Electives

Internal Medicine Residency Elective Rotations

Interns in the Internal Medicine Residency Program have elective weeks evenly spaced throughout the year. Post-Graduate Year 1 residents have 2-4 weeks of clinical electives, Post-Graduate Year 2 residents have 9-12 weeks of inpatient clinical electives and/or research training and Post-Graduate Year 3 residents have 6-12 weeks of inpatient clinical electives, teaching rotations, and research.

Interns may choose a traditional hospital-based elective or a special "mentorship" week. A mentorship week pairs an intern with a faculty member in the intern's field of interest; the intern attends clinics, meetings, lab time, and sees inpatients with the faculty member. Almost half of each year is spent in a combination of ambulatory time, ambulatory electives, research time, and traditional electives. We have an extensive list of electives; we highlight some of the most unique possible "elective" rotations separately below.

Fundamentals of Medical Education Course

For a week every year, interested residents who are not in the Clinician Educator Track can take an intensive medical education elective, reviewing concepts in Adult and Cognitive Learning theory, and practice teaching in a controlled environment with Master Educator mentors.

Area of Concentration

Area of Concentration, also called elective research time, is available to residents interested in pursuing an independent project in basic science or clinical research, medical education, health policy, quality improvement, or general internal medicine. Residents have access to superb clinician-researchers and scientists to help mentor their projects. Residents can review an up-to-date database of previous resident projects and meet with Dr. Mukamal and Dr. Parikh to help get them started.

Residents typically work closely with a mentor from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, the Harvard Clinical Research Institute, or the Boston VA Healthcare System, depending on their area of interest. In the past, residents have had great success transitioning their AOC work into subsequent publications and presentations at national meetings. At the end of the year, all residents participating in AOC present their work at a resident research night, which is open to all Beth Israel Deaconess house staff and faculty. A list of titles of resident research projects can be found here.

Physician-Scientist Track

BIDMC has a long-standing commitment to clinical, translational and basic science research and supports all residents in their research pursuits. We are excited to also offer a dedicated Physician-Scientist Track for residents who envision a career in both clinical medicine and research. The track aims to support the research careers of MDs and MD/PhDs committed to clinical, translational, and/or basic science investigation as well as clinical practice. Participants receive guidance on how best to navigate the challenges of securing research funding and balancing research and clinical work.

Global Health Residency Elective

The Global Health Track Elective is available to Internal Medicine residents in PGY2 or PGY3 year, during “Area of Concentration (AOC)” time. Applications are required. Our main site is Scottish Livingstone Hospital in Botswana.

  • Up to 6 consecutive weeks abroad (4 weeks + 2 weeks vacation) in Botswana.
  • Must participate in 40% of Global Health Curricular sessions in the academic year of their travel.
  • Lead rounds, engage in clinical teaching at bedside while at SLH.
  • Give at least 2 formal didactics to med-students, interns and/or SLH medical staff.
  • Opportunity to engage in longitudinal quality improvement projects at SLH.
  • Mentorship by program director, country director and global health fellows.
  • Up to $1,500 travel reimbursement for BIDMC medicine residents.

Additional locations: Residents may also seek domestic global health experiences through the Indian Health Service or at BIDMC-affiliated community health centers. Residents have completed global health electives in Vietnam and Gabon, though these require approval on a case-by-case basis.

Botswana Medicine Resident Elective

This Medicine Resident Elective provides an opportunity for internal medicine residents (as well as family medicine residents and medicine subspecialty fellows) to work in a resource-limited setting and provide medical care to a population challenged by ongoing HIV and TB epidemics as well as a rising burden of non-communicable diseases. Participants primarily deliver inpatient care on Scottish Livingstone Hospital’s general medical service working alongside SLH medical officers and trainees under the supervision of the Department of Medicine’s on-site attending physician. There also are opportunities to participate in ambulatory care and outreach visits to district healthcare facilities. The elective provides a valuable opportunity to develop participants’ teaching skills, gain clinician educator experience and contribute to longitudinal quality improvement efforts.

Learn how to apply for the rotation and read FAQs about the program.

Stoneman Elective in Quality Improvement and Patient Safety

The BIDMC Internal Medicine residency program has been a national leader in quality improvement for over a decade. We practice in a hospital and department that values the highest quality care and consistently desires to do better. QI and safety training have been part of the BIDMC core curriculum since 2001. Here at BIDMC, QI is emphasized from day one of orientation and is interwoven throughout the three years of residency. In the junior and senior years, all residents complete the Stoneman Elective under the mentorship of our Patient Safety Core Faculty. With such a strong QI foundation, several BIDMC graduates have successfully gone on to pursue careers in quality improvement and innovation nationwide.

Senior Teacher

During the third year of residency, residents may select an elective called "Senior Teacher." During this three week block, residents not only lead didactic lectures for medical student and interns but also precept interns in the Health Care Associates Primary Care Clinic. This rotation allows residents the experience to teach and guide junior learners as well as refine their own teaching skills.

Ambulatory Educational Electives

The ambulatory electives are designed to provide residents with:

  • Opportunities to acquire diagnostic and therapeutic subspecialty care experiences occurring in the outpatient arena. Although each subspecialty elective experience varies, the objectives are the same: to expose the resident to patients with problems that may not be encountered in the inpatient and continuity venues and to provide the resident with a deeper understanding of selected diseases and conditions.
  • Opportunities to practice internal medicine in community-based setting and health care centers in order to gain further exposure to how internists manage the myriad of acute illnesses and exacerbations of common chronic disease with varying levels of health care resources. Community practitioners' offices and health care centers are particularly well suited for learning the important concepts of prevention, office management, population-based health care as well as how the patient's environment and sense of well being affects health and illness. Most compelling is the career-shaping opportunities the community physician offers in addition to the resident's experience with academic internists.

Assessment Of Ambulatory-Based Competencies

Assessment of the housestaff's clinical performance is a vital part of the ambulatory care residency training program. Through self-evaluation, observed clinical examination, formal feedback sessions, and continuous feedback delivery, the six core competencies as defined by the ACGME, patient care, medical knowledge, practice-based learning and improvement, interpersonal and communication skills, professionalism, and system-based practice, are assessed for each individual resident.