The goal of the Internal Medicine Program is to train caring, compassionate, and competent physicians that will provide the highest level of medical care for their patients. Our patient-based teaching will include direct interaction between the resident and faculty, bedside teaching, discussion of pathophysiology, and the use of current evidence in diagnostic and therapeutic decision-making.

The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) and American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) have adopted six general competencies for residency training. The resulting standards are listed below and are embedded in our residency program:

1. Patient Care
2. Medical Knowledge
3. Practice-Based Learning and Improvement
4. Interpersonal and Communication Skills
5. Professionalism
6. Systems-Based Practice

Academic Half-Day and Core Conferences

Our residents participate in interactive sessions at Academic Half Day, led by our Internal Medicine faculty. The sessions are held every Wednesday afternoon and include topics based upon the core curriculum of Internal Medicine. The interactive sessions include lections, case presentations with discussions, simulation, small-group exercises, web-based content, and podcasts. The sessions afford each resident an opportunity to review all of the core curriculum topics while interacting with core and subspecialty faculty in educational sessions.

Academic Half Day incorporates Journal Club, Morbidity & Mortality conferences, and Quality Improvement sessions throughout the year.

Morning Report is held from 7:00-8:00am on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. Conferences are led by Internal Medicine Program faculty and focus on interesting patient cases, MKSAP questions, and review of common diagnoses.

Provided by the St. Mary’s Continuing Medical Education program, residents attend Grand Rounds on Thursdays at noon throughout the year. Presentation topics vary based upon the learning and practice needs of our residents and medical colleagues. As a component of the educational curriculum, each of our residents provides a grand rounds presentation during the third year of training.

Clinical Rotations

Participation in a residency program based in a community hospital setting provides a wide variety of clinical experiences and training opportunities. Residents of the Internal Medicine Residency Program practice primarily at St. Mary’s Hospital, which serves the citizens of Athens-Clarke and its 12 surrounding counties. At. St. Mary’s Hospital, residents work and train directly with dedicated groups of hospitalists, cardiologists, intensivists, and subspecialty physicians to the meet the total health care needs of their patients.

At the AU/UGA Medical Partnership Internal Medicine Residency Program, we are honored to have such a dedicated and experienced group of volunteer physicians training our residents. These physicians provide our residents with amble experiences in different subspecialty and elective outpatient settings, such as rheumatology, hematology/oncology, and endocrinology. These practice offices are located within a 20-minute drive of St. Mary’s Hospital.

Academic Year Calendar

The AU/UGA Medical Partnership Internal Medicine Residency Program offers preliminary and categorical training opportunities.

• Preliminary Track (one-year program)
  The preliminary medicine track is designed for individuals seeking only one year of internal medicine training. Preliminary year residents are provided with clinical experiences designed to prepare them for anticipated careers in other disciplines such as radiology, neurology, or anesthesiology.
• PGYI
  Rotations for the PGYI year follow a 4+2 schedule. Residents complete several 4-week blocks of Inpatient medicine, cardiology, and critical care at St. Mary’s. The additional 2-week blocks are dedicated to ambulatory education and include rotations such as inpatient neurology, gastroenterology, nephrology, and dedicated ambulatory blocks in the residents’ continuity clinic.
• PGYII
  Clinical rotations for PGYII residents follow a 4-week, 13-block schedule. PGYII residents assume more responsibility for patient care, including leading inpatient teams. Rotations for PGYII residents span the discipline of medicine, including emergency medicine, endocrinology, pulmonology, infectious disease, and hematology/oncology. In addition to these experiences, PGYII residents also complete rotations in inpatient medicine, cardiology, critical care, and ambulatory medicine. Opportunities to complete away electives are provided to PGYII residents in the second half of the year.
• PGYIII
  Clinical rotations for PGYIII residents follow a 4-week, 13-block schedule. Rotations for PGYIII residents provide final experiences to prepare for independent practice or fellowship training. In addition to the core rotations of inpatient medicine, critical care, cardiology, and ambulatory medicine. PGYIII residents complete 2-week blocks of night medicine along with additional elective rotations. A unique experience is provided to PGYIII residents, as they complete two 4-week blocks of rural care medicine in Greensboro, Georgia: providing inpatient care at St. Mary’s Good Samaritan Hospital, a critical access hospital. PGYIII residents also have the opportunity to complete away electives.