Introduction

Welcome to the Internal Medicine Residency Program at Brown! We've designed our website to provide an overview of some of the highlights of learning Internal Medicine here in Providence as part of a dynamic group of residents, faculty and students. To begin with, I would like to highlight some of what we feel to be the unique strengths of Internal Medicine here, beginning with our philosophy of education.

Philosophy

Learning Internal Medicine requires a balance of experience, research and mentoring. Experience is listed first since that is most important. Active engagement in the privilege of caring for fellow human beings in a time of need is unparalleled fuel for learning. Caring for patients and being responsible for decisions that guide such care is the "glue" that helps us all understand how to be doctors. Research refers to the identification of gaps in knowledge and taking the steps necessary to fill those gaps - either through reading, study, or independent investigation. Finally, mentoring refers to the partnership and commitment between residents and faculty in which all work together to improve both our knowledge and skills, while improving the care of our patients. Each of these three values is inadequate by itself - all three are required for learning and all three are promoted in our program.

Strengths

• Outstanding hospitals - Brown's residency is based at Rhode Island Hospital, Miriam Hospital and the Providence Veterans Administration Medical Center. These institutions, together with Hasbro Children's Hospital and Women & Infants Hospital (both sharing the RIH campus) account for the majority of acute medical care delivery in the State of Rhode Island.

• Dedicated full-time faculty balancing research, teaching and clinical care. These faculty are part of a dynamic community of medical scholars, sharing the teaching mission of Brown with the basic science faculty.

• A diverse patient population, including all socioeconomic strata, from the wealthy to the most vulnerable. Providence is a diverse city with more than 50 primary languages spoken in our city's schools, reflecting many different racial and ethnic backgrounds. Providence has been an active refugee resettlement destination since the 1950's, most recently welcoming refugees from Burma, Burundi, Central African Republic, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Haiti, Iran, Iraq, Laos, Liberia, Rwanda, Somalia, Togo, and the Ukraine. Our program also has close ties to the State Correctional System, Community Health Centers, and Rhode Island Department of Health.

• Finally, no listing of our program's strengths would be complete without due credit to our most valued resource - our residents. Our residents take their responsibilities to their patients and to each other seriously. They are a bright, enthusiastic and talented group of individuals who are fun to work with. They reflect not only the qualities we seek in colleagues but I believe have chosen to come to Brown for the tenor of our program. They create an environment of mutual support which sets the tone for our work together.

I hope this has given you a picture of our program. I invite you to explore the site and contact any of us for more information.

Dominick Tammaro, MD
Internal Medicine Residency Director

Program Directors

• Dominick Tammaro, MD
  Associate Professor of Medicine
  Associate Program Director
  Division of General Internal Medicine
  Rhode Island Hospital
  593 Eddy Street
  Providence, RI 02903
  Email: dominick_tammaro@brown.edu
  Phone: 401-444-5577
  Fax: 401-444-3056
  

• Fred Schiffman, MD
  Professor of Medicine
  Associate Program Director
  Department of Medicine
  The Miriam Hospital
  Summit Avenue
  Providence, RI 02906
  Email: fred_schiffman@brown.edu
  Phone: 401-793-4035
  Fax: 401-793-4049
  

• Jennifer Jeremiah, MD
  Clinical Associate Professor
  Associate Program Director
  Rhode Island Hospital
  593 Eddy Street
  Providence, RI 02903
  Email: jjeremiah@lifespan.org
  Phone: 401-444-4083
  Fax: 401-444-3056