Internal Medicine Residency Program in Baltimore

Our curriculum is designed to train residents in the ACGME’s six core competencies, which include patient care, medical knowledge, practice-based learning and improvement, interpersonal and communication skills, professionalism, and systems-based practice. Our residents will achieve these competencies through a variety of rotations on the inpatient general medicine floor, intensive care unit, ambulatory clinic and electives.

We run on a 6+2 ambulatory model. The academic year is divided into six 8-week sections. The ‘6’ designates the spent on the wards, in the ICU, in the ED, or on electives. The ‘+2’ is during which ambulatory experiences will occur.

Our inpatient rotations take place at Union Memorial, Franklin Square, and Harbor Hospitals. Residents will gain exposure to general medical units and intensive care units at all these hospitals. One unique aspect of our program is the Acute Cardiac Service at Union Memorial, a dedicated cardiac unit where residents work closely with both attending faculty and cardiologists. Union is a regional referral center for cardiology care and our residents gain a wealth of experience taking care of these complicated patients. On the other side of the city Franklin Square has become a center for neuro-interventional care and provides a unique experience in the care of complicated stroke patients.

Residents are assigned an outpatient clinic either in one of our core residency clinics or with a regional private provider to gain experience in a real world clinical practice. Our residents can rotate through a variety of outpatient specialty clinics including the core internal medicine specialties such as Infectious Disease and Oncology, but also fields like Dermatology, Pain Management, and Bariatric clinic.

Our program offers 3 tracks for those residents who have a specific career in mind. These tracks are designed to guide and educate our residents on the specifics of their chosen field, giving them first hand experience in the medical path they are desiring to follow.

Inpatient Track

MedStar Health Internal Medicine Residency Program features an Inpatient Track designed for second and third year residents who wish to pursue academic medicine.  Priority is given to those interested in hospital medicine, but residents interested in medicine subspecialties may also apply.  The track offers additional research mentorship. Residents are expected to participate in Quality Improvement projects or other research leading to publication. In the third year, most Inpatient Track residents will have an additional 4 to 6 weeks of research time. Other benefits include access to an individualized hospitalist rotation and additional funds for approved medical conferences. 

Primary Care Track

MedStar Health Internal Medicine Residency program offers a Primary Care Track, an enhanced educational pathway for residents interested in pursuing careers in general internal medicine. This track is embedded within our traditional categorical training program. Residents with record of interest in outpatient primary care or outpatient predominant subspecialty fellowship may apply to join this track at the end of their first year of residency training. Participating residents are provided dedicated time & mentorship in both second and third year of training for development of quality improvement and general medicine scholarly projects. Outpatient track residents in their third year will not be doing ICU block. Additional stipend support is also provided for approved medical conferences. Residents participating in the primary care track have the opportunity to develop individualized training experiences that meet their educational needs based on their future career goals & interests.

Global Health Track

The MedStar Health - Baltimore - Global Health Track provides residents with the opportunity to participate in a dynamic global health curriculum that includes didactics, immersive experiences, and ongoing career mentorship. Along with colleagues from family medicine and surgery, they will participate in monthly lectures and discussions. They will also attend a two-week global health boot camp where they will take a deep dive into the core concepts of global health and learn clinical skills important in austere environments. During both their second and third years, they will receive protected time to participate in a clinical rotation in a resource-limited setting. Pending their interests, rotations may be international or domestic and can also incorporate other activities such as education or research. They will also be expected to complete a scholarly project by the time they graduate.

The overall goal of our Internal Medicine Training Program is to build upon the fundamental scaffold of medical knowledge gained during medical school, furthering an understanding of pathophysiology and treatment, focusing on a patient-centric approach to medical care, and creating a culture of intellectual curiosity and scientific discovery. Our program acknowledges that the individual career goals of our residents vary widely – specialty fellowship training, inpatient primary care, outpatient medicine, as well as non-traditional roles in industry, consulting, as well as scientific research/academia – however also firmly believes that participation in research fosters more knowledgeable, engaged, and capable physicians. As such the Internal Medicine Training program is committed to creating a culture of scientific discovery, scholarly thought, and an appreciation of creating new knowledge. To achieve these aims, we have developed a Residency Research Program, directed by Christopher Haas, MD, PhD, designed to introduce methods of hypothesis driven research, biostatistics, medical writing, and medical presentation. We are confident that this research program will not only lead to novel research publications, matriculation to fellowship, and enhanced Internal Medicine Residency experience, but also provide our resident with a set of tangible skills and a desire for lifelong scientific inquiry and integrity.

Our program places a high priority on resident participation in research. We strongly encourage our residents to complete a scholarly activity in accordance with the ACGME guidelines, with the goal of having each of our residents complete a dedicated retrospective or prospective study prior to the completion of their training. To support this goal, we have appointed Dr. Christopher Haas as the Residency Research Director, established specialty research groups, developed a formal residency research curriculum, and continue to develop collaborations with specialty groups both within and outside of MedStar Health. Our program is dedicated to providing mentorship, educational support, statistical backing, and sponsorship for local/regional/ national conferences, posters, as well as publications. Opportunities for residents to showcase their work include peer-reviewed publications, local (MedStar Health Research Institution Research Day and Maryland ACP), national, and international scientific conferences.

Please feel free to contact our research program by directly emailing Dr. Christopher Haas at Christopher.j.haas@medstar.net.

6 + 2 ambulatory schedule

Like many programs, we have been running an ‘X + Y’ ambulatory model for a number of years. In our version, the academic year is divided into six 8-week sections. The ‘6’ designates the time you will spend on the wards, in the ICU, in the ED, or on electives. The ‘+2’ is where all of your ambulatory experiences will occur.

Along with this schedule model, residents are divided into three firms (Thomas, Stevens, Mulholland) and are on inpatient teams and ICU with residents from the same firm. Each firm has a full-time chief resident to provide administrative support and act as the team attending.

Georgetown University

Georgetown University medical students complete four weeks of their Internal Medicine clerkship at MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center and MedStar Union Memorial Hospitals. During their rotation, medical students work 1:1 with the inpatient resident teams in an educational environment that values wellbeing, camaraderie, and professionalism. Throughout their rotation, medical students are exposed to a wide variety of clinical experiences, enhanced by the presence of an interdisciplinary clinical team composed of medical residents, case managers, social workers, nurses, and clinical pharmacists. The interdisciplinary team is committed to provide value-awareness and patient-centered care.

Over the last few years our residents have secured fellowship positions in the following programs.