Medical Education at RUMC

The Department of Medicine and the IM Residency Program dedicate tremendous effort to bring to light a high quality medical education program. Great care is placed in the selection of lectures and other scholarly activities, and in the selection of the speakers. Speakers are invited from a wide roster of medical speakers from RUMC and from renowned institutions around the country, to bring our residents and our physicians, current updates in Internal Medicine.

To propose a speaker or topics please contact Jennifer Dominguez, Medical Education Coordinator at 718 818 3106 or – jdominguez@rumcsi.org

Grand Rounds and CPC Calendar 2011-2012

Grand Rounds take place weekly on Tuesdays in the SIPP Auditorium.  The SIPP Auditorium is located to the right of the front lobby.  Click below to view topics of recent grand rounds at RUMC

2015 Grand Rounds

2014 Grand Rounds

2013 Grand Rounds

2012 Grand Rounds

Annual Spring Review

Annual Spring Review is a traditional 5-day local update in Intern Medicine topics sponsored by the Department of Medicine and the Continuing Medical Education Committee. This event is carefully prepared and eminences in each field are invited for talks. It is intended to all its faculty, physicians, affiliated and non-affiliated physicians, nurses and physician assistants. Speakers are invited from institutions throughout the country. It is a 20-credit AMA PRA Category 1 credits activity. Residents attend for free. Spring Review takes place during the 3^rd week in May.

Spring Review always has many interesting topics and cutting edge information relevant to the practice of medicine in different specialties. We recommend attending this scholarly without jeopardizing patient care!

See some program and memorable moments in the link Spring Review 2009 to 2015

Lecture Block Schedule

Every day of the residency, residents receive education and training through formal teaching in medical and non-medical issues. Below is the example of lecture distribution throughout 2014-2015 which is equivalent to 13 4-week blocks.

Resident education also includes a comprehensive End-of Life curriculum that discusses issues of bio-ethics, end-of life, advance directives, and cultural interpretation of clinical syndromes, usually based on a current case, led by Dr. Thomas Forlenza, director of Palliative Care and Hospice Services.

 Biostatistics and Research curriculum is also comprehensive and discusses medical journal articles interpretation, basic epidemiology and statistics and research tools and funding, led by Dr Dennis Bloomfield, director of Research.  Both of these occur throughout the year on Mondays.

Attendance to lectures is mandatory and attendance is taken and monitored. ALL ABSENCES MUST BE WELL JUSTIFIED. Over 85% attendance is necessary for promotion.

The first month of every academic year is reserved for lectures that acquaint the new resident with basic skills (institutional, personal, ancillary and medical) that allow him/her to function as a new physician in a new environment. Residents will polish clinical interview skills; deal with emotionally-difficult patients; learn about cultural competency, death and dying issues, become familiar with risk management strategies, interact with nurses, social work, pastoral care, patient relations, consolidate training requirements, manage his/her clinical and educational schedule, journal clubs, learn about resident fatigue and stress, institutional protocols, tobacco cessation educational skills, EKG reading etc.  See LISTING OF GENERAL TOPICS.

Lectures by Subspecialty

Each year the roster of lectures is updated to reflect new guidelines and advances in the various specialties. However a core of basic specialty lectures is always available yearly. Click the MASTER LISTING of IM BOARD REVIEW TOPICS  to see more.

During the month of July residents receive a set of general topics lectures that will acquaint them with the institution regulations and policies, with their new life as residents and its duties and responsibilities, with the ancillary services at their disposal and with basic medical lectures and protocols to allow them to start immediate care of patients. Further information can be found in LISTING OF GENERAL TOPICS.

The lecture schedule is public and is accessible in the IM Resident Lecture Calendar page of each resident institutional email

Lectures are presented by in-house faculty and invited prominent speakers. Attendance to lectures is mandatory and is tracked. Lecture attendance less than 85% will place the resident on jeopardy for promotion.

At the end of each block of lectures residents MUST take a quiz with board-style questions. Quizzes are MANDATORY. This monthly evaluation helps the resident track their performance, sharpens test- taking strategies and contributes to prepare the resident for the ABIM board exam.

Procedure Day – Internal Medicine Orientation

In the last week of June around hospital-wide orientation new residents must attend activities regarding the IM Residency orientation.  These are mandatory as well and include ACLS, BLS, PALS, medical software and access training, and demonstration of procedures, equipment, and hospital policies. Procedures include

• FIT testing
• PIV placement
• Blood culture draws
• ABG
• Arterial line
• Downing barriers
• Power wand placement
• Central line and barrier precautions
• Stitching and Avoiding Needle Sticks
• NGT tube placement
• Foley placement
• Code cart
• EKG
• ET intubation
• DOH certification

Conferences

Night Float case discussionThe resident on the night float team presents a challenging case from the night to discuss clinical presentation, diagnostic testing and management. EKGs, X-rays or CAT scans are brought in and reviewed, as well as other diagnostic tests. It is a lively learning experience moderated by the Chief of Medicine and/or by a faculty member.Morning reportMorning report is a meeting where all residents practice their public presentation skills of clinical cases. Residents prepare topics of his/her interest to present in a succinct manner. Topics are based on cases the resident has cared for during the rotations through floors and clinic. The objective is to answerONEquestion to fill gaps in one’s knowledge and educate themselves and the group about the subject. Feedback is offered from the audience. Help and support is available from the chief residents or attendings as needed in the preparation of these presentations, whose copy becomes part of the resident’s file. Residents should refrain from making long and in depth reviews of topics and opt to focus their review on one clinical question and research literature that supports the topic. Linkherefor an example of the Morning Report Schedule.Daily lectureDaily lectures are organized by subspecialty. Lectures are usually presented by attendings and specialists in the field. These include in-house as well as invitees from other institutions. Fellows also participate in these lectures. Lectures include board-style questions. Subspecialty quizzes test the residents’ knowledge at the end of the block.Attendance to daily lecture and to quiz is mandatory. Our medical curriculum includes the following subspecialties: Ambulatory Medicine, Biostatistics, Cardiology, Endocrinology, Geriatrics, Gastro-Enterology, Hematology/Oncology, Hospital Medicine, Infectious Diseases, Preventative Medicine, Pulmonology, Neurology, Nephrology, and Rheumatology.Linkherefor an example of the daily lecture Schedule.Grand roundsGrand Rounds take place every Tuesday after morning report, except for the last Tuesday of every month. This forum is carried out by our expert faculty and specialists invited from other institutions, who present a review of a hot topic in Medicine. Click to find an account of the most recent Grand Rounds and CPC Calendar. This is a CME activity and attendance includes also physicians from the community.CPCA clinical-pathologic conference is a periodic interdisciplinary forum to extensively discuss a challenging case. It usually includes participation from our Radiology and Pathology colleagues. CAT scans or MRIs are presented as well as histologic findings from biopsies or autopsies to confirm or rule out a clinical diagnosis. A presenter discusses the possible differential diagnosis and a pathologist confirms the final diagnosis. Click to find an account of the most recent Grand Rounds and CPC Calendar.M&MM&M take place every Tuesday of the month. This conference is dedicated to discuss cases with unexpected outcomes. The main objective is to discuss the cause or events that led to the unexpected outcome and present viable solutions to prevention, or improvement of the system. Both clinical and quality improvements aspects are discussed. M&M are invaluable educational opportunities for the residents and faculty and all physicians. Weekly deaths are reviewed and residents are expected to give a short synopsis of the deaths.Journal ClubThere are 2 journal clubs meeting on a regular basis. Renal JC meets weekly on Thursdays and Infectious Diseases meets monthly on Fridays. Residents present assigned literature articles that are pertinent to a physician’s practice or represent important new knowledge. It is an occasion to discuss current or updates of guidelines and evidence based medical management.Teaching RoundsThese rounds are different from management rounds. They are usually carried out by senior faculty on their specialties. Dr Bloomfield does Cardiology rounds, Dr Mamoud Ali does Hematology/Oncology rounds, Dr Pepe carries out Renal rounds and Dr Perel carries out Neurology rounds. Teaching round times vary and occur throughout the year.

Board reviewOne of the objectives of our residency program is that our residents are able to pass the boards on their first attempt. Board review sessions take place weekly from 3-4pm, 2 to 3 times a week, usually in the last trimester of the academic year. Sessions are conducted by our faculty and most questions are based on the MKSAP and or MedStudy review. PGY3 residents take a paid two one-week course review of their choice around May and June every year towards preparation for the Boards of Internal Medicine.Near Miss ConferencesNear miss meetings are conducted by our QI physician every month and review medical errors that did not lead to patient casualties. Errors are analyzed to determine their cause and identify weaknesses within the system and discuss mechanisms for improvement.Meet-the-directorsIn these monthly venues residents meet the program directors to discuss a variety of issues regarding clinical performance, system hindrances, complaints, professionalism and other pertinent issues. Meetings take place in the first Wednesday of the month from 12-1pm. Lunch, usually pizza, and refreshments are served.Research meetingsResidents receive 1 week a year to dedicate to research. In this protected research time residents are supposed to find a research question, prepare a protocol, submit to IRB for approval, conduct literature search, collect data, conduct analysis and write the paper for publication. These tasks should be distributed over the 3 weeks allowed for research. Dr Bloomfield meets the residents regularly and other formal and informal meetings between residents and the investigators take place to discuss research ideas, research submission, protocols, methods and other aspects of medical research.General lecturesAt the beginning of each year, residents are offered several orientation lectures on Fatigue (SAFER lecture), Professionalism, ACGME regulations, various hospital protocols on DVT prophylaxis, stress ulcer, pain, strokes, respiratory distress, GI bleeding, chest pain, medical procedures, codes, tobacco cessation education,rapid response. Pharmacy, Medical Records, and Ambulatory Clinic give introductory courses and Chief residents offer guidelines for clinical cases presentation. Then, the cycle of subspecialty lectures starts and lasts the rest of the year (See above).R&R meetingsSimilar to Near Miss venues, Reward and Recognition venues takes place once a month and exalts cases with good or excellent management where an issue was averted. Residents involved are praised.Care Coordination RoundsThese rounds occur on every floor in the morning and are composed by an attending physician, the nurses, nurse manager and case coordinator and social workers. All admitted cases are discussed with the respective PGY 2 and 3 residents who MUST give a summary of each patient management and discharge plan.Tumor Board ConferenceOrganized by the Hematology/Oncology section these meetings take place regularly at lunch time. It is a multispecialty meeting where patients are presented, discussed, and input is made to the current managements according to patients’ characteristics and latest guidelines. Speakers are invited t speak on current topics in Hematology Oncology. Usually present are surgery, radiation oncology, and Intervention radiology among others. Often residents are called in to present the case.

Library

For further information please contact:

Andrea Rudner, MLS
Medical Librarian
Richmond University Medical Center
Fournarakis Medical Library
355 Bard Avenue, Staten Island, NY 10310
Telephone: 718-818-3955 – FAX: 718-818-4720
Email: arudner@rumcsi.org