department of medicine

Internal Medicine Residency Program

Thank you for your interest in the Internal Medicine training program at Temple University.  The Internal Medicine Residency Program represents the heart and soul of the Department of Medicine at Temple University Hospital and Temple University School of Medicine.  We are committed to providing a dynamic, engaging education offering exposure to a wide array of clinical and research opportunities in internal medicine and its subspecialties for our trainees.  The collegial atmosphere of our educational program, coupled with energetic, committed faculty, facilitates our house staffs’ abilities to achieve their potential as practitioners of internal medicine.

Overview of the Internal Medicine Residency

There are several aspects of our program I believe set it apart from other programs at large academic medical centers.  First and foremost are our house staff physicians; they truly represent the strength of our program.  They have chosen to train at a program that offers superb clinical training in a collegial atmosphere.  Due to the high level of skill they develop here as clinicians, our house staff are offered a large amount of autonomy with appropriate 24/7 supervision.  The ability to be integral in the decision-making process is often cited as a major factor in their choice to come to Temple for their residency training.  Temple has very few “private” attendings to coordinate care.  In addition, since cross-covered patients are taken care of at night by a night float, house staff can focus their attention on managing their new patient admissions.  Together, this all helps foster the confidence of our house staff as physicians, clinicians and medical decision makers.  I believe this translates to their success in matching for subspecialty positions, as evidence by the fact that 94% of 2006 graduates matched in highly competitive fellowships.

Curriculum

Comprehensive educational opportunities are offered in inpatient, ambulatory and consultative medicine.  This comprehensive curriculum, combined with ample elective experience in subspecialty medicine, outpatient medicine and research projects, help to prepare our trainees for their next step in their professional career.

The curriculum is another major reason why people choose to come to Temple.  We value the outstanding inpatient and ambulatory training our house staff physicians receive.  Our trainees enjoy four non-call rotations in their intern year – three of which are elective rotations.  This amount of elective time is rare at other programs but we believe it is important to allow our first year residents to explore their potential career options early in their training here at Temple.  Our curriculum is permeated with valuable didactic experiences and protected time to attend these, even while on inpatient floors.  Our faculty are integrally involved in the development of these conferences and often attend them for their own continuing education.

Research and Scholarly Activity

While research and scholarly activity is not a requirement of our program, it is strongly recommended and encouraged.  Approximately 80% of our house staff participated in research in 2006-07.  Comprehensive programs such as the Introduction to Research Forum and Research Methodology, combined with individual mentoring and generous research opportunities that can be initiated in the PGY-1 year, have resulted in a significant number of national and regional house staff presentations.

Fellowship Opportunities

The provision of excellent clinical training, combined with significant research and scholarly activity, translate to our house staff being highly competitive for subsequent fellowship training.  Approximately 60-80% of our house staff have elected to pursue subspecialty training since 2000, many at highly selective institutions.

New Educational Initiatives

The first of the new educational initiatives is our Institute for Clinical Simulation and Patient Safety.  We have initiated training in procedural skills to ensure proficiency of our house staff in patient safety.  Training in medical emergency scenarios and technical skills were implemented in June 2007.  Team training in common medical emergencies and ACLS scenarios, along with training in ultrasound guided central venous line placement, is underway for the 2007-08 academic year. 

In addition, our Primary Care Program has expanded and we have made significant additions to our ambulatory curriculum.  We now offer experiences in areas of medicine not often taught during residency, such as palliative care, healthcare finance, acute care medicine, nutrition, and care of the underserved. 

We have also developed a state-of-the-art electrocardiogram proficiency training and testing program that was the recipient of a National Poster Award at the Spring 2006 Association of Program Directors of Internal Medicine Meeting.  Finally, house staff electronic portfolios and "Resident as Teachers" curricula are being implemented in 2007-08. 

Residency Program Administration

The logistics of our high energy vision of our residency program are coordinated by a spectacular team of five chief residents--Michael Couturie, Steve Domsky (Ambulatory Care Chief), Jane Huang, Eitan Klein, and Gonzalo Salgado, along with Sue Gersh (Deputy Program Director), William Brady and Larry Ward (Associate Program Directors), and Maria Cruz, Leona Bisch, and Laverne Comer (Residency Coordinators). 

I hope you enjoy the information available on our web site.  Do not hesitate to contact us with any questions. 

Darilyn Moyer, MD
Internal Medicine Residency Program Director