Our program, like all other residency programs, follows the goals and objectives of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), where the curriculum is based around the six core competencies.

• Patient Care
• Medical Knowledge
• Professionalism
• Interpersonal and Communication Skills
• Practice-based Learning and Improvement
• System-based Practice

Our competency-based curriculum and its design allow for an individualized educational experience that corresponds to the career objectives of each resident. We are committed to a strong resident education and to serving our community and the larger Rio Grande Valley population in providing acute and chronic disease health management, preventive care and a longitudinal relationship between our residents and their patient population.

The residency program in internal medicine includes participation in patient care, teaching rounds, didactic noon conferences, Grand Rounds, Morbidity & Mortality conferences, among others. Online resources are available to all residents through UTRGV SOM library.

At UTRGV-Knapp, due to our geographical location and patient population, our residents are exposed to diverse and a wide variety of diseases. Our patient population includes a wide demographic, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds from the greater Rio Grande Valley region. Within such a setting, residents are engaged in the care of both common and rare medical problems as well as critically ill patients who require ICU level care.

Furthermore, one of our goals is to train physicians who will become lifelong leaders, learners, and teachers. We achieve our goal by engaging our residents in scholarly activity and research including inpatient and outpatient quality improvement and patient safety projects. Also, our residents have a strong presence in our community, and they engage with our community through providing lectures and continuous education in other hospitals, nursing facilities within the area, and local population through local services such as Weslaco library.

Internal Medicine Core Didactic Lecture Series

Every month we will cover a different system and have lectures by our subspecialists, core faculty, and guest speakers. These lectures cover ABIM topics that are high yield for each system. Lectures are Mon-Fri from 12-1pm.

Case Report

Every week residents will lead a case discussion and engage residents in the diagnosis and management of medical cases encountered in the hospital or in clinic. Each team (medical, telemetry, ICU) will take turns leading the discussion, and once a month a resident will lead a case regarding an encounter seen in clinic.

Board Review Jeopardy Series

PGY-3 residents will be assigned to create and lead a jeopardy game every month. Topics include cardiology, pulmonary/critical care, general internal medicine, endocrinology, rheumatology, hematology/oncology, infectious diseases, nephrology, neurology/psychiatry, and gastroenterology. These are meant to be a fun and engaging learning experience which focuses on ABIM topics that are high yield.

Grand Rounds

Local providers and out-of-the-state guest speakers are invited to present a conference of a topic of interest. This conference brings together a wide academic and community provider population. Topics are applicable to both general internal medicine and subspecialty medicine. Each PGY3 also presents a live Grand Rounds to cover a topic of their choosing.

Morbidity and Mortality

The department of medicine meets monthly for an interactive case-based discussion focused on patient safety and systems improvement. Cases are selected by residents and faculty and are facilitated by the faculty. These conferences represent a safe, collegial, non-accusatory environment with an emphasis on systems improvement and preventive bad outcomes. Many of the systems issues and potential solutions identified at this conference are then presented to the hospital administration through safety and quality conferences.

Journal Club/Evidence-Based Medicine

Residents select a journal under the guidance of faculty and lead a discussion among the residents. The journal article is presented and followed by critical discussion regarding the material presented under the supervision of faculty. We engage in a structured discussion to critique carefully selected articles published in reputable journals. Choice of articles could vary from randomized controlled trials, case-control and cohort studies, meta-analysis, decision analysis, cost-effectiveness articles, among others.

Physician feedback

Physician feedback takes place monthly and is a mandatory conference to provide the opportunity for open communication and discussion between residents and faculty. Our residents’ representatives and chief residents meet with their co-residents prior to the conference to address and review concerns, suggestions, and ideas. Chief resident moderates the hour-long feedback session with the goal of resolving any issues and identifying areas for improvements, finding solutions and improvements for our program and our residents.

Radiology/EKG/POCUS Series

Faculty and chief residents will lead this monthly interactive imaging series which aims to help residents improve their image interpretation skills.

Wellness

Once a month, our chief residents will lead a wellness activity during conference time. Previous activities have included yoga sessions and art lessons, among other things.

Web-Based References

Through UTRGV SOM library, residents have access to web-based references such as UpToDate, PubMed, NEJM, JAMA, and many more online resources.