Preliminary Residency Program

The Preliminary Internal Medicine Program is an integral component of the Department of Medicine and adds a valuable breadth of professional diversity to our intern class. We strongly believe that it is of great benefit to future internal medicine specialists to share their formative early clinical experiences with future colleagues in radiology, dermatology, neurology and other disciplines. Likewise, we feel that the optimum experience in internal medicine for an intern destined for a career in neurology or other non-internal medicine disciplines is a full immersion clinical year alongside medical intern colleagues at every step. Approximately half of our Preliminary intern class each year remain at Brown for their residency training in neurology, dermatology, radiology, ophthalmology and other disciplines. This promotes the collegial relationship enjoyed by medical housestaff with their former internship classmates now in other residency programs. This symbiotic relationship at Brown has contributed to the strength of both programs and is an important aspect of our philosophy of graduate medical education.

The Preliminary (one year) Internal Medicine Residency is designed to provide a strong foundation of internal medicine experience that will prepare physicians for further specialty training in areas such as Emergency Medicine, Radiology, Neurology, Psychiatry, Ophthalmology, and Dermatology. The breadth of clinical experience ranges from general medicine to high technology referral sub-specialties. All residents see an unparalleled spectrum of medical diagnoses in an academically stimulating and friendly environment. This experience provides a valuable background which enables our graduates to advise and consult with the internist in the management of medical patients. Our Preliminary intern class is fully integrated with the rotations of our three year Internal Medicine house staff.

Guided by input from its current members and graduates, the Preliminary Residency track has been carefully designed to provide the maximum flexibility necessary for interns to pursue a curriculum unique to their needs and requirement. The 12 month intern year is identical to that for categorical interns with the exception of:

• The neurology ward rotation for categorical interns is replaced by an internal medicine ward rotation

• The required geriatrics rotation for categorical interns is replaced by an elective rotation, bringing the total number of elective months in the preliminary year to three, compared with two such rotations for categorical interns.

Three elective months are scheduled and we encourage interns to explore and pursue disciplines among the many medicine and non-medicine electives at any of the health care institutions in the Brown University Graduate Medical Education community.

Typical Schedule for Preliminary Internal Medicine Residents

Rotations	Months	Overnight on Call	Late Night Call (Not Overnight)
Inpatient Medicine (RIH)	2.5	NA	Q4N
Inpatient Medicine (TMH)	2.5	NA	Q4N
Inpatient Medicine (VAMC)	1	NA	Q4N
Electives	3	NA	NA
Critical Care MICU/CCU	2	Q3N-Q4N	NA
Night Float	1	NA	NA
Emergency Dept.	0	NA	NA
Ambulatory Block	0	NA	NA
Vacation * (weeks)	3	NA	NA