For immediate release: June 15, 2012
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School of Medicine graduates first medical oncology fellows

Fellowship program is collaborative partnership with U.C. San Diego Health System Nevada Cancer Institute

LAS VEGAS, Nev.— The University of Nevada School of Medicine recently graduated its inaugural class of medical oncology fellows through its collaborative partnership with the U.C. San Diego Health System Nevada Cancer Institute (NVCI).

“We graduated four fellows from the two-year program and they are now eligible to sit for the American Board of Internal Medicine’s medicinal oncology certifying exam,” said Miriam Bar-on, M.D., associate dean for graduate medical education at the School of Medicine.

Newly graduated fellows are: Randy Calegari, M.D., who will remain on staff with the NVCI; Georgia Gonsalves-Shapiro, M.D., who accepted a medical oncology position with a practice near Orlando, Florida; Deepa Mocherla, M.D., who is exploring employment options in the Las Vegas area; and Behrooz K. Shamloo, M.D., who is reviewing multiple offers.

Fellowship programs are additional training in a medical subspecialty field lasting from one to three years beyond a physician’s residency. One of the key components distinguishing fellowships from residency training is a research requirement. Each medical oncology fellow completed a research project that was presented at the recent School of Medicine’s Resident/Fellow Research Day.

As part of the medical oncology fellowship program, physicians gain both inpatient and outpatient experience through the NVCI, the VA Southern Nevada Healthcare System and the School of Medicine.

The inpatient component is a combination of inpatient management service and consultation service. In conjunction with an attending physician, the fellows actively participated in the care of inpatients, ranging from disease diagnosis to clinical management, including the administration of antineoplastic treatments. Fellows participated in clinical inpatient activities at the University Medical Center. The outpatient component of the training included seeing patients for new assessments and for follow-up care at both NVCI and the VA.

The U.C. San Diego Health System Nevada Cancer Institute is the official cancer institute for Nevada, headquartered in Las Vegas. A nonprofit organization, NVCI is committed to reducing the burden of cancer by offering the best in high-quality patient care, research, education, early detection and prevention. The Institute has treated more than 17,000 patients since opening in 2005 and offers novel treatment strategies through clinical trials, as well as Hope Coach, a mobile mammography unit.

The University of Nevada School of Medicine, a research-intensive, community-based, statewide medical school, has served Nevada for more than 40 years as its only public medical school. Our mission is improving the health of Nevada’s diverse population through world-class biomedical research, an innovative curriculum integrating basic and clinical sciences, and highly competitive residency and fellowship programs that complement a statewide network of urban and rural clinical facilities. Through targeted growth and investment in research, clinical services and education, we are a resource for improving health care regionally and across the country.