Julia Close, MD

Julia Close, MD is a professor of medicine in the Division of Hematology and Oncology at the University of Florida. Her primary appointment is as the Associate Dean of Graduate Medical Education and the Designated Institutional Official (DIO) for the University of Florida College of Medicine. She was previously the Program Director for the Hematology/Oncology Fellowship Program.  She is a clinician educator, with research interest in curriculum related to general oncology and interactions with patients at the end of life. She is actively nationally in education, serving on the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO)’s Professional Development Committee and the In-Training Exam Writing Committees for both Internal Medicine and Oncology.  She was previously Section Chief of Oncology at the Gainesville VAMC, and was the Assistant Chief of the Medical Service from 2015-2018. She previously chaired the VHA Oncology Field Advisory (FAC) Committee, a national committee providing guidance for national VA policy. She is interested in performance improvement in oncology, and has a national role in this through the VA FAC and through her membership on ASCO’s Workforce Advisory Group Committee.

Dr. Close’s research interest is in optimizing education for learners at all levels, with a focus on Graduate Medical Education, specifically fellows. She has developed both local and national curriculum. Local efforts include incorporating team based learning and virtual patients into the fellowship oncology curriculum. At a national level, she was one of 3 editors representing the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in the development and improvement of a collaborative curriculum between the European Society for Medical Society (ESMO) and ASCO, to be used for oncology programs outside the United States. She is also interested in providing education to improve the physician and patient interaction at the end of life, and is currently pursuing research into this area. Finally, she is interested in preventing burn-out in physicians-in-training, and has recently worked with colleagues to expand the resiliency curriculum within the fellowship program.