Clinical training in Hematology, Oncology and Blood and Marrow Transplantation occurs within the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center at University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics and at the Veteran’s Administration Medical Center, Iowa City. All faculty are members of the Division of Hematology, Oncology and Blood and Marrow Transplantation, Department of Internal Medicine in the Carver College of Medicine.
The ambulatory Clinical Cancer Center within the Holden Center is organized in disease or site-specific multidisciplinary teams. Fellows are part of the multidisciplinary team and interact not only with their supervising faculty member, but also with oncology specialists in surgery, radiation oncology or a medicine sub-specialist in the clinic. In addition, fellows can participate in one of more than a dozen disease-specific Tumor Boards.
Physical Environment
The Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center at The University of Iowa coordinates all cancer-related research, education, and patient care throughout the University of Iowa by faculty from 38 departments in six colleges, as well as UI Hospitals & Clinics. Founded in 1980, Holden Cancer Center includes patient care areas such as:
- The John and Mary Pappajohn Clinical Cancer Center, located on the first and second floors of the Pomerantz Pavilion of UI Hospitals & Clinics.
- Adult Blood and Marrow Transplantation – our Bone Marrow Transplant Service is very active; in 2020 our center performed 163 adult auto-transplants, allo-transplants and CAR-T procedures.
- The Radiation Oncology Center of Excellence is located in the lower level of the Pomerantz Pavilion of UI Hospitals & clinics.
The Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center is an NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center. We received this designation in 2000. The Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center received its fourth 5-year renewal from the NCI in 2021.
Research is conducted in laboratories throughout the University of Iowa campus. The Roland and Ruby Holden Cancer Research Laboratories, part of the Medical Education and Research Facility, allow the Cancer Center to integrate many researchers in close proximity to each other.
The University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics is the designated tertiary care hospital for the state of Iowa and is the nation's largest university-owned teaching hospital, with 50,000 patient admissions and 800,000 outpatient visits annually. Patients with neoplastic diseases are referred to The University of Iowa from a referral area that includes Iowa and its neighboring states. This referral base and the variety of patients seen have been remarkably stable despite recent changes in health care delivery systems.
The Iowa City Veteran’s Administration Medical Center is conveniently located adjacent to UI Hospitals & Clinics. The Iowa City VA Hospital Hematology Oncology Program is staffed by faculty from the University of Iowa. Facilities include a clinic, an infusion area, and a clinic conference room. The service is very busy and has clinics 5 days per week.
The University of Iowa was founded in 1847 and has a total enrollment of 32,150 students. The College of Medicine has over 600 medical students, 180 allied health students, 700 faculty, 1900 support staff, and more than 550 residents and fellows. The research enterprise of the UI Carver College of Medicine (CCOM) garnered $245 million in external funding in 2020 and the UI ranks 16th among public institutions in NIH funding. The Hardin Library for the Health Sciences, which is located between the University and VA Hospitals, houses 213,000 volumes, 2,700 periodicals, and 80 on-line databases in a modern 60,000-square-foot building.