Program Overview: The Innovative Curriculum
Conferences

Core Medical Conference (CMC) Series

The Core Medical Conference (CMC) Series covers many topics and runs over the course of the entire academic year. It consists of two main parts. The first part, called the Acute Management Series, is a series of lectures given by faculty during the first 2 months of each academic year. Topics are practical ones that housestaff find most useful on a day-to-day basis on the wards. Sample topics include arterial blood gas interpretation, management of common arrhythmias, approach to the patient in shock, diagnosis and management of seizures, and oncologic emergencies. The second part, called the Core Conference Series, takes place over the remaining 10 months of the academic year and covers topics in the various specialties of internal medicine as well as in several non-internal medicine fields with which an internist should be familiar. Specialties covered in the series include cardiology, endocrinology, pulmonology, gastroenterology, dermatology, ophthalmology, transplant medicine, and several others. These lectures are delivered by core Department faculty specialists as well as faculty specialists from non-internal medicine fields.

Interspersed within the CMC Series are Radiology Rounds, Quality Improvement Conference (formerly Morbidity and Mortality Conference), and several other smaller lecture series that cover additional topics. During the fall, winter, and spring months, one day each week of this conference series is reserved for Senior Presentations, during which one of our program's third-year residents presents an evidence-based medicine literature review of a topic of the presenter's choice.

Resident Report

Residents gather daily for Resident Report, a popular conference led by the chief medical resident and a member of the medical faculty. Cases focusing on diagnostic and management decisions for inpatients from the medical wards are presented. The conference is another of the multiple venues in our program in which the concepts of evidence-based medicine are emphasized and reviewed. As such, residents are encouraged to search and present the medical literature that they used to help manage their patients. During this past year, Resident Report itself became the subject of a study evaluating how and what informational sources residents use to make their medical decisions. Each month ends with a catered breakfast from everyone's favorite diner, Pamela's.

Intern Report

One day a week, the interns from the inpatient floors meet to present cases at Intern Report, a conference similar to Resident Report. The Program Director and Chair of Medicine attend each meeting to share their medical knowledge, discuss important issues, and better acquaint themselves with the intern class.

Medical Grand Rounds

Medical Grand Rounds is a premier weekly conference that brings together the faculty, fellows, housestaff, and students for a comprehensive update on key topics in internal medicine. Speakers  include distinguished faculty from our institution as well as guest speakers from other institutions who have distinguished themselves in their field of expertise. 

A select number of dates are reserved each year for housestaff presentations, which include the two best Senior Presentations and the best presentations accepted for a national conference.

Chief's Conferences

Chief 's Conferences are held bimonthly and are devoted to in-depth case presentations from the inpatient services. A resident first presents a case up to a pivotal point in diagnostic decision making. A generalist without knowledge of the outcome then reviews the patient's case as an "unknown" and provides a differential diagnosis and approach to the workup. Specialists from various departments provide additional analyses, including interpretation of radiographic studies, pathology results, specific interventions, and the final outcome. These sessions are always a favorite among the housestaff and faculty and give residents an insight into the diagnostic thought processes of our faculty physicians.

Specialty Track Conferences

Specialty Track Conferences are held each week and focus on topics that are important to specialties covered in our internal medicine tracks (women's health, geriatrics, etc.). They also serve as a forum in which health professionals, residents, and students from medicine and other disciplines can share ideas and opportunities to advance the agenda of these specialties. Though they are designed for individuals in the specialty tracks, all housestaff are welcome to attend and contribute.