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Program Director Welcome

Thank you for your interest in the Internal Medicine Residency programs.

Donald R. Bordley, M.D., Associate Chair for Education and the Residency Program Director

The University of Rochester's Department of Medicine offers residency positions in Categorical Internal Medicine and Preliminary Internal Medicine. With the Department of Pediatrics, we also share responsibility for the Combined Medicine-Pediatrics Program.

The Categorical Internal Medicine Program

Our rich learning environment attracts outstanding residents from across the country. Currently, we have graduates of 32 U.S. medical schools in 21 states. After four years, our residents enter highly competitive subspecialty fellowships or outstanding practice opportunities. Since 2001, 74% of our graduates have entered fellowships; 26% have chosen general internal medicine. Many graduating residents choose University of Rochester fellowships. Others accept outstanding fellowships elsewhere. Some recent destinations: Dana Farber Cancer Center, Beth Israel/Deaconess Medical Center, Boston University, Tufts New England Medical Center, Yale University, Cornell University, Johns Hopkins University, University of Maryland, George Washington University, University of Virginia, Duke University, University of Pittsburgh, Cleveland Clinic, Mayo Clinic, Washington University in St. Louis, University of California at San Francisco, Oregon Health Sciences University, and the University of Washington.

Our key faculty members are Associate Program Directors Bilal Ahmed, M.D., Catherine Gracey, M.D., and Alec O'Connor, M.D.; and Assistant Program Directors John Grable, M.D., Ph.D. and Peter Mariuz, M.D. The Program Administrator is Alice Gordon, assisted by Program Coordinators Mary Lou Beagan and Karen Gauthier.

The Residency Experience

Our core curriculum is designed to train the contemporary internist in both inpatient and ambulatory settings. Our inpatient "campus" includes two hospitals: Strong Memorial Hospital (the University Medical Center) and Highland Hospital, our nearby community teaching affiliate. These two hospitals offer the full range of inpatient experience, from general medicine to sophisticated quaternary care. Residents receive most of their inpatient floor and ICU/CCU experience at Strong, but also complete general medicine inpatient rotations at Highland.

An equally broad ambulatory curriculum draws on our full-time General Medicine faculty. They supervise residents at two continuity practice sites, with the help of subspecialty faculty from all disciplines and a group of community-based generalists—many of them graduates of the Rochester residency in internal medicine. Residents get ambulatory continuity experience in the faculty-resident practice in the Ambulatory Care Center at Strong, or at the faculty-resident practice at Highland. To round out the core residency experience, there are clinical rotations in geriatrics, palliative care, and neurology, and a research mentorship in PGY-1.

Inpatient and ambulatory elective experiences are offered in all major internal medicine subspecialties, as well in related fields, including dermatology and sports medicine. During elective blocks, residents may also participate in International Health or Community Health programs.

Recent Innovations

A curriculum redesign started in 2004 provides early exposure to a range of career opportunities in internal medicine. It also allows an individualized educational program for each resident, based on evolving career objectives.

Our initial focus has been on diversification of the PGY-1 year. In July 2005, we added the following experiences to the PGY-1 curriculum:

  • Two ambulatory-based subspecialty rotations, each chosen by PGY-1 residents and lasting two weeks. These give residents early exposure to clinical subspecialties.
  • Two rotations in community-based general internal medicine practices, each lasting two weeks. These complement the hospital-based ambulatory continuity experience.
  • A two-week research mentorship. This gives PGY-1 residents an introduction to scholarship, and residents who want to participate in research get an early start.

The curriculum redesign also includes new guidelines for PGY-2 and PGY-3 electives. Residents choose electives based on a prefered clinical focus: subspecialty medicine, ambulatory general medicine, or inpatient general medicine.

Under the direction of John Grable, M.D., Ph.D., Assistant Director for Resident Research, we have expanded programs for resident scholarship. Residents who pursue their residency certificate with Distinction in Research may devote four weeks in their PGY-2 year and eight weeks in their PGY-3 year to a mentored research project.

The Preliminary Internal Medicine Program

The Preliminary Internal Medicine Program fulfills the one-year training requirement in internal medicine that is necessary for residencies in other fields, including dermatology, neurology, ophthalmology, and radiology. The curriculum for preliminary residents is identical to that for categorical PGY-1s, with one exception: Preliminary residents do not have a continuity general medicine experience.

The Combined Medicine-Pediatrics Program

Our Combined Medicine-Pediatrics Program, started in 1967, includes eight residents in each year of the four-year curriculum and draws candidates from across the country. Current residents are graduates of 23 different U.S. medical schools.

During core medicine rotations and electives, medicine-pediatrics residents work and learn side by side with their internal medicine colleagues. They are considered as much a part of our program as the categorical residents. Floor and ICU teams often include residents from both programs, enriching everyone's learning experience. Medicine-pediatrics residents are welcomed in all clinical components of the medicine program and, on an optional basis, in the research programs.

I hope this introduction has strengthened your interest in our internal medicine residency programs.

Donald R. Bordley, M.D.
Program Director in Internal Medicine
Associate Chair for Education