Hematology and Medical Oncology Fellowship Program

Advanced training in hematology and oncology

A group photo of the 2023 fellows from the Hematology and Medical Oncology Fellowship Program at Scripps Clinic.

Advanced training in hematology and oncology

The Hematology and Medical Oncology Fellowship Program at Scripps is a three-year graduate medical education program in San Diego, offering advanced training in hematologic and oncologic disorders in a health system that is nationally recognized as a leader in cancer treatment. The fellowship is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education and ensures our fellows are primed to deliver high-quality medical care as they embark on their careers as oncologists and hematologists.


The Scripps Clinic/Scripps Green Hematology and Oncology Fellowship aims to graduate expert clinicians and to promote their future career successes in the healthcare setting of their choice. Graduates flourish as academic physician scientists, community practice physicians, and thought leaders in their specialty. The culture of our fellowship not only fosters outstanding clinical training and the creation of impactful and innovative research, but also cultivates a sense of community that serves to enhance physician well-being and, by extension, the best care for our diverse patient population.


During this graduate medical education training program, fellows receive comprehensive exposure to a broad spectrum of benign and malignant diseases as well as therapeutic options and management of toxicities. In addition, fellows are introduced to a variety of research opportunities and are expected to make significant contributions to clinical or laboratory-based projects during their training. 

Program highlights

  • We offer an individualized cancer care approach that combines our experienced team of multidisciplinary health professionals with the latest technologies and treatments.
  • Becker’s Hospital Review magazine has listed Scripps Health among the nation’s “100 Hospitals and Health Systems with Great Oncology Programs.”
  • The size of our program and focus on outpatient cancer care allows us to tailor each fellow’s training to fit their ultimate career goals.

Message from our directors

Headshots of Dr. Carrie Costantini and Dr. James Mason.

Message from our directors

Hear directly from the fellowship program director Carrie Costantini, MD, and division head James Mason, MD, about what to expect from this three-year program in Southern California. 

From the program director

Thank you for your interest in the Hematology and Medical Oncology Fellowship Program at Scripps Clinic/Scripps Green. Our goal is to graduate outstanding clinicians who are well-prepared for careers in a variety of practice settings. Upon completion of our fellowship, you’ll be comfortable treating a wide range of diseases, both malignant and benign, and be ready for the clinical or research-based career of your choice. We recognize the different paths trainees take after graduation. Our program has the flexibility to tailor each fellow's schedule to help them achieve their goals.


Our training is based in the outpatient setting, reflective of most careers post fellowship. Our outpatient clinics are subspecialty-based, and second- and third-year fellows have their own patient panel in the fellow clinic. Our fellows rotate through subspecialty multidisciplinary clinics where new patients are initially seen by medical oncology, radiation oncology and surgical oncology. You’ll have the opportunity to rotate through our bone marrow transplant service as well as palliative care, hematopathology and radiation oncology.


Our faculty is dedicated to the education and career development of trainees. Academic scholarship is a critical part of our program. We recognize that each fellow has different career goals and therefore offer a wide range of scholarly activities. We collaborate with each fellow on their clinical, translational, quarterly health disparities and/or laboratory-based research interests.


The fellowship is based at Scripps Green Hospital and Scripps Clinic in La Jolla, but fellows also spend significant time at Scripps Mercy Hospital San Diego, near downtown. Scripps Mercy San Diego supports a large, underserved population. This provides ample opportunities for fellows to gain exposure to a different patient population, as well as trauma, obstetrics services and consultative hematology.


We strive for our fellows to work and be educated in an environment that values diversity, inclusion and equity in our trainees, faculty, staff and patients.


I look forward to meeting you and having the opportunity to discuss the Scripps Clinic Hematology and Medical Oncology Fellowship Program.


Carrie Costantini, MD

Director, Hematology and Medical Oncology Fellowship Program

Scripps Clinic

From the division head

I’m delighted that you’re considering the Hematology and Medical Oncology Fellowship Program at Scripps Clinic/Scripps Green. We have a long and rich history in education, clinical and translational research and subspecialty patient care. Indeed, our focus now more than ever is on building strong subspecialty multi-disciplinary programs encompassing clinics and tumor boards. 


As such, we’re able to offer our fellows an outstanding education in hematology/oncology in every area in the field. Our faculty subspecialize and focus on such areas as breast cancer and gynecologic malignancies, thoracic and head and neck cancers, genitourinary malignancy, gastrointestinal malignancies with a special focus on pancreatic cancer, benign hematology, malignant hematology, and hematopoietic cell transplantation and cellular therapy.


We’re academically focused, with multiple publications coming out of our faculty each year. It’s the expectation that all faculty excel in teaching and engage the fellows in clinical research projects. We have active research collaborations with The Scripps Research Institute, the Sanford Burnham Prebys Research Institute and others. Our main campus is located minutes away from dozens of biomedical institutes, affording ample opportunity for collaboration.


Fellows rotate through several related areas including palliative care, radiation oncology, hematopathology, bone marrow transplantation (BMT) and the acute leukemia unit. This is an academic program, which is one of the oldest and most established in the country and has a strong regional presence. CAR-T therapy and other cellular therapies have been added. For those interested, we offer a third year on the BMT unit focusing on research and clinical care and leading to accreditation in the field.


I look forward to meeting you and discussing the opportunities and strengths of our program in person.


Sincerely,

James R. Mason, MD

Head, Division of Hematology/Oncology 

Scripps Clinic

From the chief fellow

Thank you for your interest in our program! 


I have thoroughly enjoyed my past two years in the Scripps Hematology/Oncology Fellowship. Our program offers exposure to patient and disease diversity, plentiful research opportunities, great faculty mentorship, and lots of camaraderie with other fellows. This has made my time pass quickly here and I’m going to miss it.


In terms of clinical training opportunities, our fellows do rotations at five sites. We work at two hospitals — Scripps Green Hospital in La Jolla (near the Pacific Ocean) and Scripps Mercy Hospital San Diego in Hillcrest (downtown San Diego) allowing us to care for a diverse patient population for our inpatient and consult rotations. We work in clinics at the cancer centers in La Jolla and Hillcrest, and also the North County clinics in Encinitas, Oceanside and Rancho Bernardo. My training and sense of connection to our San Diego community has been enriched by training at each of these sites.


Research opportunities are abundant here. We have a research support team called SHARC (Scripps Hub Academic Research Core) that can help you write your first IRB proposal, prepare a grant, or do the analysis for a manuscript or poster. Fellows get protected time throughout the three years for scholarly projects. The Scripps Clinic Medical Group has internal grants for which you can apply to fund your work, and there are collaborative research opportunities with nearby institutes like Scripps Research, the Sanford Consortium and Sanford Burnham Prebys. 


The faculty and trainees in the fellowship are a real joy, and I have learned a lot from them. I was connected with a research and career mentor in my first few months of the fellowship, and I have found the faculty here to be incredibly helpful in guiding my career planning and post-training job search. The fellows, faculty and our staff are a very tight knit group, and it makes our clinics and hospital a really fun and supportive place to train!


Please reach out if you have any questions. If invited to interview, you’ll have access to the program’s microsite that will provide even more information about the great facets of our program. 


Sincerely,


David Savage, MD, PhD

Training sites, rotations and lectures

The Hematology and Medical Oncology Fellowship Program at Scripps Clinic/Scripps Green is designed to focus training in the outpatient setting to help fellows prepare for future practice.


We have two main training hospitals: Scripps Green Hospital and Scripps Mercy Hospital San Diego. Each location exposes fellows to a wide range of patient populations and diseases. We have outpatient clinic locations with infusion centers in La Jolla, Encinitas, Rancho Bernardo, Oceanside and Hillcrest. Our multidisciplinary tumor boards and lecture series curriculum enhance the educational experience.

Rotations

Each hematology and medical oncology fellow has 13 blocks of four-week rotations at different inpatient and outpatient settings each year. This exposes fellows to a variety of patients and educational opportunities. 


First-year fellows


  • 0.25 blocks (1 week) of hematopathology
  • 6 inpatient blocks at Mercy and Green
  • 1 block of bone marrow transplantation (BMT) at Green
  • 5.75 blocks at the hematology/oncology outpatient clinic
  • ½ day a week of Continuity Clinic (6 months solid tumor oncology and 6 months benign heme clinic) each block


Second-year fellows 


  • 2 blocks at BMT at Green
  • 9 blocks at the hematology/oncology outpatient clinic
  • 1 block of palliative care
  • 1 block radiation oncology/proton therapy 
  • Research time is integrated into clinical schedule


Third-year fellows 


  • Time is divided between hematology/oncology outpatient clinic and research — individualized curriculum based on future career goals.


Second- and third-year fellows


  • Fellow continuity clinic — one half-day per week

Educational curriculum

The fellowship program’s weekly educational series is faculty-led and covers both common and rare hematology and oncology medical conditions as well as supportive care oncology. As leaders in their respective subspecialties, our faculty offers insights on a range of lecture topics. We also have dedicated Classical Hematology/Hematopathology and Pharmacy lectures as well as board review didactics. We have dedicated lectures on QI/patient safety, wellness, bias and diversity topics. Fellows join disease specific multidisciplinary tumor and hematology planning conferences.


Fellows have the opportunity and are encouraged to participate in our GME Sub-Committees including Research, Quality Improvement/Patient Safety, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging as well as Wellness. They participate in both fellowship specific as well as GME-wide programs and initiatives.


View the Weekly Conference Schedule (PDF, 48 KB).

Faculty, fellows and alumni

During your fellowship at Scripps Clinic, you’ll work under the mentorship of leading cancer experts and alongside talented trainees. With academic scholarship at the core of the program, our team is dedicated to delivering superior medical education and guidance to meet each fellow’s interests and career goals.

Faculty

Our experienced team of multidisciplinary physicians are committed to sharing their knowledge and experiences to provide fellows with a rewarding, dynamic training experience. At Scripps Health, we focus on offering patients an individualized cancer care approach while using the latest technologies and treatments in hematology and oncology.


Our faculty includes:


Current fellows for AY 2023-2024

Fellows in the hematology-oncology program have previously studied across the country and right here in San Diego. Their diverse backgrounds and interests are shaping the future of cancer treatment and cancer research.


View photos of the 2023 fellows (PDF, 1.8 MB).


Third-year fellows


Joseph Ryan, MD

Medical School: University of Washington School of Medicine

Residency: University of California, San Diego School of Medicine


David Savage, MD, PhD

Medical School: McGovern Medical School at the University of Texas

Residency: University of California, San Diego School of Medicine


Quinne Sember, MD

Medical School: Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences

Residency: UT Health


Aparajit Ram (Raja) Venkateswaran, MD

Medical School: University of Texas Medical Branch School of Medicine

Residency: Scripps Clinic/Scripps Green Hospital


Second-year fellows


Shanley Banaag, DO

Medical School: West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine

Residency: National Capital Consortium, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center


Lee Hong, MD, PhD

Medical School: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine

Residency: Scripps Clinic/Scripps Green Hospital

*Research Track


Diana Maslov, MD

Medical School: University of Queensland School of Medicine

Residency: Ochsner Clinic Foundation


Charisma Mylavarapu, DO

Medical School: Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine of Midwestern University

Residency: Houston Methodist Hospital


Jacob New, MD, PhD

Medical School: University of Kansas School of Medicine

Residency: Scripps Clinic/Scripps Green Hospital

*Research Track


Anna Ter-Zakarian, MD

Medical School: Keck School of Medicine of the University of California

Residency: University of California San Diego


First-year Fellows


Alex Agelidis MD, PhD

Medical School: University of Illinois at Chicago

Recent Residency: Scripps Clinic/Scripps Green Hospital

*Research Track


Roxanne Aleman, MD

Medical School: Central Michigan University College of Medicine

Recent Residency: Advocate Christ Medical Center


Danielle Brazel, MD

Medical School: Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine

Recent Residency: University of California, Irvine


Tiffany Kaul MD, PhD

Medical School: Tulane University School of Medicine

Recent Residency: Scripps Clinic/Scripps Green Hospital

*Research Track


Catherine Weir, DO

Medical School: Touro University College of Osteopathic Medicine California

Recent Residency: Cook County Health and Hospital


Shane Wing, MD

Medical School: University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine

Recent Residency: University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston

Alumni

After completion of the three-year program, our fellows have gone on to make significant contributions in the field of hematology and oncology — both in clinical research and in patient care. 


View a list of recent alumni (PDF, 150 KB).

Research opportunities

Scripps Clinic has a rich history in clinical research and encompassing basic science to clinical trials. From its earliest inception, the Division of Hematology and Oncology has been a research leader within Scripps Clinic, assisting in new drug development and first-in-patient care.


Our faculty and fellows work with some of the most prominent medical research institutes in the world. Located along “The Mesa” of North Torrey Pines, our program offers collaborations and laboratory experience within The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), Scripps Translational Science Institute (STSI), Sanford Burnham Prebys National Cancer Institute (SBP), Salk Institute and Venter Institute. Additionally, La Jolla has a rich mix of biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies that engage with our cancer teams to initiate clinical trials on leading-edge therapeutics.


Scripps Hub Academic Research Core (SHARC) team is a partnership between the Scripps Research Translational Institute and Scripps Health with a focus on supporting trainee research with navigation, statistical support and community engagement. 

Published articles

Fellows in the Scripps Clinic Hematology and Medical Oncology Program are expected to participate in research projects and contribute to medical literature. Our fellows have presented at major conferences and have publications in a variety of journals in recent years. Fellow research awards include the ASCO Conquer Cancer Foundation Young Investigator Award in 2019 and an ASH Minority Hematology Fellow Award in 2021.

Salary and benefits

Fellows at Scripps Health receive a standardized compensation package that includes a base salary, health insurance benefits, an educational allowance, paid vacation days, paid sick days and other benefits.

Annual salary

Scripps Clinic/Green Hospital fellow:


  • PGY IV year - $82,185
  • PGY V year - $85,994
  • PGY VI year - $89,876

Insurance, leave and other benefits

Insurance

  • Health and dental insurance plans are available for fellows and their dependents for a minimal cost. Fellows may participate in the Scripps Wellness program to reduce their health care premiums.
  • Confidential counseling and psychological support services are available.
  • Life insurance coverage, up to $1,000,000, is available for fellows and their dependents.
  • Long-term disability insurance, at Scripps rates, is available for purchase. State Disability Insurance is paid by the fellow. The State of California requires this contribution.
  • Fellows are covered by malpractice insurance while performing services within the scope of their training at Scripps Clinic. The liability limit is $5,000,000 per claim/$5,000,000 annually. Tail coverage is provided.


Vacation leave

Fellows receive 20 vacation days annually. Six paid sick days are allotted annually. Parental and other leaves of absence follow Scripps policy and California State Law. Substantial absences may necessitate additional rotations to complete training.


Other benefits

  • Lab coats and scrubs are provided and laundered by Scripps.
  • Paid parking in the adjacent gated and covered structure is provided at no cost.
  • A full-service cafeteria is located in the hospital.
  • Call rooms are provided.


Educational expenses

Scripps provides an educational expense allowance annually to each fellow for professional meetings and conferences, books and journals, professional dues and other educational expenses.

How to apply

The Hematology and Medical Oncology Fellowship Program at Scripps Clinic is a competitive program that receives more than 300 applications for four fellowship positions per year. Our institution places value on our fellows and their education, and we are fortunate to match with some of the brightest and most promising physicians in the country. We look forward to reviewing your application.

Apply to the hematology and oncology fellowship

This fellowship program accepts applications through ERAS (Electronic Residency Application Service) in July. The deadline for completed applications is August 15. Virtual interviews will be in September and October.

Who can apply

  • Applicants must have completed, or expect to complete, an ACGME-accredited residency program.
  • All licenses, ECFMG certification, and professional certifications are the applicant’s responsibility. 
  • Scripps Clinic does not operate its own J-1 or H-1 visa program.
  • MUST have a current California Physician’s and Surgeon’s License and DEA certificate by start date. Please see Medical Board of California requirements for licensure.  

Contact us

To learn more about the Hematology and Oncology Fellowship Program at Scripps Clinic, contact Dawn Curtis at 858-554-3200 or curtis.dawn@scrippshealth.org.