Applications Open for UPMC Obesity Medicine Fellowship
October 4, 2023
Launched in 2020, the UPMC Obesity Medicine Fellowship is funded by a Foundation Grant from the Obesity Medicine Fellowship Council. One fellow is selected annually, and the UPMC Center for Obesity Medicine is now training our third fellow, Nikola Gligorijevic, MD.
One of only 25 programs nationally, this year-long fellowship allows trainees to work with obesity medicine board-certified physicians in different specialties, including Endocrinology, Primary Care, Metabolic/Bariatric Surgery, Pediatrics, and Hepatology. Fellows also get invaluable exposure to clinical research, sleep medicine, inpatient nutrition, and the care of patients with behavioral eating disorders.
The UPMC Obesity Medicine Fellowship Program is unique in the breadth of experiences available to trainees.
“Most academic medical centers with a fellowship program have one medical clinic and one surgical clinic, or a single combined multidisciplinary center, where board-certified Obesity Medicine physicians address the management of obesity and train future providers,” says David Rometo, MD, Foundation Grant awardee and Fellowship Program director.
He adds, “At UPMC, patients have many options of where to go and whom to see, with different weight loss strategies, styles, and programs. Our fellows learn from them all in separate year-long continuity clinic experiences.”
Different weight intervention strategies include physician-administered frequent motivational interviewing, RD and PA-led one-on-one personalized lifestyle interventions, pre- and post-op bariatric behavioral programs, structured RD-led virtual group lifestyle, programs, and medically supervised meal-replacement programs utilizing a shared-medical appointment model. All interventions include medical management with anti-obesity medications as appropriate.
“The one year I spent at UPMC was a life changing experience,” says former fellow Nimmy Rodrigues, MD. “I was able to work in obesity clinics in different settings, including Endocrinology, Primary Care, the UPMC Comprehensive Weight Management Program, Bariatric Surgery, Hepatology, and Psychiatry, which is not very common in training.”
Dr. Rodrigues adds, “The opportunity to work with physicians, dieticians and behavioral therapists in different settings helped broaden my understanding about the subject and hone my interview, clinical, and counselling skills. This gave me the confidence that I could continue practicing obesity medicine in any setting, academic medicine, or private practice, join a practice or start a new obesity clinic. I felt very well prepared for my board exam as well.”
Interested residents, fellows, or practicing physicians can apply to the fellowship program here.
