General Internal Medicine

Patrick G. O’Connor, MD, MPH, Section Chief

Matthew Ellman, MD, Clinical Chief

Yale General Internal Medicine (GIM) includes over 150 full-time faculty members who are nationally recognized leaders in their respective fields and committed to the core missions of research, education, patient care, and community service.

Clinical Care

GIM physicians view medical care from the perspective of the general internist. In some cases, they also provide comprehensive specialty care in inpatient and outpatient settings across the state.

Clinical programs in the section include four primary care clinics, along with specialized programs in such areas as occupational health and addiction medicine.

GIM faculty also oversee primary inpatient services at Yale New Haven Hospital (YNHH) and the VA Connecticut Healthcare System (VACHS). With Erica Heiman, MD, joining the faculty, Yale Internal Medicine Associates expanded its on-site, integrated primary care to include addiction medicine, along with obesity medicine and behavioral health.

The Yale Multidisciplinary Long COVID Clinic opened at the Yale Center for Infectious Diseases in late 2023. Directed by Lisa Sanders, MD, the clinic includes a team of specialists and provides unique care for those recovering from COVID-19 who have ongoing issues and complications. The program draws on the expertise of cardiologists, neurologists, pulmonologists, rheumatologists, psychiatrists, and other specialists, and offers on-site physical therapy and social work services.

The section’s Program in Addiction Medicine continues to break new ground n patient care, and is a national model for expanding addiction treatment within general medical settings. For example, in late May, Melissa Weimer, DO, MCR, and clinical fellow Anne Dowton, MD, dispensed the first three-day take-home supply of methadone to treat opioid use disorder on the Yale Addiction Medicine Consult Service (YAMCS) at YNHH.

Research

GIM faculty members continue to be at the forefront of research with over 500 papers published in prominent journals. Many also hold editorial positions with the leading academic medical journals. The Yale-Mayo Clinic FDA Center of Excellence in Regulatory Science and Innovation (CERSI) received up to $50M for five years from the Food and Drug Administration.

The successful renewal was led by Joseph Ross, MD, MHS. Ross co-leads the work with Molly Jeffery, PhD, at the Mayo Clinic. The two leaders harmonize research, education, and training efforts across the two institutions and with the FDA.

A new study by Ilana Richman, MD, MHS, and Cary Gross, MD, emphasizes the importance of assessing potential risks associated with screening mammography among older women.

Notable Research Grants

The Yale Cancer Outcomes, Public Policy, and Effectiveness Research (COPPER) Center, directed by Gross, received four new R01 grants exploring cancer equity, workforce diversity, and the adoption and effectiveness of new cancer risk stratification tools.

William Becker, MD, received $4.6M for his HEAL Initiative grant titled, “Multilevel Interventions to Reduce Harm and Improve Quality of Life for Patients on Long Term Opioid Therapy–Yale Resource Center (MIRHIQL-YRC).”

Sarwat Chaudhry, MD, received two NIH R01 grants focused on developing research career intention in MD students from racial and ethnic backgrounds underrepresented in medicine (URiM).

Jennifer Miller, PhD, was awarded a grant from the FDA to study clinician and patient trust in AI-enabled medicine. Her research will focus on AI-enabled software for monitoring or diagnosing patients in cardiac care.

Education

GIM Grand Rounds are presented weekly to faculty and community-based clinicians. Co-led by Lisa Puglisi, MD, and Matthew Ellman, MD, the rounds host a variety of speakers from across the YSM to educate general internists while fostering dialogue and building community. Over the past year, more than 45 speakers covered a wide array of topics, including long COVID, monkeypox, menopause management, care for adults with different abilities, anti-obesity pharmacotherapy, Hospital at Home, integrative therapeutics, advanced pain interventions, and buprenorphine treatment in primary care.

Angela Kang-Giaimo, MD, MPH, was named director of the Internal Medicine Clerkship, and Anna Zimmerman, MD, was appointed associate clerkship director.

The SEICHE Center for Health and Justice and the World Health Organization (WHO) launched an initiative to educate correctional health care workers on providing care for inmates with chronic conditions. Led by Lisa Puglisi, MD, and Emily Wang, MD, the program focuses on the care of such noncommunicable diseases as high blood pressure or diabetes and infectious diseases like hepatitis C.

The Health Professions Students’ Creative Medical Writing & Art Contest gathered for the first in-person event since 2019. The contest is organized by YSM’s Program for Humanities in Medicine, led by Anna Reisman, MD, for students across Yale’s health profession schools and programs to submit entries in poetry, prose, and art.

The Generalist Firm was renamed “The Whitman Firm” in honor of Laura Whitman, MD, a longtime faculty member of the section who served as medical director of the Primary Care Center. Whitman passed away in January 2023. This renaming of the firm was part of a department-wide celebration of Whitman’s life, which was capped by a Medical Grand Rounds presentation in her honor in late 2023.

Awards, Recognition, and Distinctions

Nancy Angoff, MD, MPH, MEd; John “Jack” Hughes, MD; and Walter Kernan, MD, retired after decades of service.

E. Jennifer Edelman, MD, MHS, is an MPI on a National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) R61 grant titled “Promoting Retention in Opioid Treatment among Women Experiencing Intimate Partner Violence: A Novel Stepped Care Model Targeting PTSD.”

Peter Ellis, MD, MPH; Matthew Ellman, MD; Katherine McKenzie, MD; Patrick O’Connor, MD, MPH; and Carrie Redlich, MD, MPH, were featured in Connecticut Magazine’s 2023 “Top Doctors” list.

David Fiellin, MD, was named editor of the Journal of Addiction Medicine.

Benjamin Gallagher, MD, received the New Haven Primary Care Consortium Teacher of the Year Award.

Alexandria Garino, PhD, PA-C, was appointed Associate Dean for PA Education.

Shaili Gupta, MBBS, received the Asghar Rastegar, MD Teacher of the Year award at the VA Connecticut Healthcare System.

Amy Justice, MD, PhD, was recognized as a Best Female Scientist by Research.com.

Susan Kashaf, MD, MPH, received the Hughes Award for Ambulatory Education.

Benjamin Mba, MBBS, was appointed Vice Chair for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and Graduate Medical Education Director for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion & Associate Designated Institutional Official for YNHH.

Jorge Moreno, MD, was selected by the National Hispanic Medical Association (NHMA) as a 2023 Leadership Fellow in recognition of his outstanding accomplishments and proven dedication to the Hispanic community.

Reshma Ramachandran, MD, MHS, was named by Endpoints News as one of 20 under 40 “next-generation” biotech leaders.

Deborah Rhodes, MD, was appointed Enterprise Chief Quality Officer, Yale Medicine Northeast Medical Group (NEMG).

David Rosenthal, MD, was elected a fellow of the Aspen Institute Health Innovators Fellowship.

Joseph Ross, MD, MHS, was named deputy editor of JAMA.

Christopher Sankey, MD, and Anisha Advani, MD, were awarded the 2023 Northeast Group of Education Affairs Innovation in Medical Education Award for their project “A Novel Impatient Rotation in Hospital Medicine.”

Emily Wang, MD, MAS, received a MacArthur award and was named to the 2023 STATUS List of leaders in health, medicine, and the life sciences.