Description of the Program
Forty-three positions are available for 2010-2011, thirty-five categorical, four primary care, and four medical research.
First Year (Intern PGY-1)
Weill Greenberg Center for Ambulatory Care
Each categorical and medical research intern will spend approximately ten months at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center and four weeks at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC). Primary Care interns do not rotate at MSKCC. Interns are responsible for admission histories, physical examinations, formulations of diagnostic and treatment plans, order writing, standard medical procedures, and follow-up care for all patients admitted to the medical teaching floors at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell. Medicine inpatient services at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital include six General Medical teams with housestaff and students and subspecialty services including Cardiology, Hematology-Oncology (Lymphoma), Geriatrics, and Nephrology. Intern service size is strictly capped at a maximum of 10 patients and the program limits the number of admissions for any intern in a 24 hour period to five (5). There are several dedicated non-teaching services on cardiology, oncology and general medicine staffed by physician's assistants and/or nurse practitioners. This allows us to ensure that admissions to the housestaff service are educationally appropriate. The program has full time teaching hospitalists on each of the general medicine services, and limits the privilege of admitting to the teaching service to a limited group of attending physicians who, in exchange for this privilege, are expected to meet with house staff each morning to discuss management and provide case based teaching.
Interns are on-call every fourth night. A typical day begins at 7am when interns pickup signout and begin work rounds under the supervision of junior or senior residents. Attending rounds begins at 8:30 am and takes place seven days per week, with a particular emphasis on bedside teaching. After attending rounds, interns (except for the post-call intern) return to the floor to do the work of caring for patients. There is a daily teaching conference at noon, intern report once a week, and journal club twice a month.
On-call interns admit overnight and attend teaching rounds with their attending and team before leaving the hospital by 10am on the post-call day. All admissions are monitored by the Chief Resident and are restricted to a maximum of five new admissions per call day per intern. In addition, interns never carry more than 10 patients at a time.
Interns and Residents receive their ambulatory care training at Weill Cornell Internal Medical Associates (WCIMA) where they see patients one afternoon per week throughout their residency. Interns have 4 blocks (two weeks each) of concentrated time in ambulatory patient care under the continuous supervision of a designated faculty member from the Division of General Internal Medicine.
| Average Weeks/year | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Rotations | Categorical | Med-Research | PC |
| Medical Services (Including General Medicine, Nephrology, Geriatrics, Lymphoma) | 16 | 16 | 20 |
| Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| Ambulatory Care | 8 | 0 | 8 |
| Telemetry/Cardiology Unit | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| MICU | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| CCU | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Neurology Service | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Electives | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Research | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| Vacation | 4 | 4 | 4 |
The intern's experience at MSKCC focuses on General Internal Medicine with a strong emphasis on Oncology. MSKCC has seven inpatient medical teams divided by subspecialty (GI Oncology [team A & B], Allo-BMT, GU/Head and Neck Oncology, Breast Oncology, Leukemia and Lymphoma). The team is generally composed of one attending, two interns, one residents, one nurse practitioner and one fellow. Each team manages approximately 18-20 patients. Service is maximized at 10 patients per intern and admissions in 24 hours are capped at 5. Call is every fourth night and interns and residents stop admitting new patients at 8 p.m. Residents are not assigned to night float rotations at MSKCC. Conferences at MSKCC include Medical Grand Rounds, Professor's Rounds, a core course in Oncology, subspecialty conferences, and House Staff rounds.
Second Year (Junior Assistant Resident PGY-2)
Second year Residents have responsibility for the overall management of the medical floor: supervising interns, communicating with the nursing service and attending physicians, and formally teaching and supervising the third- and fourth-year medical students from Weill Cornell Medical College.
Morning Report is held five days a week. At this conference, residents present patient cases and discuss the aspects of their management. This conference is run by the Chief Medical Resident, Assistant Chief Residents and selected faculty, chosen for their established reputation as excellent teachers. It is often attended by the Department Chairman and Program Director. All aspects of the cases are encouraged for discussion, including scientific basis of diseases, physical diagnosis, management, health care reform, cost containment, and medical ethics.
| Average Week | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Rotations | Categorical | Med-Research | PC |
| Medical Services (Including General Medicine and Nephrology) | 12 | 12 | 6 |
| Ambulatory Care | 8 | 0 | 24 |
| Introduction to Lab | 0 | 8* | 0 |
| Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| Emergency Room & Urgent Care | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| CCU | 4 | 4 | 2 |
| MICU | 4 | 4 | 2 |
| Telemetry/Cardiology Unit | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Hospital for Special Surgery | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Electives | 6 | 6 | 4 |
| Vacation | 4 | 4 | 4 |
* Medical Research Residents spend 8 weeks during which they have 50% of their time devoted to an introduction to the labs and 50% devoted to ambulatory care.
Third Year (Senior Assistant Resident PGY-3)
In addition to patient care responsibilities, the third year Resident acts as a teacher for medical students, interns, and junior residents. Most elective time (subspecialty rotation or research) is concentrated during this year, with opportunities at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center, as well as other affiliated hospitals.
Third Year Residents also participate in a unique, one-week, full-time rotation entitled "Perspectives on the Changing Healthcare System" (POCHS), during which they have the opportunity to learn about medical economics and health care systems from noted experts from various New York institutions.
Third year Residents have an opportunity for structured experiences in International Health under the supervision and direction of Weill Cornell faculty members who work in HIV Research and Clinical Care in Port au Prince, Haiti; in medical education and health care delivery at Bugando Medical Center and Weill-Bugando University College of Health Sciences (WBUCHS) in Mwanza, Tanzania; and in medical research in tropical diseases and public health in Bahia, Brazil.
Beginning in 2009, Residents also have an opportunity for training in different facets of rural medicine in upstate New York, based at the Cayuga Medical Center in Ithaca (near the Cornell University main campus), under the supervision of a cadre of dedicated clinician-educators who practice in the region and have Weill Cornell clinical faculty appointments.
| Average Week | ||
|---|---|---|
| Rotations | Categorical | PC |
| Medical Services (Including General Medicine, Geriatrics, and Lymphoma) | 12 | 9 |
| Ambulatory Care | 8 | 24* |
| Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) | 0 | 0 |
| Senior Medical Consultant | 3 | 3 |
| General Med Consult Service | 2 | 2 |
| CCU/MICU | 6 | 0 |
| Electives | 14 | 9 |
| Vacation | 4 | 4 |
| "POCHS" | 1 | 1 |
* Primary Care Residents spend 8-12 weeks of their Ambulatory Care time as Ambulatory Assistant Chief Residents
Conferences:
The following conferences and meetings are held throughout the year:
- Morning Report (Monday through Friday)
- Weekly Medical Grand Rounds
- Weekly Morbidity and Mortality Conference
- Weekly Intern Report
- Weekly Journal Club for PGY-2, -3
- Twice-Monthly Journal Club for PGY-1
- Twice-Weekly Core Curriculum Conference
- Three times Weekly Ambulatory Care Conference
- Two - three times Weekly Ambulatory Morning Report
- Quarterly Research-in-Progress
- Bimonthly House Staff Committee Meeting
- Monthly Psychosocial Rounds
- Monthly Medical Errors Conference
- Ongoing Subspecialty Conferences in all Medical Subspecialties
Research Opportunities
Residents have the unique opportunity to participate in ongoing research at one of the world's premier settings for academic medicine: Weill Medical College of Cornell University, The Rockefeller University, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, or the Hospital for Special Surgery. The Department produces a Directory of Research Opportunities for Residents, which lists the extensive research opportunities available in the Department. This Directory lists all faculty interested in mentoring resident research projects and is indexed by area of research for easy searching. The Directory is available online at http://www.cornellmedicine.com/education/index.html and is continuously updated. Faculty members interested in mentoring residents list not only their areas of interest, but also include a record of past Residents who have worked with the faculty member with their contact information. This allows Residents to identify opportunities and to seek out appropriate faculty members with whom they can work.
Research Opportunities for Residents (Printer-Friendly Version)
This year, more than 20 Residents conducted research projects which were submitted for competition in the David E. Rogers Memorial Award. The four finalists for this award present their work to the entire Department at a special Medical Grand Rounds that is held each May.
Each year a number of our Residents produce abstracts accepted for presentation at national meetings. The Department provides funding for attendance at these meetings as well as coverage for Residents who are making presentations at meetings.
Chief Medical Resident
The Chief Resident, who has completed residency training and a fellowship in a medical subspecialty, is the leader of the House Staff. The Chief Resident is responsible for managing the medical teams; leading Morning Report; supervising nightly rounds with each Intern, discussing new admissions and providing relevant information and literature; organizing the weekly educational conferences; triaging medical admissions; acting as House Staff representative at various hospital meetings.
At any time, three Assistant Chief Residents assist the Chief Resident. These are Senior Residents who serve for a four-month period during the year. During these four months, the residents obtain a broader experience in patient care, including supervisory and teaching skills.
Contact Information
Kirana Gudi
Chief Resident
Department of Medicine
NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Campus
525 East 68th Street, Room M-532
New York, NY 10065
Phone: (212) 746-4721
Fax: (212) 746-4863
kig2001@nyp.org
