Home - Careers & Education - Graduate Medical Education - Graduate Medical Education Programs - Internal Medicine Residency Program - Curriculum & Didactics
Residents attend academic half days on Wednesday afternoons consisting of interactive educational sessions. These protected didactic times are designed to help residents deepen their understanding of pathophysiology, prepare for high‑stress clinical situations and reflect on the care they provide to patients.
Our attending physicians present on topics they are passionate about. We emphasize learner engagement, using gamification and flipped‑classroom approaches to ensure that these sessions are interactive, relevant and fun.
Residents attend Morning Report twice weekly while on inpatient services. Sessions focus on navigating common and complex clinical scenarios using a standardized diagnostic approach (“diagnostic schemas”). These discussions build real‑world skills in clinical reasoning and promote intentional, structured thinking about every patient encounter.
All second‑year residents participate in a six‑session, small‑group pain curriculum. This series covers the physiology and biology of pain, diagnostic and procedural considerations and management strategies. Sessions are case‑based and include discussion of real patient experiences to promote a thoughtful, patient‑centered approach to pain management.
During their longitudinal rheumatology experience, second‑year residents participate in a dedicated rheumatology mini‑lecture series. Residents watch short, high‑yield videos created by our attending rheumatologist, followed by interactive case discussions to apply what they learned. On the same day, residents then reinforce these concepts through direct care of rheumatology patients in clinic.
To get a sense of what these lectures look like, watch Rheumatologist Jonathan Jones, MD, as he covers rheumatology basics for residents, focusing on muscle disease: autoimmune myositis and muscle diseases that might mimics myositis.
The transition from medical student to resident is both exciting and challenging. From day one, we focus on welcoming interns into our program culture, introducing them to available resources, working on clinical reasoning skills and show them the day‑to‑day workings of the hospital.
Interns begin their residency experiences in mid June, two weeks before they start their clinical experiences. During these first two weeks, interns participate in a variety of workshops and experiences.
During the first two months of intern year, interns receive enhanced support as they find their footing. Dedicated Academic Half Days are tailored specifically to intern‑level needs and focus on practical, high‑yield topics encountered early in residency, including:
These sessions are designed to build confidence while creating space for questions, reflection and shared learning.
We also intentionally adjust clinical responsibilities early in the year to create a supportive learning environment:
For the first inpatient experience for new interns, PGY-1s work on “super teams.” These inpatient teams are structured with three interns and two senior residents (one PGY‑2 and one PGY‑3). This allows interns to learn alongside one another, carry a lighter patient load and benefit from close guidance. An additional senior resident is also available to help PGY‑1s navigate the everyday logistics of a new hospital — whether using the electronic medical record, finding your way around the unit or simply knowing where to get coffee.
Interns begin clinic with a reduced patient volume, allowing time to grow comfortable with workflows and documentation. A senior resident is always available to help troubleshoot logistical or technical issues, so interns can focus on learning medicine, building patient relationships and developing confidence in the outpatient setting.
PGY‑2 and PGY‑3 residents participate in a Residents as Teachers curriculum during the month of July.
Residents spend four hours per week for four weeks developing the skills needed to lead clinical teams and grow into effective academic leaders.
This workshop‑based series emphasizes practical, hands‑on learning. Senior residents engage in discussion, reflection and skills practice designed to strengthen their teaching abilities and leadership presence. Graduates of this curriculum become confident educators and supportive team leaders, benefiting interns, students and the entire care team.
Choosing internal medicine is choosing curiosity—it gives you time and space to explore what medicine has to offer. Every resident’s journey is different and interests often evolve throughout training. Our program is designed to support all our residents – from the residents who are already committed to one career path and others who want to explore various options along the way.
Residents work with at least two mentors during the fellowship application process. This includes meeting with faculty who have extensive experience in fellowship preparation, as well as being paired with a mentor in their intended subspecialty. These mentors help facilitate networking with fellowship programs and support meaningful scholarly activity to strengthen the application.
Residents have access to a dedicated research team at Samaritan Health Services that guides them through conceptualizing, developing and ultimately disseminating scholarly work. In addition to protected scholarly-activity time during the second year, residents may elect to take research electives to work on their projects.
Residents may complete up to two away rotations during their time at Samaritan during their PGY‑2 and PGY‑3 years in their preferred specialty. Away rotations are designed to help residents gain additional clinical experiences, obtain additional letters of recommendation and establish professional relationships with fellowship programs.
Residents participate in personal statement, application preparation and interview skills workshops during their second and third years to help their applications stand out and succeed.
At Samaritan, primary care training is not an afterthought. Over three years, residents carry a limited patient panel at the Samaritan Internal Medicine Clinic that is truly their own. Our X + Y schedule includes a recurring “clinic week,” allowing patients to schedule with their resident physician in a way that reflects real-world primary care practice. Residents not only develop the skills to succeed in any setting, but meaningful, sustained relationships with the patients they serve.
Residents are prepared to care for medically and socially complex patients through longitudinal experiences, rotating monthly in geriatrics and rheumatology during outpatient training.
Primary care–bound residents tailor their training by selecting electives in areas such as dermatology, sports medicine and women’s health to prepare for the breadth of outpatient primary care practice.
Residents may participate in an administrative elective, working directly with senior primary care administrators to understand clinic operations, leadership and the business of primary care from a systems perspective.
Residents work with mentors to understand compensation expectations, workload and job opportunities in primary care. Mentorship helps bridge the gap between the realities of practice and residents’ personal and professional values.
Individual mentors review employment contracts with residents and provide guidance on contract negotiation to ensure alignment with career goals and personal priorities.
Residents can choose to work one-on-one with hospitalist physicians, allowing them to experience increased autonomy and independent decision-making prior to entering the job market.
Each year, hospitalist faculty participate in a panel discussion covering national salary benchmarks, benefits and differences in hospitalist program structures to help residents make informed career decisions.
Residents planning to practice in rural or resource-limited settings can rotate at critical access hospitals to gain firsthand experience in lower-resourced environments.
Our Women in Medicine group works on helping our residents navigate challenges created by systemic inequities.
The group is open to all genders and meets monthly and features both local and national speakers. Sessions are designed to be practical, reflective and immediately applicable to residents’ personal and professional lives.
“Teach a child to catch a fish, and you’ve taught them how to feed themselves. But don’t stop there. Help her understand why the river is polluted so that she and her friends can organize to clean it—and make it possible for the entire community to eat, too.”
~Pedro Noguera, PhD
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