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Curriculum

The University of Colorado has developed an innovative and highly learner-centered formal residency curriculum. We ensure a broad-based education for all housestaff yet provide multiple different curricular combinations to allow residents to tailor their training based on personal career goals.

 

A "Matrix" of options:

Each training "track" – CATEGORICAL, PRIMARY CARE, and HOSPITALIST – has its own curricular content. At the beginning of the second year, every resident also selects one of three "pathways" – CLINICIAN/EDUCATOR, RESEARCH, and LEADERSHIP. With three different training tracks and three different career pathways, there are nine potential formal curricular combinations available to our residents.

In addition to selecting a track and pathway, every resident attends a formal conference curriculum, morning reports and our Journal Club Classics.

  

Matrix

​ Research Clinician/Educator Leadership
​Categorical Subspecialist researcher Subspecialist clinician/educator Subspecialty leader
Primary Care Primary care researcher Primary care clinician/educator Primary care leader
​Hospitalist Hospitalist researcher Hospitalist clinician/educator Hospitalist leader

The formal conference curriculum is given during weekly half-day interactive educational sessions. The second and third year residents attending these conferences are on non-call rotations and are excused from clinical responsibilities to attend these learning sessions. No continuity clinics are scheduled during this time, so that all learners have the opportunity to attend. Over the course of two years, every second and third year resident will have the opportunity to attend each lecture without competing clinical responsibilities. This series focuses on core internal medicine topics and subjects related to the ACGME core competencies, including ambulatory topics and allied specialty topics such as Dermatology, Ophthalmology, ENT, office GYN, and others. The conferences are presented by select faculty with expertise in the areas covered. This curriculum is supported and supplemented by an on-line curriculum featuring PowerPoint slides from current presentations. Additional conferences are offered during subspecialty inpatient months and elective rotations.

Medical Grand Rounds is held at noon on Wednesdays at University Hospital and is broadcast to other training sites. UCD faculty and guest speakers discuss a broad range of subjects from clinical practice to basic science.

Morbidity and Mortality conferences are held at noon on one to two Fridays per month at each institution. Topics are reviewed in a case-based format with invited faculty. A systems based approach with emphasis on quality improvement is employed.

Autopsy conference is held at noon one Friday per month at the VA in conjunction with the pathology department and includes review of pathology specimens with faculty. Outcomes conferences are held monthly at each site to review all deaths, ICU transfers, other unexpected events, but also particularly excellent outcomes.

Intern Lecture Series - This group of lectures is provided for new interns at the beginning of each academic year and covers practical and important topics including procedures, cross-cover, acute MI, acute GI bleed, respiratory failure, and others. Fellows specializing in various associated fields give these lectures at each hospital site, using an interactive and case-based format.

The program has developed a three-year Journal Club Classics curriculum covering 48 of the landmark trials that every internist should know. Monthly presentations are resident-run, faculty-supervised sessions guided by a set of faculty teaching points. At the beginning of the residency, a USB-drive is given to each resident, containing among other items an electronic compendium of the articles covered in Journal Club. During the OBMT rotation, residents attend a daily morning journal club mentored by key clinical faculty with a focus on evidence-based medicine and effectively formulating and answering clinical questions. In this venue, critical appraisal skills are taught and emphasized. Taken together, Journal Club Classics forms a core library of key literature while OBMT gives residents the skills to efficiently seek out specific medical literature to apply to patient care.

Group shot1.JPG 

Morning Report is led daily by a chief resident at each of the training hospitals with faculty participation. A case-based format is used. Examples of recent interesting cases include Tenofovir-induced Fanconi syndrome, myxedema coma, Tb meningitis, Takotsubo syndrome, Brucellosis, Churg-Strauss syndrome, and Q fever.