Life as a Fellow

Clinic Opportunities 

Fine Needle Aspiration (FNA) Clinic:

The FNA clinic is a unique opportunity for one COMET fellow, or potentially a limited number of COMET fellows, where the role entails more hands-on assistance in a medical procedure setting obtaining biopsies rather than medical documentation. Interested individuals are required to apply to and be accepted to the COMET program,  as well as comply with all requirements of the COMET program. Accepted COMET fellows will then rank their clinic preferences, and FNA clinic will be one of the choices. We cannot guarantee which clinic an individual will be placed in, as placements are based on a number of factors. Please see the description provided by the FNA clinic below:

As the FNA clinic's COMET fellow, you will have the opportunity to directly engage with the patient during the appointment in addition to integrating into the dynamic workflow of the procedure, observing and working directly with the Cytopathology Fellows and Attendings to provide effective, comprehensive clinical care. The general expectations and roles of the fellow during clinic would be:

- Provide periprocedural assistance and support

- Assisting patients and family members to and from waiting room

- Technical assistant and minimal medical documentation during procedures

In addition to clinical responsibilities, you as the fellow will be afforded the opportunity to join the Cytopathology team at the microscope (or via Zoom for other multi-disciplinary rounds) as we review the biopsy material obtained from clinic and render a clinical diagnosis. This is an optional and one-of-a-kind opportunity, exclusive to the FNA clinic, that offers clinical and pathologic correlation as well an opportunity to immerse yourself in the field of Medicine and Pathology and see what takes place at the cellular level of patient care. Furthermore, there are ample research and QA/QI projects available for inquisitive minds.

Lastly, we as a department look forward to the opportunity to offer one-on-one mentoring and professional guidance to our COMET fellows. We are an extremely diverse department with backgrounds spanning many different fields of medicine and interests ranging from global health initiatives to innovative biotech and molecular/genetic research to rural and underserved community practices.

Expectations of Fellows

• After acceptance to the fellowship, complete medical scribe online training to learn the basics of medical transcription and medical terminology (approximately 50 hours)
• Be available beginning June 10, 2024 for program onboarding and in-clinic training on the Stanford campus
• Complete 25+ hours of in-clinic training with COMET trainers and physician mentor(s), where you will build your expertise in medical scribing
• Work side by side with physician mentor(s) for a minimum of 20 hours a week
  • Example of a scribe's schedule
• Commit to a year-long fellowship ending July 11, 2025

Educational Opportunities

In addition to the clinical experience  you will gain through scribing, you will also have opportunities to participate in:

• Educational seminars. Examples include:
  • Continuing Medical Education (CME) lectures on a variety of specialties by experts in their field supplemented with peer-facilitated discussions
  • Peer led presentations and discussions of case reports, innovative programs, and faculty research
• Opportunities to expand your skills beyond the traditional scribe role. Examples include:
  • Rooming patients and taking vital signs
  • Updating preventative services for patients
  • Engaging patients in health coaching and motivational interviewing 
  • Scribing in innovative models (i.e. telehealth visits, team visits, collaborative visits)

Research and Scholarship 

• Fellows are encouraged to pursue optional research with their mentor(s) and/or other Stanford faculty. To learn more about current faculty research interests, please see our Faculty page.
• The program has a long history of fellow-driven research projects, many of which have been presented at national conferences. Past ​projects include:
  • The effects of scribing on physician and patient satisfaction
  • Scribing as an avenue of pipeline development in primary care
  • And many more! 
• The fellowship provides a stipend for travel and accommodation for fellows who have been accepted to present at regional or national conferences.