As Chief Fellow Giuliana Berardi, MD, a third-year Hematology/Oncology Fellow at Fox Chase Cancer Center, reflected on her medical training, she noted the steep learning curve that accompanied each new level of medical training.

Berardi said, “While premed college coursework can be difficult, medical school is a whole other ballgame. The massive volume of scientific and clinical information you must quickly understand and retain—anatomy, microbiology, pathology, physiology, jumping from one area of medicine to another—can be daunting.” The same goes for residency and fellowship training, where a new and vast terrain of scholarship is now coupled with the responsibility of caring for patients.

These issues got Berardi thinking: Maybe there’s a way we can improve the way clinicians-in-training engage with this ocean of knowledge, a method that allows learning at their own pace and in their own way. With the encouragement of Jessica Bauman, MD, Chief, Division of Head and Neck Medical Oncology and Director, Hematology/Oncology Fellowship Training Program,

Berardi signed on as the Fox Chase lead investigator in a multi-center study based out of Vanderbilt University, which examined the addition of podcast learning to augment traditional didactic fellowship training. The study results were published in the ASCO publication JCO Oncology Practice and demonstrated significant educational benefits, with the majority of participants planning to continue podcast use alongside traditional coursework.  

Inspired by the success of the podcast study, Berardi is now working on a module lecture series for hematology/oncology trainees with a focus on bone marrow and cellular transplantation—another portable, accessible way to enable fellowship training while on the BMT floors or sitting on your couch with your earbuds and tablet.

Berardi joins the Fox Chase staff this August and brings with her a passion for clinical education and its impact on patient care.