Prospective students
The Internal Medicine – New Orleans Residency Program serves a diverse group of patients with a wide range of medical and social issues. Residents in our program experience pathology that others can only read about in textbooks. At University Medical Center, we typically see underinsured and underserved patients, while at Touro Infirmary and Ochsner Medical Center-Kenner, we care for a mix of private, insured and uninsured patients. Click the videos below to hear from our residents about a typical day at each rotation site.
A DAY IN THE LIFE
University Medical Center
In August 2015, we relocated our primary teaching location to the newly built, state-of-the-art University Medical Center of New Orleans. UMCNO is a massive, $1.3-billion, 446 bed, Level I Trauma Center located across the street from the LSUHSC campus. Residents rotate on wards services in teams of three (one senior resident with two interns) with call shifts every fourth night. Subspecialty rotations include Gastroenterology, Nephrology, Rheumatology, Endocrine, Infectious Diseases, Pulmonary, Hematology/Oncology, Palliative Medicine and Cardiology. UMCNO is the primary site of our outpatient clinics. Categorical residents rotate through our dedicated Medical ICU, providing a strong background in caring for critically ill patients. Residents attend outpatient medicine continuity clinic one morning per week. Noon report is held Monday-Thursday and all residents attend Medicine Grand Rounds on Friday.
Touro Infirmary
LSU residents run a Medicine service for self-pay and Medicaid patients. Touro Infirmary provides an opportunity to rotate outside the Charity system. Since Hurricane Katrina, the patient volume has consistently remained high, with an average of 120-140 admits each month or between four and eight admits per night for the Hospital Medicine service. Touro also has an "open" ICU policy. Residents rotate with LSU faculty at this facility and attend morning reports run by the Director of Internal Medicine at Touro, Dr. John Amoss, who also serves as the team physician for the New Orleans Saints.
Ochsner Kenner Medical Center
Ochsner Medical Center - Kenner is a private institution where our Hospitalist Medicine Group (all LSU faculty) admits Medicare and private patients. Rotations here give residents the opportunity to see how medicine is practiced in a facility more geared towards privately-insured patients. Care is provided in conjunction with social workers and case managers. Average monthly admits are between four and eight per night. Kenner has an "open" ICU policy. Subspecialty rotations include Infectious Diseases, Gastroenterology, Pulmonology and Geriatrics. Morning report is held daily.
A Year at a Glance
Categorical Residents: Three Years at a Glance
The Categorical Internal Medicine Residency at LSU offers residents an educational experience tailored to meet the needs of the physicians in professional practice. Residents are exposed to a variety of clinical experiences and are given increasing levels of responsibility over the course of three years of training in both the inpatient and outpatient settings.
A sample three year schedule:
Preliminary Residents: Year at a Glance
Call Schedule
Our Program utilizes the X+Y system which encompasses a four-week inpatient rotation followed by a one-week clinic rotation.
Inpatient Call Schedule
Kenner and Touro utilize a two-team system. Each team consists of two residents and two interns per staff. Each team is subdivided into 2 teams (1 resident and 1 intern). Call is traditional every 4th night with the resident and intern being relieved of their duties at 9 PM by the night float resident. Both hospitals have open ICUs.
UMC consist of 4 call teams and 1 step down/ consult service. Each team consists of one resident and two interns per staff. Call is traditional every 4th night. The on-call resident and day-call intern stays until 7 PM when they are relieved by the NF resident and the night-call intern.
The Step down/Consult service consists of 1 resident and 2 interns. They do not take call but rather take step downs from our closed ICU as well as general medicine consults from non-medicine services. Resident and interns will take step downs until 3pm at which time either the on call team or the private hospital group will take the additional step downs.
The UMC Medical ICU is a closed unit. The teams consist of 1 resident and 1-2 interns per staff. Call is every third night. The on-call team is relieved by the night float team at 7 PM.
LSUHSC Community Engagement
As an institution of higher learning, LSUHSC embraces a culture where everyone works for the betterment of the individual and community. Leadership, faculty, staff, and learner educational experience enables us to better address healthcare inequities and cultural competency in clinical care. The welcoming community and patient population that LSUHSC fosters trainees' understanding and effective delivery of care to individuals of unique backgrounds, which is integral to the institution's academic mission. As a community, LSUHSC embraces the full range of human difference.
To demonstrate LSU's commitment to community and institutional values, an Assistant Vice Chancellor for Office of Community Engagement is charged with creating programs for successful recruitment and retention of faculty, staff, and students from all communities to foster excellence in research, education, patient care and community service.
Specifically, the School of Medicine's Office of Community Engagement has a series to develop awareness, literacy and acknowledgement of the structural frameworks which intersect in the space health care inequities, and disparities.
LSUHSC New Orleans welcomes, needs, and celebrates its strong voices. Our training program is our present and future and serves a beautiful community. We are committed to a welcoming, vibrant training experience, and to learning how to care more completely for each other and our patients.
Wellness
Program Wellness Activities and Initiatives
A second-year resident has assumed the role of the Wellness Ambassador for the Internal Medicine Residency Program. In cooperation with other residents, he enthusiastically plans and executes several wellness (social) events throughout the year, such as resident pool parties, “escape rooms” (live-action, immersive, team-based games/adventures), happy hours and New Orleans Saints game-day watch parties. Invitations are always extended to residents’ spouses, significant others, and children.
UMCNO Academic Affairs and the B Well Program, UMCNO’s Well-Being Program, offer Wellness Wednesdays throughout the year. An example includes “Lean on Me” Lunch and Learn, with lunch provided, where health programs from UMC (ComPsych) discussed initiatives and services that are offered relating to mental health and well-being. In addition, LSUHSC hosts several seminars throughout the year, such as “Mindfulness in Wellness and Illness”. Residents are highly encouraged to participate in these events.
For physical wellness, residents have free access to LSUHSC's Wellness Center. The Wellness Center is dedicated to promoting the health and well-being of all members of the LSUHSC community in a safe and educational environment. The Wellness Center offers early morning, evening, and Saturday hours of operation to accommodate varying work schedules.
There is a Wellness Committee at LSUHSC (LSU Wellness Krewe). The goal of the committee is to promote a healthy learning and working environment and build resiliency and personal well-being among faculty, staff, residents, and students at LSUHSC. The Wellness Committee has created a very robust website that offers information on emotional well-being, including information on stress, depression, and mindfulness, as well as alcohol use, suicide, PTSD, work-life balance, and other resources that are helpful for our working community.
The Chairman of the Internal Medicine Department hosts several social events throughout the year, including a Chief Resident Party in the spring, a Resident Barbeque in the summer, and a Holiday Party in December. The Program Director also hosts a Holiday Party in December. These social events allow for resident camaraderie to be enhanced in a setting away from the work environment.
GRADUATES
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