About the Curriculum
Saint Francis offers you a strong general internal medicine core and outpatient medicine curriculum where you will spend 35 - 40% of your time in the ambulatory setting. In addition to general internal medicine, you will gain experience in cardiology, critical care (ICU and CCU), endocrinology, gastroenterology, geriatrics, hematology/oncology, infections diseases, nephrology, pulmonary medicine and rheumatology. Many non-medicine specialty opportunities are also available as electives or as part of your ambulatory rotations.
You will spend three years in a community outpatient clinic following a panel of patients dedicated to you. In your third year, you will also be in an attending physician's office of your choosing. A dedicated faculty of 194 physicians is available to assist you in hands-on clinical experience with patients from a variety of socioeconomic and geographic backgrounds. A diverse patient population ranging from the medically underserved in South Evanston to the more affluent residents of the North Shore, will give you an opportunity to encounter common and uncommon illnesses in proportions that will greatly assist you in future practice.
A typical day at Saint Francis Hospital starts at 7:00 AM with an hour-long morning report. First year residents meet Tuesdays and Thursdays and primarily discuss the admissions from the previous evening. Second and third years meet Monday, Wednesday and Fridays and discuss interesting cases and topics in subspecialty medicine, ambulatory, general internal medicine, ethics and palliative care. Interns are encouraged to attend resident morning report. CME lectures are presented twice each week at 8:00 AM, a Clinical Pathological Conference once a month, and monthly "Institutional Curriculum" lectures cover topics such as sleep deprivation and stress reduction, patient safety, practice management, cultural sensitivity and effective communication, sometimes in very innovative ways!
Then the residents hit the floors. On general internal medicine, teaching rounds are conducted with an attending physician between 10:00 and 11:30 AM, 3 days per week. On other rotations, residents will round with their attendings, see inpatient consults, attend clinics and participate in procedures. Conferences are held daily between 12:00 and 1:00 PM and a typical schedule looks like this. Afternoons are spent on the floors, in subspecialty clinics, at the continuity clinic (Access at Saint Francis Health Center) or, in the third year, in a private attending physician's office.
Residents will also spend time in our simulation lab, giving them the opportunity to learn and practice critical procedures before working on patients. Recent acquisitions include a central line simulator, femoral line simulator, lumbar puncture simulator, an auscultation manikin, shoulder and knee joint injection simulators. Residents are required to participate in at least one clinical research project during course of their training at Saint Francis, and all are encouraged to present their findings at regional and national meetings.
PGY-1
The first year of residency! Interns spend 6-8 months on general medicine floors, one month in the Emergency Department, 1-2 months in the intensive care unit and have 1-2 electives. There is a night float and each intern will spend no more than six weeks on the float. Short call (3:30 - 8:30 PM) is taken 4-5 times a month during medicine rotations. While on electives, interns take 2 weekend calls during the month. The night float starts at 8:30 PM and ends after morning report at 8:00 AM the next day.
PGY-2/3
Senior residents have 4-6 electives per year, 1-3 months of ICU/CCU and the remaining months on medicine floors. All senior residents take short call 3-4 times a month and occasional backup pager call. The senior resident on the ICU service does take overnight call. PGY-2 residents participate in the night float however PGY-3 residents do not. Additionally PGY-3 residents may moonlight and there are both internal and external moonlighting opportunities.
