Internal Medicine Residency Program - Des Moines

• Eleven categorical positions are offered in the match each year.
• Our principal teaching hospital is Iowa Methodist Medical Center, a Level 1 trauma and academic medical center. Rotations will also occur at Methodist West Hospital.
• Residents will see a diverse patient population as they rotate through our two additional teaching venues: Des Moines VA Medical Center and Broadlawns Medical Center, a county hospital.
• Individual rotations (including international opportunities) are available on a case by case basis.
• Superior clinician/educators provide 1:1 teaching and excellent supervision, while ensuring that the resident takes on increasing responsibilities and exercises meaningful autonomy.
• Over 1/3 of residents enter fellowship, with a 96% match rate over the past 13 years.

Mission of Program

Provide an educational environment that will enable residents to acquire the medical knowledge, clinical and procedural skills, and professionalism necessary to practice independently as an internist in a variety of practice settings, and to have a solid foundation for potential subspecialty training.

Aims

• Provide inpatient internal medicine and subspecialty training experiences, with supervised graduated autonomy, such that residents become proficient and confident in their practice.
• Provide ambulatory medicine training necessary to effectively manage the spectrum of illness seen in an internal medicine practice and to support the health maintenance of an adult population.
• Demonstrate and teach residents high-value care practices, and develop leadership skills in patient safety and quality improvement.
• Provide ample clinical and scholarly activity opportunities, along with appropriate schedule flexibility, for educational experiences that support residents toward their professional goals.
• Demonstrate and perpetuate collegial and supportive environments, with attention to resident and faculty emotional and physical well-being.

All rotations are taught by board certified faculty who participate in regular faculty development programs to further develop their supervision and teaching skills. The extensive formal education program covers a broad range of topics from general medicine and the internal medicine subspecialities. The curriculum also addresses topics from a variety of other disciplines.

Residents work one-on-one with faculty during clinical rotations. Patients admitted to inpatient teaching services are always cared for by medical students and residents working with one teaching staff physician. Residents write all orders for patients assigned to their care.

Residents are required to maintain ACLS certification and demonstrate mastery of airway management, mechanical ventilator management and hemodynamic monitoring of critically ill patients. Residents can also obtain ATLS certification during residency training.

A number of program graduates have chosen a hospitalist career path after residency training and report that the hospital and critical care training they received prepared them well for this career path.

One of the highlights of our residency program is the General Internal Medicine teaching division and outstanding general internist teachers, role models and mentors. The continuity of care clinics in which our residents participate provide excellent exposure to a wide variety of ambulatory patient concerns and provide a wonderful opportunity to learn health prevention and health maintenance skills.

Residents will have the opportunity to learn the indications, contraindications, and complications of commonly performed procedures through engagement with source materials provided by the program. You will first learn and practice many of these invasive procedures in a simulation lab. Close bedside supervision by faculty physicians working one-on-one with you will help you master several procedures not ordinarily encompassed in all internal medicine residency programs.

Regularly Mastered Procedure Skills

• Central venous line placement
• Chest tube insertion
• Arterial line insertion
• Mechanical ventilator management
• Thoracentesis
• Paracentesis
• Arthrocentesis
• Lumbar puncture
• Skin biopsy
• Endotracheal intubation

There are tremendous opportunities for research available to residents in the program with excellent advisors and mentors to support and encourage those who elect to participate. Each year the program conducts a grand rounds devoted to "Research in Des Moines" where the results of research efforts for the prior year are highlighted. Information is also shared regarding new research opportunities available to residents in the upcoming year.

Residents and faculty publish and present results of this research at regional, national and even international scientific meetings. Several residents have initiated research projects during residency training that they will continue and take with them to their fellowship training site after graduation.

Research Resources

• The Office of Clinical Research assist residents and faculty with clinical research studies.
• The Iowa Oncology Research Association coordinates many clinical research projects studying prevention, screening and new treatments for cancer.
• Hayden Smith, PhD, M.P.H., Research Coordinator, plays an active role assisting faculty and residents in the design, implementation and analysis of data in clinical research projects, as well as the final writing and submission of manuscripts.

In addition to the above resources, the Department of Research at Iowa Methodist Medical Center has strong ties with Drake University, Iowa State University and the University of Iowa. Researchers from these three major universities may provide collaborative support when needed with such things as grant applications, research study design, statistics and writing manuscripts.