INTERNAL MEDICINE RESIDENCY PROGRAM

Residency training at Flushing Hospital Medical Center is an educational experience in an environment that emphasizes high standards of ethics and professionalism. We expect our graduates to be caring, competent, ethical, and intellectually curious physicians with a passion for medicine. They are equally prepared for successfully continuing with fellowship training or entering medical practice. This is accomplished in a congenial and nurturing environment for learning, by carrying out scholarly activities, and by demonstrating and demanding clinical excellence.

The Internal Medicine Residency Program at Flushing Hospital Medical Center is fully accredited by Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. There are 52 residents (42 categorical and 10 preliminary). The residency program received a 3 year full accreditation with commendation on the last ACGME survey. A review of the program by ABIM in December 2004 praised the program for the dedicated faculty, electronic evaluation system, extensive record keeping, and multicultural access by patients of different social, economic, and ethnic backgrounds. We are a designated priority program by the New York State Council on Graduate Education.

Our program is affiliated with the State University of New York-Downstate. Fourth year students from SUNY-Downstate rotate through our geriatrics service taking advantage of the resources of our unique to Queens 32 bed inpatient geriatrics unit and fellowship program in Geriatrics. Medical students from St. George’s University and American University of the Caribbean complete twelve week third year core clerkships on the medical service and also rotate through our specialty services on fourth year electives. This provides our house staff with opportunities to be involved in the educational process.

Residents at Flushing Hospital Medical Center are carefully supervised by full-time faculty and voluntary attendings. Teaching rounds are made Monday through Friday on all services. The intensive care unit is supervised by board certified intensivists who make rounds on a daily basis. Patients on the medical service are admitted either under the care of their private physician or under the care of the service attending. All patients are admitted under the care of the teaching service.

PGY1s are supervised by senior residents at the PGY2 or 3 level or fellows on all services. Orders on all in-patients on the medical service are written by the PGY1 resident. Residents in the PGY2 and PGY3 assume increasing supervision of medical students and PGY1 trainees.

Trainees rotate through a number of subspecialty services and have the opportunity to work closely with board certified specialists in their office and hospital practices. Sufficient time is allotted to the development of a continuity panel of patients whom the residents follow in the outpatient department throughout their three years of training. Our residents also spend dedicated blocks of time in the emergency department developing skills in the assessment and management of acutely ill patients and in acquiring knowledge of the relevant non-internal medicine subspecialty important in primary care of adult patients.

Throughout our program the goal is to maintain a systematic and continuous process of self learning including critical analysis of the medical literature. To this end we have a variety of educational experiences in addition to daily work and teaching rounds, including case conferences, grand rounds, mortality and morbidity reviews, evidence based medicine journal club, interdisciplinary conferences, board review sessions, and didactic lectures. Evidence based medicine is a prime objective of the training program. All trainees have access to the internet and a variety of web based reference sources. Our library facilities are available 24 hours per day, 7 days a week.

Research endeavors are encouraged. During the PGY3 year there is a dedicated block of time to pursue a research project of the resident’s selection. There is a research coordinator to facilitate statistical analysis and submission of data. Residents and staff make presentations at regional and national conferences and publish in peer reviewed publications based on original investigations and case reports. Flushing Hospital Medical Center received national attention in 1999, when an outbreak of encephalitis in Queens was identified as being caused by West Nile virus. Our housestaff was an integral part of the team that evaluated and cared for these patients.

Residents are continuously evaluated. Due to the nature of our program there is close communication between the trainees and attendings and feedback is provided in an environment that encourages growth. For formal evaluations we use a web-based system, MyEvaluations.com, in which attendings evaluate trainees after each four week rotation period. The residents also evaluate their peers, themselves, their attendings, and the program. Ancillary medical staff members are given the opportunity to evaluate the housestaff as well. This system analyzes data, provides information regarding performance trends, records narrative comments, and identifies problems via an early warning notification enabling prompt intervention. Mini clinical evaluation exercises which are observed history and physicals are also used for assessment. Evaluation of residents is based on the six core competencies: medical knowledge, patient care, professionalism, communication skills, practice based learning and systems based learning.

Incorporated into our program are board review oriented, monthly topical sessions culminating in a monthly testing session. We participate in the in-training examination offered yearly. While we acknowledge that examinations do not always adequately quantify knowledge, we also realize that residents perform better on the Internal Medicine Board examination when they are properly prepared.

Our program is fully in compliance with both the ACGME work hour rules and also 405.4 of the New York State Hospital Operating Code. A night duty system has been instituted so there is no weekday overnight call during the time on the general internal medicine services. Residents throughout the three years of training participate on the night duty team.

Flushing Hospital Medical Center is a 293 bed community hospital founded in 1884 as Queens’ first hospital. It is accredited by the Joint Commission for Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations located in an ethnically diverse section of Queens, one of the five boroughs that comprise New York City. In addition to General Internal Medicine, the Department of Medicine is comprised of thirteen divisions: Cardiology, Endocrinology, Gastroenterology, Geriatrics, Hematology/Oncology, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Nephrology, Infectious Diseases, Rheumatology, Neurology, Dermatology, Allergy and Immunology, and Palliative Care. The subspecialties provide active consultation services as well as a full complement of diagnostic and therapeutic modalities.

Flushing is an ethnically diverse working class area located in Queens, one of the five boroughs of New York City. The neighborhood has a good range of affordable housing choices for single persons, couples, or families. Flushing is home to a vibrant business district with department stores, shops, specialty groceries, and restaurants. Recreational opportunities abound, with parks and fields for every sport. Shea Stadium (home of the New York Mets) and the USTA National Tennis Center (home of the United States Open) are located nearby in Flushing Meadows Corona Park as is the New York Hall of Science. The Queens Botanical Garden is in walking distance. LaGuardia and Kennedy airports are just miles from the hospital. Manhattan is a short drive or subway ride away with nearly unlimited cultural and recreational opportunities.

Applications to our program are via the ERAS system only. Paper applications will not be reviewed. Our program participates in the National Residency Matching Program. International graduates are welcome. However, we do not sponsor any type of visa or honor any ECFMG sponsored visa. All applicants must have work authorization, permanent resident card, or United States citizenship. We are looking for the most recent graduates (within five years of graduation) with passing scores of 75 or higher on first attempts of USMLE step I and II. A passing CS score is required prior to entrance in the program. Some clinical experience in the United States is preferable.