Internal Medicine in Staten Island NY | RUMCSI

The Internal Medicine Residency Program

The Richmond Internal Medicine Residency Program is an ACGME fully-accredited and approved three-year training program designed to accommodate physicians who are interested in Primary Care or entering any of the variety of internal medicine subspecialty fellowships. The program is friendly and diverse and has the mission to deliver high quality patient care. The goal of the training is to prepare our residents to be physicians for adults from all walks of life.

All requirements of the Residency Review Committee for training in Internal Medicine are fulfilled, and all graduates are eligible to sit the American Board of Internal Medicine certifying examination.

The faculty is very dedicated and committed to teaching and training physicians to perform independently by the time they graduate. The program emphasizes team work, and includes nurses, pharmacists, physical therapists, nutritionists, social workers and care coordinators in patient care activity. Residents have the opportunity to learn all aspects of medical care necessary to excel as an internist and this includes a wide range of skills from the classic bedside manners, appropriate examinations, choice of diagnostic tests and discussion of therapeutic options to medical coding, quality improvement, EMR utilization, use of Evidence Based Medicine, End of Life, palliative care and other ethical issues, communication  and cost- effective care, preventing health care associated infections and other aspects of modern medicine. The balance between clinical work and learning opportunities is excellent and the program structure fits almost all career goals, regardless of educational background or plans for after residency.

During residency some time is provided to research activity suitable for presentation at national meetings and publication in peer-reviewed journals. This experience is invaluable especially when applying for fellowship training.

The program recruits candidates with the highest scores and trains them to be skilled at clinical assessment, evaluation, and therapeutics, and to function and communicate empathetically, all the while fostering impeccable professional conduct.

We place a great impetus to increase the quality of the program to maintain the highest pass rate on the ABIM boards. The hospital is moving to a fully electronic EMR to improve efficiency and patient care.

The primary site for the Internal Medicine training program is the Richmond University Medical Center in Staten Island New York, a nice cosmopolitan community, and the resident body mirrors that diversity. Our residents get exposed to the most common ailments of modern society (ACS, HTN, DM, CAD, COPD, asthma, hematologic malignancies and infection complications, GI diseases, common infections, immunologic diseases, HIV/AIDS, etc.), as well as some more rare conditions (Brugada Syndrome, Neurocysticercosis, Cryptococcal meningitis, Addison’s disease, Adult Still Disease, PML, Microscopic Poliangiitis,  Hematophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis, GIST, among others).  Following the last ACGME review the program was granted a rare 5-year interval before the next inspection. ACGME is moving towards a new accreditation system (NAS) in July 2013 and the Internal Medicine Residency program is preparing itself for the new regulations.

The program started in the 1960s and in 1975, under the direction of Dr Dennis Bloomfield (who is now retired but continues to participate in educational and research activities), the program expanded as the hospital underwent additional construction, with the incorporation of modern medical and coronary intensive care units. It was during this decade, when cardiac catheterization was first introduced to the Staten Island community hospitals. Services were added with the progressive increase in full-time teaching staff and the quality of the education improved along with the ABIM passing rate.

Then, most residents were males and most nurses were females. Today the mix is more balanced in both directions and we are proud to have an internationally balanced house staff that mirrors the community of Staten Island.

Presently the Internal Medicine department is administratively divided into specialty divisions, each with its attending director and designated beds. Residents manage private patients in conjunction with private attendings and service patients in conjunction with the full-time faculty attendings.

Current fellowship programs offered included Cardiology, Gastroenterology, Hematology/Oncology and Nephrology. 

For further information about applying for residency call (718) 818-2419 or email Sarina Libonati at slibonati@rumcsi.org