Internal Medicine Residency Rotations

Our intern class begins the academic year with orientation activities during the last two weeks of June.  Floor rotations are spread out between the three hospital sites.  Critical rotations occur at Boca Raton Regional Hospital and Bethesda Hospital East.  The program will assist osteopathic residents in obtaining AOA recognition and certification of the PGY1 year if desired.

4+1 Schedule

We utilize a 4+1 schedule to emphasize residents’ experience in primary care. This allows for dedicated focus on each rotation without needing to leave service for a clinic session. It also improves the continuity aspect of outpatient clinic in that residents can easily schedule their patient panel for follow up visits during their clinic weeks.  

Sample Intern Schedules
  Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5
Intern A Clinic Service 1 Service 1 Service 1 Service 1
Intern B Night Float Clinic Service 2 Service 2 Service 2
Intern C ID ID Clinic ICU ICU
Intern D ICU ICU ICU Clinic Service 3
Intern E Service 3 Service 3 Service 3 Service 3 Clinic

Inpatient Services

Our residents rotate at two of our partner hospitals.  Residents take the lead role in the evaluation and management of complex medicine patients. The interns work up and manage patients under the guidance of both the supervising residents and the attending physician. Each inpatient team has a teaching attending that works with the team for at least one week at a time.   

At Boca Raton Regional Hospital, there are three general medical teams consisting of one PGY3 resident, one PGY2 resident, and two interns.  At Bethesda Hospital East, there are two teams, each consisting of one PGY3 resident, one PGY2 resident and two interns.  

Medical students from FAU (and sometimes visiting medical students) will be on floor teams and in the ICU.  This allows our interns and residents the opportunity to practice their teaching skills and provide valuable feedback to students.

Medical ICU

ICU rotations occur at Boca Raton Regional Hospital and Bethesda Hospital East. Both sites are overseen by intensivist physicians 24 hours per day. Our residents provide direct care for these critically ill patients including performing procedures under the guidance and instruction of the intensivists. There are two senior residents and two interns on each ICU service. Additionally, residents from the Emergency Medicine Residency Program rotate with us in the Bethesda ICU.  As of July 2024, there will also be a Pulmonary-Critical Care fellow in the ICU during some months.

Medicine Sub-specialties

During the three years of residency, residents will rotate through subspecialties of internal medicine to help gain the knowledge and experience needed in those fields.  For residents focused on fellowship application, there may be opportunities to do away rotations in the field of their choice.

Other Electives

All residents will do a rotation in Addiction Medicine as well as one in Hospice/Palliative Medicine, typically during the PGY2 year. There will also be a 4-week geriatric medicine rotation that occurs at a local skilled nursing facility with our faculty. Other elective rotations can be selected to suit the resident’s individual interest.  Residents may choose rotations including Allergy & Immunology, Dermatology, Physical Medicine & Rehab, or Sports Medicine. Research rotations are available on a case-by-case basis. Other specific rotations may be available as well.

Night Medicine

None of our rotations have overnight call; instead, we use a night medicine rotation (consisting of either a single senior resident or a team consisting of an intern and a senior).  Night medicine includes both cross-coverage duties as well as admissions under the guidance of nocturnist attending physicians.

Overview of 3-year Rotations

3-year rotations schedule
Rotations PGY-1 PGY-2 PGY-3
In-patient Wards 6 months 3 months 3 months
Night Medicine 1 month 4-6 weeks 4-6 weeks
Medical ICU 2 months 1-2 months 1-2 months
Emergency Medicine     2 weeks
Geriatrics   4 weeks  
Addiction Medicine   2 weeks  
Electives 1 month 3-4 months 4 months

Daily Schedule

A sample day on an inpatient floor service
  Times
Sign-out from Night Med/Transfer of Care 6:00 a.m. to 6:45 a.m.
Morning report (Wed/Fri) 7:15 a.m. to 8:00 a.m (BHE)
8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. (BRRH)
Teaching Rounds 9:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Admissions 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (M-F)
7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (Sat/Sun)
Sign-out/Transfer of Care 6:00 p.m.

Neurology Interns

Our neurology interns follow similar schedules to our categorical interns other than not having the continuity clinic. The neurology interns will do several months of neurology in addition to some ICU time and electives. 

Additional Information
The Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine offers students a variety of educational programs and degrees.
Address
Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine
Florida Atlantic University
777 Glades Road, BC-71
Boca Raton, FL 33431