Fellows pursuing the clinician-educator pathway can identify expert mentorship in hospital and ambulatory medicine and quality improvement education. Faculty members will work with fellows to identify and support their interests, and tailor a balanced plan of clinical teaching, coursework, curriculum development, large and small group teaching, and guided self-study. Precepting at both University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics and the Iowa City Veterans Affairs Medical Center, fellows will enjoy the opportunity to teach residents and medical students in acute care and continuity clinics, on the surgical co-management service, on the Medical-Psychiatry service and in both attending-directed and traditional team-based settings, as best suits their career focus. Fellows will participate in the Fellows as Clinician Educators (FACE) program, and can pursue additional coursework through the Master’s in Medical Education offerings, as well as through formal and informal faculty development sessions.

Fellows wishing to pursue training in clinical investigation begin their training with an intensive "Summer Seminar in Patient-Oriented Research" (in fact, all fellows are encouraged to take the seminar). The fellow works closely with a faculty mentor to develop areas of interest for investigation. Fellows may qualify to enter the VA Quality Scholars Program, an innovative program to enhance the care delivered to the nation's veterans.

Clinician investigator fellows continue a clinical practice but focus the majority of their efforts on research training and methodology. Participation in faculty development skills sessions is expected.

All GIM fellows participate in the teaching skills and faculty development sessions. These are organized and presented monthly in a seminar fashion. Depending on circumstances, some prior preparation is expected or follow-up assignments given. Topics include teaching in the clinic, teaching on the ward, lecture preparation, presentation of research papers or posters, and leadership in small groups. Faculty development involves the development of personal statements of teaching philosophy, organization of a teaching portfolio, career guidance, mentoring, and survival skills. The sessions are jointly developed and presented by members of the division and of the Office of Consultation and Research in Medical Education of the College of Medicine. Plans to expand participation by offering the sessions to other fellows in the department are underway.

Clinical Opportunities

All GIM fellows practice medicine in a continuity clinic, either at University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics or at the VA Hospital. There are numerous opportunities for additional clinical skills. Fellows can arrange directly with the GI endoscopy service to perform flexible sigmoidoscopy. Rotations can be sought in medicine specialty clinics for fellows who wish further training in specific medical problems. Fellows who wish to gain experience in fields outside internal medicine can work with the Fellowship Director to identify appropriate venues. Members of GIM are helping to develop a Women's Health Center and fellows can rotate through this medical niche.

Fellows may choose to direct clinical attention towards the developing field of hospitalist medicine. Faculty members from GIM now supervise half of the medicine residency general ward experiences and a member of the division directs an active hospitalist program. Over a two-year period, enough experiences in hospitalist services can be gained to justifiably approach academic centers with credentials as a hospitalist. Similarly, a fellow interested in consultative general medicine can participate in the active General Medicine Consult Service.

All fellow continuity clinics function semi-autonomously with faculty interaction and advice readily available. Activity in other clinics or inpatient rotations occurs under varying degrees of supervision depending on the circumstances.

In addition to teaching assignments, fellows pursuing a clinician educator track can expect to be in clinics or on wards 50% time or more.

Ethics

The Division of General Internal Medicine offers several opportunities for fellows to engage in meaningful discussion about ethics topics.

Biomedical Ethics Journal Club

The Journal Club meets once a month. Its goals are to foster interest in and knowledge of key topics in biomedical ethics, and to provide an open forum for discussion of issues related to clinical research ethics in an interdisciplinary environment.

Seminar in the Ethical and Legal Issues in Clinical Research

(in development). Specifically designed for clinical researchers, this course will fulfill the ethics requirements for T32 grants and other NIH training grants. Topics to be covered include: informed consent, confidentiality and privacy, conflicts of interest, the proper gathering, interpretation and retention of data, plagiarism, scientific misconduct, guidelines for responsibly determining authorship, issues in genetic research, the allocation of scarce medical resources, cross-cultural issues, "end of life" concerns, and legal and regulatory matters.

House Staff Curriculum in Clinical Medical Ethics

Sponsored by the Department of Internal Medicine and the Program in Biomedical Ethics, physician-ethicist Lauris Kaldjian, MD directs a series of monthly noontime conferences in clinical ethics. He is currently assisted by co-director Robert Canady, MD, resident in internal medicine. These sessions are case-based, interactive, and accompanied by didactic presentations. Topics pertain to broad issues in clinical medical ethics and are oriented to the practical realities faced by physicians-in-training. Topics covered thus far include end-of-life issues, futility, ethics in clinical education, treatment refusal, persistent vegetative state, and physician impairment. House staff are encouraged to suggest additional topics and to present patient cases from their own experience in order to make these conferences as current and relevant as possible.

Areas of Clinical Research

Clinical Preventive Services Delivery
Interactions of medical and psychiatric disorders
Geriatric studies (epidemiology, health care)
Quality improvement
Infections in the elderly
Decision analysis
Long-term care studies
Clinical trials methodology
Creation of educational programs
Molecular genetics
Molecular cardiology
Electronic medical records and automated decision support
Medically unexplained illness
Medical Comorbidity

Other Interfaces for clinical researchers

Researchers in the division of General Internal Medicine collaborate extensively with researchers from other fields within the University. Please explore the following links for more information on:

• Veterans Affairs National Quality Scholars Fellowship Program
•  MS in Clinical Investigation (College of Public Health)
• The Henry B. Tippie School of Business
• The Program in Health Informatics
• Institute for Clinical and Translational Science

Seminar in Clinical Research

The Seminar in Clinical Research provides a forum for presenting and discussing ongoing research projects and methodology in patient-oriented research. Assigned readings are drawn from contemporary literature and works in progress of participants and guest speakers from various disciplines. Topics vary from semester to semester, depending on the interests and research needs of the participants. Relevant topics include: NIH and federal funding process, obtaining pilot grants, writing and speaking skills, adjustments for comorbidity, clinical guideline implementation, qualitative methods, and issues in quality improvement, among others.

Below is an example of the Department of Internal Medicine Common Curriculum Schedule. It is shared between Fellows from all divisions of the Department.

2022-23 Fellows Conference Master Schedule.pdf

The Fellows as Clinician Educators (FACE) Program is designed to introduce future clinician-educators to a set of skills which may be of use in their career. The program presents concepts of educational design and research, lecture development, evaluation, observation and feedback. At the conclusion of the program, FACE participants are required to develop a teaching portfolio.

Learn more about FACE

Medical specialty certification in the United States is a voluntary process which serves multiple purposes for the trainee and the public.

Certification is

• one mission of the training program to produce trainees who meet board eligibility criteria;
• distinguishes a physician as someone with a distinct level of expertise;
• provides more opportunities when applying for employment;
• presents resources and tools by the ABMS;
• a commitment to life-long improvement for providing the best patient care; and
• elevates physicians into the ranks of doctors committed to the highest standards of healthcare.

For more information visit the American Board of Internal Medicine for specifics on board certification requirements.

Qualifications for candidates include (1) an MD degree (or equivalent), (2) completion or expected completion of three years of residency training in Internal Medicine, with Board Eligibility or Certification by the American Board of Internal Medicine, by the initiation of General Medicine Fellowship training.

First Year Fellows

Second Year Fellows

The Department of Internal Medicine has a faculty of nearly 300 professionals whose clinical, teaching, and research expertise spans the entire discipline of medicine.

General Internal Medicine Division Faculty

Department Faculty (alphabetical listing)