Internal Medicine Residency Program

TEACHING & LEARNING MEDICINE  |  LEARNING TEAMS 

► Our Mission

The mission of the Internal Medicine Residency Program is to provide an excellent educational environment for our residents while providing quality care for our patients.

Residents will obtain the knowledge, skills, and professional demeanor that will enable them to become outstanding specialists in Internal Medicine. In an environment that fosters compassion, they will develop excellent diagnostic skills, leadership skills, communication skills, and an efficient approach to meeting their responsibilities.

This foundation will prepare residents for a variety of career paths in hospital medicine, ambulatory medicine, and the medical subspecialties.

Residents will gain an understanding of fiscal responsibility and an ability to work effectively with other members of the health-care team.

Residents will understand the importance of being role models and educators for their more junior colleagues as well as for members of their community and their parents.

They will also be encouraged to maintain a keen interest in lifelong learning and clinical research.

► Teaching & Learning Medicine

All internal medicine residency programs provide intense learning experiences, but our program acknowledges and emphasizes that sometimes the most effective learning occurs in informal situations.

A resident’s time with us is highly valued so we treat every experience as an opportunity to learn.

Whether they are discussing cases with peers, delivering care to patients or researching clinical complexities on the internet, we see that our residents are enhancing their knowledge of medicine.

Conferences such as Didactic Lectures, Journal Clubs, and Noon Reports are also valuable learning opportunities for our residents.

Residents work in teams on many rotations, consisting of an Attending, Senior Resident, Interns, and Third and Fourth Year Medical Students. The schedule over the three years of residency is designed to prepare residents for an increasing level of responsibility.

Residents are recognized as teachers for their peers and junior colleagues and are given information at retreats to help them in this role.

Inpatient Ward Teams are staffed by General Internists. This allows residents to develop autonomy as general internists, while also learning to appropriately utilize consultant services.

In turn, residents also have the opportunity for rotations in each of the subspecialties.

On these rotations, residents enhance their knowledge of each subspecialty, and learn to be an effective consultant.

► Learning Teams

A systematic program of resident mentoring was developed within the residency of the University of Louisville's internal medicine program.

Each resident is assigned to a program director for the duration of his or her education at U of L. Residents meet with faculty prior to beginning their internship to identify areas in which faculty can help.

Subsequently, the program director meets regularly with each resident to track each resident’s progress, give helpful feedback, and problem solve with the resident throughout the duration of residency.

We also help the resident plan his or her career, and determine the steps needed to get each individual to his or her goal, including schedule choices.

The program director provides career and fellowship advising, critique of personal statements and CVs, mock interviews for upcoming job or fellowship interviews, and helps the resident identify potential research and mentors if desired.

As program directors, we love this system. We really get to know our residents, and that makes everything so much more fun, because we have great people here!