Background: Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM) improves physicians’ clinical decision-making through refining the skills of asking a clinical question, searching for and appraising the literature and then properly applying it to patient care. While EBM has been implemented as an essential module across medical schools worldwide, most graduates are not well versed in the fundamentals of effectively [...]

Background: Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) program requirements for family medicine permit wide variability in adult inpatient medicine curricula. Family physicians compose a significant percentage of the hospitalist workforce, and the American Board of Family Medicine co-sponsors the Recognition of Focused Practice in Hospital Medicine. Previously published survey data describe certain residency characteristics [...]

Background: Despite the current focus on developing handoff training curricula to improve patient safety, rigorous assessments of handoffs remain scarce. Immersive simulations allow for the evaluation of communication skills, but few specifically account for common external threats to effective handoff performance. Our aim was to investigate the effects of these interruptions in an educational handoff [...]

Background: Consultative Medicine is one of the fastest growing branches of Hospital Medicine. We believe that residents require adequate exposure and appropriate level of training to provide excellent care to patients. Purpose: The goal of the rotation is to train and prepare residents for a successful future as consultants. The rotation has been designed to [...]

Background: Burnout is a term used to describe an extended response to psychosocial and interpersonal stressors precipitated in a work-setting.1 Although there are many aspects of burnout, those commonly identified include increased emotional exhaustion, cynical attitudes towards others, and the tendency to view oneself negatively. Medicine is a common, and well-renowned field that is heavily [...]

Background: A recent study showed over 80 percent of internal medicine residents reported being uncomfortable or very uncomfortable with dermatologic issues. Formalized teaching in dermatology in medicine residency may be prudent. This teaching could occur in both inpatient and outpatient settings. Our objective was to study the effect of a dermatology curriculum on knowledge and [...]

Background: Quality improvement (QI) has been recognized as a core component of medical resident training and progressive engagement with QI is required by the American Council of Graduate Medical Education’s Clinical Learning Environment Review. Prior to 2015, no formal QI education was provided within our internal medicine residency program. This deficiency prompted residency program leadership [...]

Background: Health care policy is currently under scrutiny due to health care reform, yet in our experience the majority of house staff have insufficient opportunity to learn about the environment they will soon be practicing medicine in. The ACGME attempts to address this through the Systems-based practice competency, but further guidance is lacking. Purpose: Our [...]

Background: With the advent of the Electronic Medical Record (EMR), documentation occupies up to 50% of doctors’ time1 and prior work has revealed that internal medicine residents spend more than four hours daily on documentation2. Secure messaging (SM) has been recently integrated into the inpatient EMR system, allowing healthcare team members to directly message physicians; [...]

Background: Robust faculty development programs are useful for teaching hospitalists who are often providing the largest portion of the education experience for residents in internal medicine and is key to maintaining institutional competence. This requires setting standards, assessing performance and providing developmental pathways, especially for faculty performing below standards. Community hospitals may not always have [...]