Residency Program

Applicant Information

• Director’s Message
• Chair’s Message
• Chief Residents' Message
• History
• Core Experience
• Specific Training Tracks
• Rotations
• Ambulatory Training
• Conferences
• Current House Staff
• Internal Medicine Graduates 04-08
• Salary & Benefits
• How to Apply

House Staff Resources
(password required)

Educational Resources

Training Tracks
(The Generalist/Primary Care Track | The Research Track | The Preliminary Year)

The Generalist/Primary Care Track

The Generalist/Primary Care Track at the New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Columbia University Medical Center is designed for residents in internal medicine who plan to pursue careers as generalists. Beyond an enriched curriculum, unique clinical experiences and a strong mentorship system, our Primary Care Track consists of a cohesive group of faculty and house staff dedicated to both academic medicine and excellence in the care of individual patients. Started in 1997, the Generalist/Primary Care Track accepts four applicants per year and has a separate NRMP match number.

Unlike other primary care programs, our Generalist/Primary Care Track remains closely integrated with the categorical training experience. Training in the Generalist/Primary Care Track differs primarily during elective time. PGY-1 Generalist/Primary Care Track residents have a structured elective curriculum designed to introduce them to a population level perspective of health. This is accomplished via experiences which survey generalist domains including clinical epidemiology, evidence-based medicine, health policy, and public health. PGY-2 residents have the option of an international health experience in the Dominican Republic, the country of origin for the majority of our clinic patients. Upon return, the residents give presentations to their peers with the goal of enhancing the cultural competency of the CUMC community as a whole. During elective of the PGY-3 year, Generalist/Primary Care Track residents pursue mentored research projects with the expectation of presenting at the national Society of General Internal Medicine meeting.

Generalist/Primary Care Track residents rotate together as a group and see patients in their own clinic site, the AIM East Practice. The five months of ambulatory care includes enriched didactics as well as an innovative program linking home visit experiences to narrative medicine. This allows residents to learn how to use narrative skills as a means of enhancing communication and maintaining humanism in the doctor-patient relationship. Most importantly, the Generalist/Primary Care Track offers a unique sense of camaraderie and mentorship. The residents benefit from shared experiences, be it during elective or at faculty/resident social gatherings. We have a strong commitment to caring for the disadvantaged. We see ourselves as both as their medical providers and as their advocates. We are also dedicated to training an ethnically and culturally diverse group of residents, and we strongly encourage applicants from underrepresented groups to consider this program. We welcome you to contact any of our residents or faculty with additional questions.

Alex Montero, MD, MPH
Director, Primary Care Track
am430@lcolumbia.edu

The aim of the Research Track is to recruit the next generation of clinician-scientists to Columbia University and the New York Presbyterian Hospital. Trainees in the Research Track will complete Residency (2-3 years) and Fellowship (2-5 years). In addition, the Department of Medicine traditionally has recruited its faculty members at the Instructor and Assistant Professor level from among its ranks, particularly from research oriented fellows, and this tradition is enthusiastically embraced by the Chair of Medicine.

The Research track is designed to fulfill the requirements of the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) Research Pathway. Members of the Research Track will participate in all basic aspects of clinical training. In addition, residents in each year of the Research Track are scheduled for research-focused conferences and sharing of individual work. Trainees will also attend a weekly continuity clinic in the program’s ambulatory practice, Associates in Internal Medicine.

Trainees will also attend a regular seminar series in a journal club format, geared to intensive review of a research subject. Faculty members from the Department of Medicine will participate. Residents will also have the opportunity to publish repots on the mechanisms of disease or therapy in the “P&S”, our medical center’s magazine, which is widely read throughout Columbia University. In addition, the trainee will present a departmental conference and a Grand Rounds, based on their own research.

Members of the Research Track can elect the Research Pathway (“short-track” option) of the ABIM and initiate research and enter the fellowship of their choice in the PGY3 year. Members of the Research Track can also elect to remain in clinical work through PGY3, and initiate research and/or fellowship in PGY4.

Trainees may join any laboratory at Columbia University or, in rare cases, laboratories outside the University. Courses in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and in the Mailman School of Public Health are available to further enhance career development.

We encourage applications from future physician-scientists. Dedication both to clinical work and to finding answers at the lab bench are the most critical attributes of the future physician-scientist. Prior graduate work or a significant experience in a lab together with academic accomplishments are highly desirable.

The Research Track no longer has a separate National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) number. Applications to the Research track are reviewed by the directors of the House Staff Program and Research Track and by the Vice Chair for Research of the Department of Medicine. Selected candidates are invited to be interviewed by both clinical and research faculty and by the Fellowship Director of their choosing. Candidates are encouraged to visit Columbia University Medical Center on one of the research-focused interview dates. Applicants to the Research Track may choose that track in their ERAS application, but should list the NRMP number for the categorical program when completing their rank list (see How to Apply).

Questions about the Research Track can be addressed to:
Jonathan Barasch, MD
Research Track Director
Associate Professor of Medicine
(212) 305-1890

The Preliminary Year is a one-year PGY-1 internship designed for rigorous training in Internal Medicine for those destined for careers in other specialties. It closely mirrors the Core Experience for categorical internship. One significant variation is that an outpatient clinic is optional for Preliminary Year interns. The Preliminary Year has a unique NRMP match number.

Questions about the Preliminary Year can be addressed to intap@columbia.edu.