Internal Medicine - Categorical

The goal of the Internal Medicine Residency Training Program is to graduate skilled physicians dedicated to life-long learning and respect for patients.  We provide Preliminary and Categorical Medical Residents with a broad exposure to the spectrum of internal medicine.

Categorical residents graduate with the skills needed to enter the practice of medicine, or to continue training in the subspecialties of Internal Medicine.  Over the past four years, about half our graduates have gone into practice, while the other half have entered Fellowship programs.

One year preliminary medical residents are fully integrated into the medical training program; there a few differences, however, in the requirements and schedule.

Residents learn about inpatient care on the general medical floors and in the intensive care unit.  In keeping with national trends, patients admitted to the hospital are very sick, and hospital stays are short.  St. Vincent's provides a model for the efficient, high-intensity, hospital stay that is the hallmark of 21st Century Medicine.

Residents learn about outpatient care in continuity clinics, urgent care clinics, Immediate Health Centers, and community practices.  Most health care is delivered outside of the hospital, so we ensure that our residents become skilled at outpatient diagnosis and treatment.

Residents learn through:

• Supervised patient care
  • In-Patient Hospital Care
  • Intensive Care Units
  • Ambulatory Care
• Didactic conferences covering a formal curriculum
  • General Internal Medicine and subspecialty topics
  • Medical Systems and Practice
    • Interpersonal skill
    • Organization of Medicine
  • Research methods
• Research and Scholarly Activity

The schedule for the three years of training provides a good mix of in-patient and ambulatory care, and elective time to allow residents in all three years of training to explore their individual interests.

At SVMC, the focus is on education, not on service needs.  Residents spend their time learning about patients and pathophysiology, not drawing blood and performing other "scut-work".  The residents are not needed to cover patients, they are here to learn.

More Information

• Career Paths of Categorical & Preliminary Residents (PDF)
• Preliminary Year
• Typical Schedules for Each Year of Training (PDF)

For the past four years of 2002 to 2005 - St. Vincent's Medical Center has consecutively scored a 100% pass rate on the American Board of Internal Medicine certifying examinations.