Curriculum

We offer a variety of inpatient and outpatient experiences to give residents a diverse and balanced education.

Inpatient

On our inpatient schedule, we rotate call in a cyclical fashion every four days. This cycle includes a long-call day (admitting all day), post-call day (a chance to clean up issues and get to know your patients from the prior day), short call day (admissions for part of the day) and a pre-call day (no admissions, prepare for long-call). This cycle helps us facilitate frequent admissions for thorough training, and recovery time to protect wellness. As a community hospital, we see a strong variety of cases, from frequent “bread-and-butter” cases like congestive heart failure and pneumonia, to the rare “zebra’s” such as cardiac myxomas and spontaneous thoracic duct ruptures. Our acuity levels also have a very solid range, from the lower-acuity cases like cellulitis to high-acuity such as end-stage liver disease.

Ambulatory

During ambulatory rotations, residents evaluate patients in the academic internal medicine clinic on weekdays from 8 am to 5pm. Residents evaluate a variety of patients with respect to ages, diseases and health literacy. We have adapted to COVID well: our residents participate in telemedicine and conduct many patient care activities remotely. Residents also have the opportunity to evaluate patients in urgent care centers and neighborhood clinics in the greater Phoenix area where they encounter patients from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds. There is an effort to promote graduated autonomy in both complexity of patient illness and the number of patients evaluated by residents. As a result of the residency program’s commitment to wellness, residents are granted one day off during each ambulatory rotation to attend to their own health and welfare.

Internal medicine residents geared up with PPE
Drs. Taranto and Charest geared up with PPE

Schedule

See sample schedules (PDF)

Categorical Year  1

  • Inpatient – 5-6 blocks
  • Night float – 1 block
  • Ambulatory medicine – 3 blocks
  • Emergency medicine - 1 block
  • Neurology - 1 block
  • Sub-specialty electives – 1-2 blocks
  • ICU medicine - 1 block

Year 2

  • Inpatient – 2-3 blocks
  • Night Float – 1-2 blocks
  • Ambulatory medicine - 2 blocks
  • ICU medicine - 1 block
  • Sub-specialty electives - 5 blocks
  • Geriatrics - 1 block

Year 3

  • Inpatient – 3 blocks
  • Night float – 0-1 block
  • Inpatient consult medicine - 1 block
  • Ambulatory medicine - 2 blocks
  • ICU medicine - 1 block
  • Sub-specialty electives - 5 blocks

Electives

We offer a diverse range of electives. To name a few:

  • Addiction medicine
  • Allergy/immunology
  • Nephrology/advanced nephrology
  • Cardiology
  • Community Health
  • Dermatology
  • Endocrinology
  • GI
  • Heme/onc
  • ID
  • Palliative Care
  • Procedures
  • Psychiatry
  • Pulmonary
  • Radiology
  • Rheumatology
  • Surgical subspecialties like: ENT, ophthalmology, orthopedics, CT surgery, urology
  • Wound care

Designer electives

Residents have the ability to create electives that might not already be in place. Some recent examples include:

  • Sports medicine
  • Congenital cardiology
  • Infectious disease at Mayo Clinic
  • Advanced critical care at John C. Lincoln Hospital
  • Endocrinology at the Veteran’s Affairs hospital

    Off-site experiences

    As a part of their core rotations, our residents consistently get to experience care and increased diversity of patients at:

    • ICU – HonorHealth Scottsdale Shea Medical Center 
    • Geriatrics – Mayo Clinic in Arizona
    • Additional outpatient medicine – Neighborhood Outreach Access to Health Clinics across the Phoenix area
    Internal medicine residents doing rounds
    Internal medicine residents doing rounds