Hematology and Medical Oncology Fellowship

Program Director’s Welcome

Welcome and thank you for your interest in the Hematology/Medical Oncology Fellowship Program at Memorial Healthcare System. Our inaugural class began in July 2021. Memorial Health System is one of the largest public healthcare systems in the United States.

There has never been a more exciting time to become a hematologist/oncologist given the advancement in the field of genomics, immunotherapy, personalized therapies, and next generation sequencing within the recent years. The goal of our fellowship program is to train physicians to become exceptional clinicians who can apply the most up to date knowledge in the field as well as the principles of patient-centered care to effectively and compassionately diagnose and treat patients with hematological and oncological diseases.

Our talented and well-trained clinicians have the resources and facilities required to deliver world-class care, participate in cutting edge clinical research and provide high quality training required of a superb fellowship program. Our faculty are committed to ensuring that fellows training in our program will gain the skills and aptitudes required for success whatever their long-term career goals.

Our ACGME accredited 3-year program Hematology and Medical Oncology Program will have 5 positions each year. It is designed to provide fellows with a combination of inpatient and outpatient experiences in the setting of community-based hospitals as well as tertiary referral centers. The strengths of our program are in the fields of disease-specific comprehensive programs, state of the art clinical research, and diverse community.

The key to a successful fellowship program is to create an academic atmosphere, build passion towards learning, and instill the principles of camaraderie and teamwork. These qualities provide the foundation to delivering outstanding patient care, and are the premises and characteristics we seek in prospective candidates.

Please take the time to explore our program in depth and do not hesitate to reach out if you have any questions regarding our residency or Memorial Healthcare System.

Atif Hussein, MD

• We are a community-based, academic, university-affiliated program sponsored by Memorial Healthcare System. Memorial trains hundreds of medical students each year and is affiliated with Florida Atlantic University (FAU) and Florida International University (FIU).
• 24/7 Hospitalist and Intensivist coverage. In-house attending physicians are available for assistance at all times and fellows are not required to meet the service needs of the hospital which allows for a better educational experience.
• State-of-the-art 35-bed inpatient Hematologic Malignancy and Cell Therapy staffed by on-site outstanding faculty members from Lee Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, FL. We have conducted more than 100 autologous and allogeneic stem cell transplants. We also started clinical trials using chimeric antigen receptor T cells.
• Lung cancer Center of Excellence with 4 renowned lung cancer faculty members.
• Head and Neck Cancer Program including 3 medical oncologists, surgical oncologist and reconstructive surgeons.
• Two free standing Breast Cancer Centers with 5 breast medical oncologists and 3 breast surgical oncologists.
• A radiation therapy department with 6 faculty members in 2 locations including state of the art Cyberknife.
• Multidisciplinary Gastrointestinal (GI) Cancer Team consisting of 3 medical oncologists and 5 GI surgical oncologists.
• Neuro-oncology Team consisting of 2 medical oncologists and several neurosurgeons.
• Multidisciplinary Sarcoma and Melanoma Team consisting of 2 medical oncologists and several surgeons.
• Genitourinary (GU) Cancer Team consisting of 2 medical oncologists and 2 GU surgical oncologists and several general urologists.
• Daily disease-specific and general tumor boards where all specialties are involved and communicate via video conferencing between our 2 East and West sites.
• Multidisciplinary clinics for several diseases where patients are seen by multiple members of the Team engaged in disease specific programs.
• Excellent pathology department with many members dedicated to specific diseases and 4 dedicated hematopathologists.
• Wide scope blood banking services including apheresis, plasmapheresis, and all types of transfusions.
• Palliative Care Team consisting of 2 physicians who provide inpatient and outpatient services.
• Integrative Medicine Department with one physician and few advanced practice practitioners.
• Cancer Supportive Services Department consisting of several nurse navigators, social services, and others.
• Outstanding inpatient oncology units both East and West.
• Great patient diversity and an exciting range of pathology which rivals any large inner-city hospital and academic centers.
• Our medium-sized program allows us to get to know each of our fellows on a personal level and provides a learning environment rich with camaraderie and an ability to develop one-on-one relationships with colleagues, faculty and mentors.
• We have an Office of Human Research (10 research oncology nurses and 3 regulatory staff members) with our own Internal Review Board (IRB). The Chief Medical Research Officer and her team will assist fellows with the development of their research and submission to the IRB. Participation in some form of clinical scholarly activity is mandatory for graduation from the program. In addition, fellows will be trained in the basic concepts of quality improvement (QI) and Patient Safety and will have the opportunity to participate in QI projects during their training.

Memorial Cancer Center/Moffitt Center

In the fight against leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma, our partnership with Moffitt Cancer Center brings lifesaving expertise and excellence from one of the nation’s most respected, world-class cancer centers to South Florida. Moffitt Cancer Center, a National Cancer Institute-Designated Comprehensive Cancer Center in Florida, is recognized as one of the ten best cancer centers in the United States.