Development and Implementation of a Standardized Inpatient Fellow Hematology Curriculum: Enhancing Educational...

Inpatient hematology rotations are a cornerstone of fellowship training, although they often lack clear alignment of didactics with clinical duties and expectations. National surveys have highlighted heterogeneity in training environments and underscored the need for standardized educational frameworks. This education-focused quality-improvement project sought to establish and evaluate an inpatient Fellow Hematology Curriculum (FHC) at Mayo Clinic in Rochester. A baseline needs assessment survey of the fellowship trainees (n = 30) during the 2021-2022 academic year identified substantial variability in teaching quality, limited access to educational materials, inconsistent emphasis on evidence-based practice, and unclear learning objectives. In response, a structured, evidence-based inpatient FHC was developed using Kern's Six-Step Approach and implemented during the 2022-2023 academic year on the Lymphoma/Myeloma and Leukemia services. The curriculum incorporated weekly disease-focused themes, standardized lecture templates anchored to widely accepted resources, and fellow-generated faculty-vetted content distributed in advance of rotations. Post-implementation surveys demonstrated marked improvements across multiple domains. Fellows reported increased consultant engagement, improved access to educational materials (41% vs. 5% pre-implementation), stronger alignment of didactics with clinical duties (84% vs. 45%), and enhanced clarity of learning objectives (58% vs. 25%). Perceptions of evidence-based teaching rose from 15% to 58% and the quality of education was less dependent on the hematology consultants/attendings. Implementation of a structured inpatient FHC was feasible, well-received, and associated with substantial improvements in fellows' perceived educational quality. This scalable model offers a practical approach for programs seeking to enhance inpatient hematology training using systematic, learner-centered curriculum design.