Residency Programs in Internal Medicine

Training Locations

Ambulatory Care

Quality ambulatory care training is a critical part of our program. Our ambulatory training program is housed in a state-of-the-art facility on Madison Avenue that offers our residents an excellent setting within which to conduct their practices.

Faculty practices are completely integrated with the resident practices, and house staff physicians work side by side with their preceptors. We now have over 41 full time general internists who serve as role models and mentors for our residents.

Residents spend one half day per week in practice and two months in an ambulatory block rotation each year of their residency. Each resident has a cadre of patients that he or she cares for throughout the residency, providing continuity of care for the patient and an evolving learning experience for the resident.

This experience intensifies each resident's practice experience, and fosters learning of the special skills needed to develop competence in outpatient medicine including gynecology, orthopedics, dermatology, otolaryngology, ophthalmology, women's health, adolescent medicine, cultural competency, and neurology.

A structured curriculum of outpatient topics including ambulatory medicine, psychosocial problems, patient counseling, patient-centered health education, and doctor-patient communication skills is delivered during the outpatient blocks. Additionally, ambulatory evidence-based morning report is a focal teaching conference in the outpatient area.

Each resident spends an entire month during the PGY-2 year working with the Visiting Doctors Program, the largest home visiting program in the country. This novel program, where doctors make house calls to homebound New York City residents, has received numerous national honors. Invariably, it is regarded by our house staff as one of the most rewarding clinical rotations.

The resident practices, known as continuity practices, are organized in a firm system. Each resident is assigned to a small practice with one attending physician who leads a team of approximately six house staff. There are nurse practitioners, nutritionists, and psychiatric social workers linked to these teams. During office sessions, one attending physician directly supervises no more than three residents.

Each firm is responsible for ensuring continuity of care. This includes caring for each patient in both inpatient and outpatient settings. Each resident maintains a practice of patients who remain with the house officer throughout the three years of training. The firms offer 24-hour telephone coverage as well as emergency coverage by residents for their firm's patients. All residents have their own business cards, which they distribute to their patients.

We believe this system allows residents to train in a model that is very close to the actual practice of internal medicine. An electronic medical records system was rolled out in 2006. This paperless environment further prepares residents for how they are likely to practice throughout their careers.

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