The University of Chicago training program is dedicated toward achieving three predominant aims: excellence in patient care, leadership in medical research, and distinction in scholarship and education.
The emphasis is on learning by doing and this educational philosophy of resident autonomy and responsibility runs through all three years of the program. Residents are constantly challenged to solve problems on their own, but are backed by an accessible, full-time faculty interested in and responsible for teaching residents.
Vital Statistics:
*The Department of Medicine has 42 first year residency positions (32 categorical, 7 preliminary, and 4 medicine/pediatrics) and maintains 175 beds at the University of Chicago Medical Center and approximately 25 beds at Mercy Hospital.
*Medical patients are assigned to a first-year resident (intern) who is supervised by an advanced resident and an attending physician.
*First year residents typically admit 5 new patients per night on call and care for 7-10 patients at a time.
*First year residents typically spend 4 weeks exclusively at the Primary Care Group. This ambulatory block serves as an essential orientation to outpatient primary care. This curriculum continues in the second and third years of training with two months each year dedicated to ambulatory training.
*Continuity clinic begins during the first year, where first year residents acquire a cohort of patients that they will follow throughout the three years of training. Up to 15 residents may choose to take their continuity clinic experience at a community based free clinic in the Englewood neighborhood of Chicago.
*Subspecialty training at the University of Chicago Medical Center is distinctive because the Sections of Cardiology and Hematology/Oncology each operate discrete inpatient services. The other sections are combined into the general medicine services, assuring residents of rigorous training in a broad range of medical problems.
*Each section in the Department of Medicine has its own outpatient clinic and consultation service.
*University of Chicago residents have one to two, month-long rotations at Mercy Hospital a 373 bed hospital located on the south side of Chicago.
*The Section of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine directs a 16-bed intensive care unit, in which patients from all services receive care.
*The Cardiac Care Unit has 9 beds fully equipped for invasive hemodynamic and electrophysiologic monitoring.
*Interns participate in a geriatrics curriculum through a 4-week outpatient rotation at the South Shore Health Center. This rotation also includes formal nursing home and hospice experiences.
*Over three years, each categorical resident has access to three full research/elective months, the maximum allowed by the American Board of Internal Medicine.
*The housestaff program is in accord with the requirements of the American Board of Internal Medicine. The program is fully accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education.
Teaching conferences complement daily attending rounds and include the following:
* Daily Morning Report: The most popular conference among residents who prepare and present cases to each other, the chief resident, and the attending physician
* Weekly Morbidity and Mortality Conference: Another favorite among the housestaff, the conference focuses on one case each week that is discussed by the faculty, residents, and a pathologist. Pathologic material is reviewed and clinical correlations are made
* Daily Subspecialty Teaching Conferences in cardiology, hematology-oncology, and critical care:Residents attend these conferences during their different rotations
* Twice Weekly Workshops on Medical Emergencies: Residents attend these workshops during the first three months of the year.
* Weekly Lectures on various topics in internal medicine given by both general medicine physicians and subspecialists
* Weekly Journal Club discussing recent literature as well as landmark articles
* Weekly Intern Report: A forum where interns gather to discuss a recent case with the help of an attending and chief resident
* Monthly Ambulatory Training Group: A forum where residents participating in the ambulatory rotation gather to discuss outpatient cases and topics
* Board Review: A resident organized series of lectures preparing third year residents for the ABIM exam