About Our Program

The Internal Medicine-Traditional Residency Program offers three training tracks: a Categorical Track (three years of training), the ABIM Physician-Scientist Track (two years of training), and a Preliminary Track (one year of training).

• The overarching goal for residency training is to prepare each resident with a solid grounding in internal medicine in an environment that strongly fosters intellectual curiosity and a spirit of inquiry. It is hoped that, in the years ahead, upon this firm foundation will arise a glorious edifice designed and sculpted by the personal dreams and ambitions of each resident, irrespective of whether those dreams involve the enhancement of further knowledge through research in the basic sciences or clinical investigation, or in the provision of outstanding care to patients in general internal medicine or in one of its subspecialties, or in the case of those in our preliminary track, in the specialties of their choice.
• Our program is crafted with the recognition that while residents’ career goals may vary widely and that knowledge acquired in training will indubitably be in need of continuous updating, a core set of ideas, skills and values acquired during residency training will form the basis for future enrichment and change. In the fulfillment of this purpose, the Program commits itself to creating in each of its residents an enthusiasm for learning and a willingness to challenge dogma through a logical analysis of available clinical and scientific information no matter the career path a resident ultimately decides to pursue.
• The premise underlying the experience provided during training is one of giving the physician trainee graded responsibility. Thus, the intern (PGY-1 resident) is considered to be the patient's primary physician. He or she develops a therapeutic plan, writes orders, and makes decisions about the patient's care. In these activities there is careful supervision in the inpatient arena by a second year (PGY-2) or a third year (PGY-3) resident and by a faculty Attending Physician. In the outpatient experience, supervision is provided directly by an Attending Physician. As the resident progresses in the training program, supervision decreases and responsibilities expand. For the internship year this holds true equally for the Categorical Intern as well as the Preliminary Intern; the intern gradually gaining more confidence and independence as the year progresses.

Goals of the Categorical Track:

• The Categorical track requires 3 years of training in general internal medicine, except for those who choose to avail themselves of the Research Pathway (“short track”) of the American Board for Internal Medicine. The Yale Traditional Internal Medicine Residency Program strongly supports those residents interested in this pathway. Those opting for the Research Pathway move on to fellowship training in the subspecialty of their choice or to research in general internal medicine if that is their choice, after the completion of two years of general internal medicine residency training. Click here for additional information about the ABIM Research Pathway.
• By the completion of the third year of training every resident is in a position to function autonomously. In general, the level of training of a resident determines the amount of autonomy granted, but specifically for individual residents at the same level of training, the acquisition of autonomy is also dependent on the individual resident’s abilities in the function for which autonomy is being sought.
• We firmly believe that outstanding clinical training in residency forms the foundation for a future career in internal medicine or one of its subspecialties, irrespective of whether the career follows the path of research in the scientific basis of medicine, in clinical investigation or in clinical practice.
• We aim to train future leaders in Internal Medicine and its subspecialties, without regard to whether that leadership role is exercised at the local community level, nationally or internationally.

Goals of the Preliminary Track:

• The Preliminary Track provides residents with one year of training in Internal Medicine as a prerequisite for starting training in the specialty of their choice, such as anesthesiology, dermatology, ophthalmology, neurology, radiology, radiation oncology, etc.
• We firmly believe that our one year Preliminary Track interns are every bit a part of our family as are our Categorical Track interns. We take pride in assuring our Preliminary interns not only develop an outstanding foundation in internal medicine but also meet their academic and personal needs and requirements as they pertain to their future careers. We value the emphasis placed on preliminary training in internal medicine demanded by the specialties mentioned above and it is our goal to provide the most valuable experience possible. Consequently we believe that the training should reflect virtually no substantive differences between the Preliminary and Categorical Tracks.
• The few salient differences between the two tracks are:
  • The Preliminary Interns do not have a continuity clinic, as they are with our training program for only one year. They however do have the opportunity to participate in ambulatory medicine rotations at our training sites.
    
  • The Preliminary Interns have two blocks of elective rotations in place of one that our categorical interns have.

Structure of the Preliminary Track:

• The preliminary track training utilizes the combined clinical, academic and teaching resources of the Yale Internal Medicine-Traditional Residency Program and the Yale Primary Care Residency Program.
• Preliminary track interns participate in inpatient general medicine, subspecialty inpatient rotations, ambulatory and elective rotations at all of our main sites of training including both campuses of Yale New Haven Hospital and the West Haven campus of the VA Connecticut Healthcare System. At each of these sites of training our interns will participate in the educational activities at those sites and interact with residents and full time faculty of the Yale Department of Internal Medicine.

Goals of the Physician-Scientist Research Pathway Track:

• Beyond Residency