The bedside clinical experience is complemented by a comprehensive didactic education program. Education is centered around a formal curriculum, which is reviewed on a continuing basis of both faculty and residents. The core lecture series offers a variety of conferences specifically designed for medical resident education. Medical grand rounds provide a forum for visiting professors to update the staff on current topics of clinical or academic interest. Noon conferences include general medicine topics, subspecialty presentations, general medical seminars on ambulatory care, board review and morbidity and mortality or diagnosis and case management discussions. Imbedded in the core lecture series are lectures on computer skills, research techniques and practice management. In addition, patients are presented by the residents to the chairman, program director and/or chief residents at a daily morning report and twice-weekly rounds. A discussion of the selected patient's clinical problems include a constructive critique of the problem list and management plan.

A comprehensive educational program is provided in the General Medical Clinic. All residents attend an ambulatory care seminar at the start of their afternoon continuity session. The seminars consist of a two-year core curriculum in medical problems commonly encountered in a primary care practice. Residents generally see one new patient and four follow-up patients per session. Residents are supervised by the attending physicians from the Section of General Internal Medicine for all patient encounters. In addition, an attending physician from the Department of Psychiatry is available in the clinic for supervision and recognition of psychosocial problems.

The training program fosters graded responsibility proportionate to the ability and level of training of each resident. Senior residents are expected to be actively engaged in directing patient care as well as teaching and refining the skills of the junior members of the team. The residents are responsible for order writing on all of their patients.

The bedside teaching program is centered on resident patient management rounds and attending teaching rounds. These are supplemented by the Chairman of Medicine's rounds, Program Director's rounds and subspecialty consultation rounds.