Internal Medicine Residency Rotations
Our intern class begins the academic year with orientation activities during the last two weeks of June. Floor rotations are spread out between the three hospital sites. Critical rotations occur at Boca Raton Regional Hospital and Bethesda Hospital East. The program will assist osteopathic residents in obtaining AOA recognition and certification of the PGY1 year if desired.
4+1 Schedule
We utilize a 4+1 schedule to emphasize residents’ experience in primary care. This allows for dedicated focus on each rotation without needing to leave service for a clinic session. It also improves the continuity aspect of outpatient clinic in that residents can easily schedule their patient panel for follow up visits during their clinic weeks.
| Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intern A | Clinic | Service 1 | Service 1 | Service 1 | Service 1 |
| Intern B | Night Float | Clinic | Service 2 | Service 2 | Service 2 |
| Intern C | ID | ID | Clinic | ICU | ICU |
| Intern D | ICU | ICU | ICU | Clinic | Service 3 |
| Intern E | Service 3 | Service 3 | Service 3 | Service 3 | Clinic |
Inpatient Services
Our residents rotate at two of our partner hospitals. Residents take the lead role in the evaluation and management of complex medicine patients. The interns work up and manage patients under the guidance of both the supervising residents and the attending physician. Each inpatient team has a teaching attending that works with the team for at least one week at a time.
At Boca Raton Regional Hospital, there are three general medical teams consisting of one PGY3 resident, one PGY2 resident, and two interns. At Bethesda Hospital East, there are two teams, each consisting of one PGY3 resident, one PGY2 resident and two interns.
Medical students from FAU (and sometimes visiting medical students) will be on floor teams and in the ICU. This allows our interns and residents the opportunity to practice their teaching skills and provide valuable feedback to students.
Medical ICU
ICU rotations occur at Boca Raton Regional Hospital and Bethesda Hospital East. Both sites are overseen by intensivist physicians 24 hours per day. Our residents provide direct care for these critically ill patients including performing procedures under the guidance and instruction of the intensivists. There are two senior residents and two interns on each ICU service. Additionally, residents from the Emergency Medicine Residency Program rotate with us in the Bethesda ICU. As of July 2024, there will also be a Pulmonary-Critical Care fellow in the ICU during some months.
Medicine Sub-specialties
During the three years of residency, residents will rotate through subspecialties of internal medicine to help gain the knowledge and experience needed in those fields. For residents focused on fellowship application, there may be opportunities to do away rotations in the field of their choice.
Other Electives
All residents will do a rotation in Addiction Medicine as well as one in Hospice/Palliative Medicine, typically during the PGY2 year. There will also be a 4-week geriatric medicine rotation that occurs at a local skilled nursing facility with our faculty. Other elective rotations can be selected to suit the resident’s individual interest. Residents may choose rotations including Allergy & Immunology, Dermatology, Physical Medicine & Rehab, or Sports Medicine. Research rotations are available on a case-by-case basis. Other specific rotations may be available as well.
Night Medicine
None of our rotations have overnight call; instead, we use a night medicine rotation (consisting of either a single senior resident or a team consisting of an intern and a senior). Night medicine includes both cross-coverage duties as well as admissions under the guidance of nocturnist attending physicians.
Overview of 3-year Rotations
| Rotations | PGY-1 | PGY-2 | PGY-3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| In-patient Wards | 6 months | 3 months | 3 months |
| Night Medicine | 1 month | 4-6 weeks | 4-6 weeks |
| Medical ICU | 2 months | 1-2 months | 1-2 months |
| Emergency Medicine | 2 weeks | ||
| Geriatrics | 4 weeks | ||
| Addiction Medicine | 2 weeks | ||
| Electives | 1 month | 3-4 months | 4 months |
Daily Schedule
| Times | |
|---|---|
| Sign-out from Night Med/Transfer of Care | 6:00 a.m. to 6:45 a.m. |
| Morning report (Wed/Fri) | 7:15 a.m. to 8:00 a.m (BHE) |
| 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. (BRRH) | |
| Teaching Rounds | 9:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. |
| Admissions | 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (M-F) |
| 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (Sat/Sun) | |
| Sign-out/Transfer of Care | 6:00 p.m. |
Neurology Interns
Our neurology interns follow similar schedules to our categorical interns other than not having the continuity clinic. The neurology interns will do several months of neurology in addition to some ICU time and electives.