Curriculum & Rotations

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Curriculum

The mission of the Merit Health Wesley Internal Medicine Residency Program is to provide an advanced education in Internal Medicine of the highest quality, combining teaching, clinical service, comprehensive patient care and research; producing competent academic and clinical leaders in Internal Medicine. This program will provide the trainees with the proper knowledge and experience necessary for examination for certification in Internal Medicine by the American Osteopathic Board of Internal Medicine.

The program will provide the residents with a comprehensive and well-structured cognitive and clinical education that will enable them to become competent board certified internists, who are able to provide high quality patient care to the community, and to relieve the regional and national physician shortage.

This program has been designed to provide advanced training in General Internal Medicine to meet the needs of the osteopathic medical school graduate desiring to become board certified in Internal Medicine through the examination provided by the American College of Osteopathic Internists (ACOI). The program will accept applications through ERAS (Electronic Residency Application Service) and participates in the National Matching Program.

Educational standards and core competencies are in agreement with the AOA institutional and common program requirements, as well as to the specific program requirements or basic standards for residency training in Internal Medicine. Furthermore, the program has included within the educational program, the Path to Mastery Curriculum and ACGME milestones, due to the oncoming association between both accreditation bodies within a single accreditation system. The basic standards similarly will apply with respect to definitions and purposes, selection of residents, responsibilities of residents, and qualifications and responsibilities of the Program Director and faculty.

The educational program will offer a structured curriculum with progressive supervision of the resident, facilitating their ethical, professional and personal development, while ensuring safe and appropriate care for patients. The resident will be exposed to an excellent education combining teaching, clinical service, compassionate patient care, and research. Progressive supervision of residents by qualified teaching staff and adherence to proper working conditions and duty hours shall be in compliance with the aforementioned requirements.

Merit Health Wesley will provide the trainees with an ethical, professional, and educational background in which the curricular requirements, as well as the relevant requirements for the residents’ work environment, scholarly activities, and competencies can be achieved. The program is committed to keep the right balance between education and service, as evidenced by work hour schedules inclusive of academic and research opportunities and attendance at clinical training and educational activities. Through the program, vital time will be spent by the resident learning within an effective curriculum, including seminars, teaching conferences by the faculty and visiting lecturers, continuous case conferences, journal clubs, and individual supervision. Any progress to a higher level will be based upon resident performance and the achievement of the core competencies done in the previous educational year. Criteria for graduation will include successful accomplishment of the program’s goals and objectives set forth in all essential teaching rotations in the residency manual.

The residents will be able to effectively complete all educational assignments for the prescribed period of education. The trainee will be also required to complete a scholarly paper or research paper, approved by the Residency Research Committee and to satisfactorily demonstrate proficiency in the core competencies.

After graduation, residents will be prepared to either enter general Internal Medicine practice or continue into subspecialty fellowship training. Graduates shall possess the proper clinical judgment, requisite skills, and sufficient knowledge about the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of common medical disorders.

The objectives for graduation will be reached when a resident is viewed as a solid clinician, able to use current literature, and to negotiate a general practice. Graduates should have awareness of their own strengths and limitations, recognizing the need for continuing their own professional development and to develop lifelong learning habits. The program will encourage the residents who may be interested in academic Internal Medicine by introducing subspecialty education and research activities. This will provide an opportunity for education in general Internal Medicine, and exposure to a related fellowship.

Rotations

Residents will benefit from rotating through Merit Health Wesley hospital departments including:

• Internal Medicine
• Intensive Care
• IM Night Float
• Pulmonology
• Cardiology
• Neurology
• Gastroenterology
• Research
• Surgery
• Dermatology
• Gynecology
• Geriatrics
• Rheumatology
• Allergy and Immunology
• Interventional Cardiology
• Emergency Medicine
• Endocrinology
• Nephrology
• Infectious Disease
• Hematology/Oncology
• ENT
• Ophthalmology

The following rotations will be held at partnering hospitals.

• Endocrinology
• Nephrology
• Infectious Disease
• Hematology/Oncology