An extensive array of both inpatient and outpatient electives are available during medical residency training to meet individual educational needs and career interests. Categorical residents have electives paired with practice weeks, while Primary Care Track residents have most electives incorporated into their ambulatory long blocks. Some subspecialty fields, including neurology and quality improvement (QI) are required for all residents, while others are required for Primary Care Track residents. In addition to the opportunities listed below, mixed electives (outpatient and inpatient) are available in all of the medical subspecialties.
Ambulatory Electives
Geriatrics
A diverse experience in working with older patients in a variety of settings: BIDMC geriatrics clinic, hospitalized patients, local skilled nursing facilities, elder housing, and home care. Primary Care Track residents rotate in geriatrics during Long Block of their senior year.
Neurology
Sessions in outpatient and inpatient neurology focusing on general neurology, behavioral neurology, epilepsy, and sleep medicine. Located at BIDMC or Jamaica Plain VA.
Quality Improvement
BIDMC has been a national leader in medical resident QI training. The Stoneman Center elective introduces residents to key concepts in QI and allows them the opportunity to participate in an ongoing QI project within the hospital firms or clinic. Primary Care Track residents have this experience incorporated into an ambulatory Long Block rotation, and they also serve on the HCA QI Committee during the senior year.
Junior Year
Dermatology
General dermatology sessions at BIDMC with experienced teaching faculty.
Advanced Diabetes Clinic
Clinic sessions at the Joslin Diabetes Center, a multidisciplinary diabetes care center with teams consisting of endocrinologists, other subspecialists, certified diabetes educators, nutritionists and exercise physiologists.
Musculoskeletal Medicine
Clinic sessions in orthopedics with opportunities for outpatient procedures such as joint injections, as well as additional elective experiences in rheumatology and physical and occupational therapy.
Addiction Medicine
Residents participate in HCA’s Office-Based Addiction Treatment (OBAT) clinic, which provides multidisciplinary care to patients with opioid and alcohol use disorders.
Hypertension Clinic
Residents rotate in the BIDMC Hypertension Center at HCA, which offers state-of-the-art clinical care and research for hypertension care and treatment. The multidisciplinary team includes physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, medical assistants, clinical pharmacists, and clinical social workers, and specializes in all aspects of the diagnosis, evaluation, and treatment of high blood pressure. In September 2020, the BIDMC Hypertension Center at HCA was recognized by the American Heart Association (AHA) for achieving certification as a Comprehensive Hypertension Center. Our Center is one of only 14 such practices in the nation and the only hypertension center in New England to achieve this designation.
Obesity Medicine
Clinic sessions at Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates’ Weight Management clinic with dedicated teaching faculty.
Senior Year
Palliative Care
Clinic sessions with BIDMC’s palliative care team, which provides holistic care that addresses the physical, emotional, social, and spiritual needs of patients and their families.
Urgent Care
Residents participate in providing clinical care at BIDMC’s Urgent Care Center in Chestnut Hill, which provides care for non-life-threatening conditions that require immediate care.
Women's Health
Residents participate in HCA’s Women’s Health Clinic, which provides complex and emergency contraception options and other gynecological procedures for HCA patients. The clinic sees patients for LARC (long-acting reversible contraception) management, contraception counseling, routine gynecological procedures such as Bartholin gland cyst management, and post-partum diabetes/hypertension.
Rotations include cardiology, gastroenterology, benign hematology, oncology, allergy, rheumatology, endocrinology, infectious diseases, pulmonology, nephrology, orthopedics, ENT, OB-GYN, podiatry, integrative health, urogynecology, and urology.