Internal Medicine Residency

University of Pittsburgh

UPMC Medical Education Transitional Year Residency Program

Welcome to our Web site!

  • The UPMC Transitional Year Residency Program based at Montefiore Hospital is a 1-year medical education program (MEP) that is ideal for individuals who plan to enter or have already matched to a medical or surgical subspecialty. It is also designed for those who desire or need an organized year of training beyond medical school. It is meant to be an entry into further specialization and not a stand-alone experience.
  • Our goal is to provide a broad-based, balanced postgraduate year in which individuals can shape their medical careers, forming a strong base in both clinical medicine and research.
  • Our program is sponsored by the internal medicine and emergency medicine programs at UPMC Montefiore, which both lend their strengths as national leaders in medical education, patient care, and research. We encourage you to review their Web sites for more details about specific programs and Pittsburgh in general: residency home site and affiliated residency in emergency medicine.
  • Unlike in some 1-year programs, in our program the patient care duties and on-call schedules of transitional year trainees are identical to those of the categorical trainees during their medicine months. Transitional trainees also have primary patient care responsibilities on their surgical and other nonsurgical, non–internal medicine rotations. This arrangement ensures close clinical mentoring by upper-level residents and attending staff on all rotations.
  • Instead of a weekly continuity clinic, there is an ambulatory care month, a requirement of all transitional programs.
  • For individuals who are undecided or have flexibility in their career path, the transitional year can be structured early on so that participants who choose to switch to internal medicine may do so without repeating their first year. (In programs that are not structured this way, residents who decide to switch to internal medicine often have to repeat their intern year.)

    • Julie B. McCausland, MD, MS,
    Program Director, Transitional Year, and Assistant Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine

  • If you plan to enter or have matched in a subspecialty, our transitional year program allows you to network with people within the subspecialty before starting residency or to tailor your electives or research projects to your individual needs.
  • A transitional year is fully funded by the government as a separate year and does not decrease funding to the subsequent subspecialty institution.
  • The transitional program offers 8 positions yearly and accepts applications only through the ERAS system (NRMP code).
  • For more information about UPMC and the Pittsburgh experience, please go to the UPMC and University of Pittsburgh Department of Medicine Web sites. For more information about the transitional year program, contact the program director (Dr. Julie B. McCausland).

We appreciate your interest in the UPMC ME Transitional Year Residency Program!