Welcome to the Brown University Internal Medicine Programs in Providence, RI
Our programs are headquartered at Rhode Island Hospital with core hospital rotations also at The Miriam Hospital and the Providence VA Medical Center. Our programs include Categorical, Primary Care (GIM), and Preliminary, and offer residency training across a broad variety of clinical disciplines. Our residents benefit from a variety of clinical locations across the three hospitals, and from a large cohort of teaching faculty within the Warren Alpert Medical School.
Our Mission Statement
The Brown University Internal Medicine Program seeks to promote the development of the consummate internist – doctors who practice with a high level of compassion, knowledge, skills, and professionalism. Our residents and faculty reflect a broad diversity of backgrounds and experiences unified by a dedication to our profession. We aim to give residents the opportunities, tools, and guidance to practice patient-centered care in a variety of environments. Our graduates will hold the care of their patients as their primary goal, accomplished through lifelong learning, scholarship, and education. We achieve this goal through mentorship, experiential learning, and by upholding high ethical standards. Our graduates are prepared for future growth as generalists and subspecialists, practitioners, and investigators, held together by the common bond of dedication to their patients and to the community of medicine. Collaboration, team-work, and devotion to self and others are our core values.
What's New!
Center for Primary Care receives PCMH designation
The Rhode Island Hospital Center for Primary Care (CPC - our program’s major resident continuity clinic) was awarded designation as a Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH). Dino Messina, MD, PhD, FACP, Medical Director of the CPC, noted that “this recognition is a validation that we embrace the principles of care coordination and improved patient access.” The CPC has been the site of several new initiatives in population health such as our Complex Patient, Prison-Community Transition, Refugee and Suboxone Programs. Dr. Messina notes that “As the safety net for our community, the additional resources available based upon achieving PCMH status will help us to better serve the most vulnerable populations in Providence and surrounding communities.”Jessica Murphy, MD, MS named Associate Program Director for Ambulatory Care
We are thrilled to announce the appointment of Jessica Murphy, MD to the Position of Associate Program Director for Ambulatory Care, effective July 1, 2018. Dr. Murphy is a relatively new member of the Division of General Internal Medicine, and is excited to begin this leadership role for outpatient training within the residency program. Dr. Murphy’s primary goal is to create an ambulatory experience that is both enjoyable and has value for all residents regardless of their intended career paths. She aims to enhance the ambulatory experience for residents in part by improving the clinic scheduling process, contributing to further development of the formal ambulatory curriculum, and increasing direct observation and formative feedback during provision of clinical care. We welcome her to the residency leadership team and look forward to working with her. Dr. Murphy grew up in California and completed her undergraduate education at UC Berkeley. She attended the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and went on to complete her Primary Care-Internal Medicine Residency at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Following residency, she completed a General Internal Medicine Fellowship, a Preventive Medicine Residency, and a Master of Science in Health Services Research at Boston University. She completed the Harvard Macy Program for Health Professions Educators in 2018. Outside of work, she enjoys working on her home renovation and doing anything outdoors, including hiking, biking, canoeing, and snowshoeing.Department of Medicine participates in Bias Reduction in Internal Medicine (BRIM) Program
Beginning this academic year, the Department of Medicine has joined the BRIM Study, partnering with the University of Wisconsin – Madison. Led by Dr. Molly Carnes at UW, BRIM is a faculty development educational intervention study designed to provide Internal Medicine faculty with skills to recognize and prevent bias in our work and professional interactions. The project will take place over the next two years and provide training for faculty members to serve as local educators and advocates who will be responsible for including this important content in the Internal Medicine residency curriculum. Dr. Dominick Tammaro serves as the Principle Investigator for the Brown Department of Medicine.Research Track in Planning Phase
The Internal Medicine Residency is developing a fourth residency track in Research skills. This will join the existing successful group of resident interest tracks: Clinician Educator Track, BRIGHT – Brown Residency International & Global Health Track and the Women’s Health Track. Led by Resident Research Director Phil Chan, MD and Vice-Chair for Research, Bharat Ramratnam, MD, the Resident Research Track will offer additional research skill training in the PG2 and PG3 year, a capstone project and mentorship in clinical and basic science investigation based upon participant interests.Geographic Teaching Wards Version 4.0
As the Geographic Internal Medicine Inpatient Teaching Service at Rhode Island Hospital entered its fifth year. “Med B” piloted and subsequently adopted a new resident-designed call & admission cycle system. This new schedule is designed to offer greater predictability and workload distribution for our interns than the previous “FLEX-8” system and demonstrates the importance of resident input and empowerment in the design and execution of program elements.Jennifer Jeremiah, MD Appointed Director of Faculty Development in Clinical Education
Associate Program Director Jennifer Jeremiah, MD has been appointed Director of Faculty Development in Clinical Education. In this role, Dr. Jeremiah continues her role as the Department’s lead faculty development educator in her efforts to help teachers at all levels (undergraduate medical education, graduate medical education, fellowship education, etc.) improve their existing skills and develop new skills to advance our educational mission. This new initiative has been embraced throughout the Department of Medicine. Together with faculty “champions”, Dr. Jeremiah has developed curriculum and workshops for faculty on feedback and direct-observation assessment skills as our initial focus.National Leadership News
The Brown Internal Medicine Residency Team has recently completed or begun several prominent national leadership posts in Medical Education:
Kelly McGarry, MD has been elected Governor of the Rhode Island Chapter of the American College of Physicians
Dominick Tammaro, MD has recently completed his term as Chairman of the Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine (AAIM) Educational Programming Committee, responsible for the planning and execution of the premier annual professional meetings for medical educators in Internal Medicine, including clerkship and residency leaders.
Jennifer Jeremiah, MD was recently appointed to the Association of Program Directors in Internal Medicine (APDIM) Program Planning Committee, responsible for the professional development content of that organizations two annual residency director meetings.
Beth Gentilesco, MD was appointed co-director of the AAIM Collaborative on the Learning Climate for Medical Education.
Ross Hilliard, MD was appointed to the American College of Physicians Medical Informatics Committee.
Resident Awards and Recognition
The following residents were recognized with notable national and local awards for their accomplishments:
• Senior Resident Lolita Nidadavolu won the award for Best Poster and the American College of Physicians National meeting in New Orleans in April 2018, marking the first time that one of our residents has one that award for two years in a row!
• Senior Residents Dionne Rebello and Terra Thorndike were both awarded the Rhode Island Hospital Haffenreffer Awards for excellence in residency accomplishments. They were 2 of 5 total recipients selected from among >150 senior residents and fellows at Brown among all specialties.New Chief Residents AY 2019-2020 Named
Brown IM Program Leaders announced the new Chief Residents selected for the Academic Year 2019-2020:
Tunde Asiedu, MD
UCONN
Katie DeCarli, MD
UMASS
Shane Greene, MD
University of Vermont
Wei Sum Li, MD
UMASS
Bret Roussel, MD
UMDNJ/Robert Wood JohnsonWellness Committee Update
The Brown IM Wellness Committee has continued to grow over the past year under the leadership of Dr. Matt Austin. Chief Resident Christopher Terry, MD will chair this group for the 2018-2019 Academic Year, with support from Carol Landau, PhD, along with other faculty and administrative staff. In addition to the regularly scheduled social events for residents, the Wellness Committee has taken on several new projects. The courtyard outside of the Jane Brown Conference Room is currently being transformed with new plants and landscaping, strategically surrounding the space that will soon be occupied by the highly anticipated arrival of adirondack chairs and picnic tables. Another new project involves an IRB-approved study examining if chaplain-led, resident-only debriefing sessions in the Medical ICU can prevent housestaff burnout and depressive symptoms surrounding patient death and critical illness.Lifespan Hospitals Recognized as Top Performers in LGBTQ Health Care Equity
Lifespan Hospitals (Rhode Island Hospital and Miriam Hospital, along with others) have been recognized as top performers in LGBTQ Health Care Equity. For the second time, Lifespan’s four hospitals achieved Top Performer status on the Healthcare Equality Index (HEI), a national benchmark of hospitals’ policies and practices related to equitable and inclusive treatment of their LGBTQ patients, visitors and employees. The Human Rights Campaign Foundation announced March 27 that Rhode Island, The Miriam, Bradley and Newport hospitals had again earned the designation. The Human Rights Campaign, the largest national lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer civil rights organization, has more than 3 million members and supporters. This recognition reflects the core values of our program’s mission statement and our desire to provide the most inclusive, fair and respectful environment for our residents and patients.
Resident Voices
- Residency is inevitably one of the most challenging times of your life. What I looked for during interviews was a program that acknowledged and emphasized the importance of life outside of work. At my interview I could sense that this was true of Brown. I am grateful, not only for all that I have learned from my co-residents and attendings, but also for the experiences we share outside of the hospital.
- My experience at Brown has exceeded my expectations. I am very fortunate to be training in a supportive environment that is intellectually challenging. My experiences at Brown are providing me the skills and tools to reach my career goals. I hope you strongly consider Brown and all the program has to offer!
- The residents at Brown are some of the most energetic, kind, and knowledgeable people I have ever met. I am constantly impressed by the second and third year residents, who know more than I ever thought imaginable at this point in their careers.
- In choosing a residency program, I also looked for a diversity of experience including opportunities to work abroad. The Moi Program at Brown is a well-established exchange program with a hospital in Kenya where Brown residents can rotate during their research months. Even at home in Providence, residents rotate through three very different hospitals, each with their own unique patient population.
- Upon arriving to Brown I was impressed by the surplus of role models among my attendings and resident peers. It is inspiring to learn from such an exemplary group of humanists, and a privilege to have so many opportunities to model excellent medicine. The culture of Brown is one of intellectual rigor supported by a strong foundation of collegiality, sense of family, and tireless drive to advocate for patients.
