Our Philosophy
The Department of Medicine is pleased to welcome your interest in postgraduate training at Stony Brook. Our comfortable learning environment fosters your development into excellent physicians and leaders. As Suffolk County’s only tertiary care center, residents enjoy learning from our diverse and large catchment population. We are proud of our residents and through camaraderie and openness to resident feedback, we are always looking for innovative ways to improve our residency program.
Our Strengths
4 + 1 Schedule - After 4 weeks on inpatient services, residents are scheduled for a week of outpatient clinic where they can benefit from patient continuity without the competing demands of inpatient service. Apart from their continuity clinics during this week, residents also rotate through various subspecialty clinics such as endocrinology, hospice, and addiction medicine and are given dedicated time to work on quality improvement projects.
Patient Diversity - We are Suffolk County’s only level 1 trauma center and have a catchment area of 1.6 million, giving us the opportunity to treat patients of various socioeconomic statuses and ethnicities and see a wide array of pathology.
Northport VA Medical Center - As a major primary and secondary facility, Northport VA serves the largest regional veteran population in the United States. Residents are exposed to all subspecialties and benefit from working in a close-knit environment.
Dedicated Specialty Units - We have dedicated medical oncology and bone marrow transplant units, cardiology step-down and cardiac critical care units, and medical intensive care units.
Bedside Ultrasound Training – During ambulatory week every resident has 2 hours of dedicated time in our simulation center working under the supervision of Dr. Ahmad, an intensivist, learning bedside ultrasound. Residents use their ultrasound skills routinely in their patient care on the wards, in the critical care units, and in the emergency room using readily accessible handheld ultrasounds. During simulation residents also work together in teams in simulated emergencies including code blues, and practice techniques for procedures including central venous line and midline insertion and paracentesis.
Quality Improvement Research - The QI curriculum integrates didactics, small group discussion and project-based learning in the clinic during resident ambulatory blocks. Residents work on group QI projects that are aligned with the aims of the Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH), Patient Aligned Care Team (PACT), and institutional initiatives. The curriculum is designed to enhance resident knowledge of QI methodologies, provide hands-on experiences in implementing and analyzing quality processes, and prepare trainees to be able to implement continuous quality improvement in their future practices. Residents also benefit from presenting their research posters at national conferences and publishing abstracts and publications.
Culture of Constant Improvement - Open communication between Dr. Lane (Program Director) and house staff has created great changes. We have improved the schedule, refined our conferences, enhanced our educational curriculum and initiated the 4+1 system (an idea brought forth from a former resident). Our Resident Advisory Council, a group of peer-selected residents, meet with Dr. Lane monthly to discuss and problem-solve any issues in the program and propose and implement innovation into our training program.
The Wards - We operate on a “closed faculty” system where one attending is responsible for all team patient care and teaching experiences on the general medicine wards.
