesis to global strategies for eradication and perspectives on the ethics of living with the virus. Dr. Benoit’s particular interest in medical student education is reflected in the wide-ranging curriculum that provides even students who will not specialize in HIV care with a solid foundation in the issues facing the field.

Big Problems: Epidemiology & Sociology of HIV/AIDS: A part of The College’s interdisciplinary Big Problems capstone course program, this seminar explores the epidemiology and sociology of AIDS with content focusing on local and global case examples. Roughly half of the course is concerned with epidemiological concerns: viral transmission dynamics, bio-behavioral prevention and social network factors in the spread of the virus, while the other half of the course is concerned with social, political, and policy concerns: HIV risk behaviors, clinical and policy interventions to prevent and treat HIV-related diseases, public policies that finance and implement HIV treatment and care, and the challenge of global HIV treatment and prevention. This course is co-taught by two CCHE faculty members, Dr. John Schneider and Dr. Harold Pollack.

Infectious Disease Epidemiology: Networks & Modeling: This intermediate-level epidemiology course directed by infectious disease epidemiologist-physicians, Dr. John Schneider, provides an up-to-date perspective on forgotten, contemporary and emerging infections. The course lectures and readings provide a rigorous examination of the interactions among pathogens, hosts, and the environment that produce disease in diverse populations. In addition to the demographic characteristics and the behaviors of individuals that are associated with a high risk of infection, we examine complex aspects of the environment as they pertain to disease transmission. These include poverty, globalization, social networks, public health, and racial and ethnic disparities. Methodologic approaches to infectious disease epidemiology that are covered include traditional study designs, molecular epidemiology, social network analysis, modeling, and network science. Local and global approaches are also applied to case studies from the United States, Asia, and Africa.

Wuhan’s historic Yellow Crane Tower. Photo credit.

The Wuhan University Medical Education Reform Project is a university-wide initiative that started in 2008. Led by Dr. Renslow Sherer and the Section of Infectious Diseases and Global Health, the project provides technical assistance to Wuhan University for comprehensive reform of their medical education curriculum and methodology, with a special emphasis on infectious diseases and public health. Current faculty and fellow opportunities exist for exchanges for clinical care, training and mentoring, and operational research in infectious disease prevention and treatment and in medical education reform practices and outcomes.

Here’s a 2010 program update from Dr. Sherer from the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine journal, the Pritzker Pulse. 

In 2011, Dr. Sherer was given the Hubei Province Chime Bell Award for his contributions to medical education in the region. 

The Third Coast HIV-related Cardiovascular (CV) and Sleep Disorders K12 Career Development Program (TC-CS K12) announces funding for NHLBI K12 Scholar Awards that provide substantial salary support (up to $85,000 plus fringe) for faculty-level MD and PhD scientists near the beginning of their investigative careers. Applications are for funding in 2019, with appointments beginning as early as July 1, 2019. Appointments are for two years. Eligible candidates must hold a doctoral degree and must have a faculty-level appointment during the period of support at the University of Chicago or Northwestern University.

Applicants interested in applying to the Northwestern program please email Justin Schmandt.

Applicants interested in applying to the University of Chicago program please email Kelsey Bogue.

The University of Chicago Infectious Disease Fellowship Program is a single institution ACGME-accredited fellowship that provides outstanding experiences and training in general infectious diseases, transplantation and immunocompromised host infectious disease, HIV infection, travel medicine, antibiotic stewardship, hospital epidemiology and infection control, and global health programs. The clinical experiences occur during rotations on 2 inpatient consult services (50% general and 50% transplantation ID). There is also a longitudinal clinic experience, including the care of persons living with HIV/AIDS as part of a multi-disciplinary team. The Fellowship Program is designed to offer outstanding training in clinical and outstanding opportunities in a variety of clinical and laboratory research. The establishment of infectious disease programs in Andhra Pradesh, India and in Wuhan, China introduced a new and exciting range of opportunities for training, research, and clinical experiences in global health.
Information on the ACGME Fellowship and how to apply can be found HERE.