The internal medicine curriculum at Maimonides fulfills the requirements of the Residency Review Committee for Internal Medicine (RCC-IM) of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). The Categorical Internal Medicine Residency Program is a three-year ACGME accredited program based around a 4+1 block system comprising 4 weeks of inpatient and subspecialty elective rotations alternating with 1 week of primary care ambulatory medicine. Our comprehensive curriculum is focused on engaging residents as adult learners with the aim of producing competent, curious and compassionate internists. The curriculum offers broad and balanced experience in both inpatient and outpatient settings, which prepare the graduate for a career in general internal medicine or further training in any of the medical subspecialties.

By the end of the three-year program, graduating residents leave as expert practitioners in the care and treatment of major acute and chronic diseases.

Preliminary Medicine

Our one-year Preliminary Medicine Program provides interns with a comprehensive exposure to internal medicine, providing them with a strong foundation for their future advanced training.  Preliminary interns work side-by-side with their Categorical intern colleagues, managing patients both on the medical floors and the intensive care unit.  These experiences are interspersed throughout the year with a generous number of elective weeks, allowing the Preliminary intern to customize their educational program to what will best suit their future endeavors.  Our Preliminary interns emerge from their year at Maimonides adept in the management of patients with a wide range of complex internal medicine diagnoses, ready to take on their advanced program training. 

The Residency Program incorporates training in many areas, including:

• Preventive medicine
• High quality, cost-effective patient care
• Cultural diversity
• Communication skills
• Biomedical ethics

Comprehensive Inpatient and Outpatient Experiences

We offer a 4+1 schedule, which separates inpatient and outpatient experiences, enhancing the education in both settings.

Inpatient rotations include the general medical floors, medical and coronary care units (ICU/CCU) and specialty divisions. Under the supervision of the full-time faculty, residents participate in daily rounds on each unit. Responsibilities include:

• Completing patient evaluations
• Developing treatment plans
• Performing procedures
• Writing patient orders
• Responsibility for the ongoing care and monitoring of patients in the 20-bed medical intensive care unit and the 10-bed cardiac intensive care unit
• Working with an interdisciplinary team including social services, case management, nursing, wound care, and nutritional support staff

A weekly Intern Report allows PGY1s to learn the basic principles of patient management, proper history and physical examination skills, as well as honing their presentation and diagnostic skills.

Morning Report focuses on overnight admission case presentations. Led by the Chief Residents and guided by Program leadership and faculty physicians, this is an opportunity for residents to learn about differential diagnosis building and patient management in a safe and structured environment.

Our Medicine wards are comprised of three large geographically-based general medicine teams, each supervised by three attending physicians. There is additionally a smaller non-geographic team which manages patients on overflow floors.  This system ensures that our trainees receive an excellent educational experience while providing the highest level of patient safety and care. We also have a night medicine rotation under the supervision of in-house faculty physicians.  There, the overnight residents and interns practice the art of the initial assessment and management of newly presenting patients while helping with the ongoing care of established patients.

The outpatient curriculum offers ambulatory care experiences in the primary care clinic, private office practice settings, and specialty clinics.  Categorical Medicine residents and spend a week every fifth week at their longitudinal continuity clinic, assigned to one of three primary care sites.  Residents act as primary providers for a panel of patients, with oversight by our outpatient faculty.

Additionally, the outpatient week includes structured protected time, including:

• Wednesday Academic Day, which includes a research support session, a topic-based quiz, The Humanism Project, Journal Club, and simulation-based learning.
• Friday morning case-based primary care didactics, resident-led teaching sessions, allowing participants to gain experience in teaching each other evidence-based, high yield primary care topics.
• Resident administrative half-day, to catch up on academic work and/or self-care. 

All of the above experiences provide residents with an understanding of the full range of care and support services available to patients.  Our program prepares residents for the complexities of healthcare delivery in today’s world, while attending to their well-being. 

Quality Improvement and Research Support

All residents in the Department of Medicine at Maimonides are required to pursue scholarly endeavors, including quality improvement and clinical research. We have a dedicated curriculum and faculty to help residents conduct quality improvement and patient safety projects. We encourage residents and attending physicians to take an active role in our monthly quality improvement meetings, where patient quality and safety issues are discussed among an interdisciplinary team. Additionally, Maimonides organizes an interdepartmental Resident Quality Council, which enables residents to take an active role in hospital-wide quality initiatives.

The Department provides our residents with the resources, time, and logistical support to be successful in scholarly pursuits. The Department integrates teaching research techniques into the general curriculum. Our Faculty Director of Resident Research, Dr. Yushia Lin and our Chief Resident for Research, Dr. Maham Waheed, personally mentor and review residents’ research projects, inclusive of abstract and manuscript review prior to journal submission for publication. 

Maimonides has a biostatistician team available to consult on any project at any stage in its development or implementation, as well as to assist with data analysis.

Research is strongly supported at Maimonides. We help residents to identify and select appropriate research topics aligned with their career plans and specialty interests. Maimonides residents have presented at many national and regional scientific meetings, and have won national awards for both clinical and basic science research over the last several years.

Ambulatory Didactics and The Humanism Project

Every Wednesday is a fully protected Academic Day for the residents on their ambulatory week. The day includes time dedicated to research guidance and support, board preparation and our unique and innovative Humanism Project curriculum. The Humanism Project focuses on developing communication skills, recognizing unconscious bias, and understanding medical ethics. The Humanism Project helps residents navigate the unique but interdependent needs of patients, colleagues, families, and themselves, by developing self-awareness and a sensitivity to interpersonal dynamics and complex topics that are not always addressed by a formal curriculum.  Its goal is to develop physicians who are patient-centric, professional, empathetic, and emotionally fulfilled in their medical careers. These sessions combine standardized patient scenarios, small group discussions, experiential learning, reflection sessions, and trips to the community.  Recent trips have been to the Brooklyn Museum and Greenwood Cemetery.

The remainder of the Academic Day is spent immersed in experiential learning in our state-of-the-art simulation lab, which boasts a virtual reality simulator, interactive ultrasound simulation and practice performing procedures on mannequins.