Department of Medicine

Residency Program

Electives and Non-call Rotations

The amount of time assigned to electives increases from 3-4 in the first year to 5-6 months in the third year. Residents may serve on traditional consultation services such as cardiology, gastroenterology, pulmonary, dermatology, infectious diseases, hematology-oncology, and other medicine subspecialty areas. In addition, ambulatory selectives are offered for many of the above disciplines. Three of the electives are mandatory because they are largely outpatient disciplines with subject matter crucial to a complete residency education; therefore, they must be chosen at least once during the three years of training. These are rheumatology, endocrine, and a combined HIV/Allergy block. These selectives are predominantly ambulatory experiences and consistently receive excellent evaluations from the housestaff.

Electives are available in community medicine, occupational medicine, rehabilitation medicine, gynecology, otolaryngology, ophthalmology, anesthesiology, orthopedics, radiology, and geriatrics. Other rotations, including research projects, are often arranged to meet the needs and interests of residents.

Medical Consult (PGY-3)

The medical consultation service fulfills two vital objectives. First, you will perform consultation on the non-medicine services. From this work you will learn the basic tenets of liaison work. Second, you will see consults in the Pre-operative Clinic, becoming familiar with the approach to these patients, as well as the relevant literature. These two skills are central to the medical practice of a Primary Care Physician.

Geriatrics

Geriatric medicine is presented in both formal and informal venues. The latter occur predominantly on the inpatient services, where residents have exposure to a high volume of geriatric illness. Interaction with faculty, case workers and rehabilitation staff provides the core of teaching in this setting. A syllabus of the relevant geriatric literature is issued to all senior medical residents.

Gender Health (PGY-3)

The Gender Block is designed to offer an intense learning experience in a vital area of ambulatory medicine often neglected in traditional residency training programs. On this rotation, you work closely with a number of community- and university-based gynecologists and urologists. The experience reflects common problems you are apt to encounter in an outpatient practice. Of note, the designation gender block underscores the comprehensive nature of this rotation. The experience will include sessions in urology as well as the breast clinic. At the end of the rotation, residents will have a greater degree of comfort in dealing with the management of gender-specific health issues.

Urgent Care (PGY-1)

The high volume of ambulatory patient encounters on this rotation offers a counterpoint to your inpatient educational experiences. The rotation also includes sessions in otolaryngology, emphasizing primary care topics.