Program tracks & special electives

Customize your learning to achieve your individual professional goals. All tracks begin in the PGY-2 year and are available to all residents through an application process.

IMPACcT- primary care inter-professional track – 5 PGY-2 and 5 PGY-3 residents

IMPACcT (Improving Patient, Access, Care, and cost through Training) is an inter-professional primary care training program in the Division of General Internal Medicine. IMPACcT focuses on team-based care in primary care delivery, incorporating faculty and learners from behavioral health, pharmacy, and physician assistant studies into a medicine resident-led team of providers. There is an emphasis on innovative care delivery models to enhance both patient and provider satisfaction. In addition to providing inter-professional care, participants in IMPACcT partake in regular inter-professional educational programs and enhanced mentoring for career development.

Clinician educator track – 3 PGY-2 and 3 PGY-3 residents

The clinician educator track is designed to meet the needs of those residents interested in pursuing a career in medical education. It is a two-year longitudinal curriculum for PGY-2s and PGY-3s. Interested residents will apply in the winter of the PGY-1 year. The program includes both longitudinal and immersive experiences. Participants will have four protected group learning retreats per year, as well as experiential opportunities to practice direct teaching skills. There will be a mentored longitudinal educational scholarship project that will focus on curriculum development. Those who fulfill the requirements of the track will be awarded a certificate of distinction. Below is an image of a recent graduate, Joseph You, MD, presenting his clinician educator track project at grand rounds.

Research track – 3 PGY-2 and 3 PGY-3 residents

The research track prepares residents for a career as clinician researchers. It is designed to make the process of conducting research during residency easier, more educational, and more productive. Key components of the research track are protected elective time for research and support from core research faculty. The program is ideal for residents who would like to gain a more in-depth research experience. The track is designed to support residents to (1) maintain a productive mentoring relationship, (2) track research project progress, and (3) complete abstract and manuscript submissions. Residents participating in the research track are expected to submit at least one manuscript for publication and one presentation to a professional meeting.

Health in Uganda – 5 PGY-3 residents

Our global health opportunity is for a limited number of interested/committed residents to work in Uganda, in a remote, rural district hospital in Kisoro, kilometers from the borders of Congo and Rwanda. The hospital has few resources and one to three Ugandan physicians covering all of medicine, surgery, pediatrics and obstetrics. These physicians also cover very busy outpatient medicine and HIV services. This rotation is 100% dependent on clinical skills (history and physical exam); there are almost no labs, images, or consultants. Montefiore residents have been rotating there since 2006 and Northwell residents since 2014. Residents cover wards of 30-40 patients and do three to seven admissions every day. The work day is 11-12 hours a day, six days a week (no night call). Supervision and teaching are provided by Montefiore faculty year round. It is a lot of work, but for the right people, it is the right experience.

Health Care Reform and Advocacy – 2- PGY-3 residents

Advocacy is one of the most innate skills physicians develop over the course of their undergraduateand graduate medical training. The health policy and advocacy curriculum at our institution is focused on further developing this inherent skill in our residents. The curriculum is based on the premise that advocacy can be implemented at the local, regional, and federal levels. Through this track, two senior residents (PGY-2s or PGY-3s) experience regional policy by spending four weeks with the New York Chapter of American College of Physicians (NY-ACP). The track allows residents to gain a deeper understanding about health care reform, upcoming changes in practice of medicine, and the most effective mechanisms to advocate at the legislative and executive level of New York State. This track highlights the importance of physicians gaining a platform to guide our legislative colleagues, and our communities, to adopt health policies that further the tripartite mission of medicine: improving health care delivery to our patients and communities, training a robust and diverse health care workforce, and building strong partnerships between legislators, administrators, health institutes, and communities. Below, is an image of one of our residents, Vincent Huang, MD, presenting at grand rounds some of the work that he did as a part of the healthcare reform and advocacy track. 

ENHANCE community health track – 2 PGY-2 and 2 PGY-3 residents

ENHANCE (ENgaging in Health Advocacy through Neighborhood Collaboratives and Education) is unique because it brings together trainees from the three primary care disciplines (internal medicine, family medicine and pediatrics) to evaluate and improve the health of various populations by creating longitudinal and meaningful partnerships with community-based organizations.

Residents gain skills in population health, social determinants of health, and community engagement. This track offers protected time for enhanced training in community health, the opportunity to work on a mentored project that fulfills requirements for an academic project (with additional opportunities for publication and/or presentation), mentorship by inter-professional and interdisciplinary faculty with expertise in community health, and graduation with a certificate of distinction. 

ENHANCE allows our trainees to provide patient care outside the traditional four walls of a clinic, while learning social change agents.

Lifestyle medicine residency curriculum track – Any number of PGY-2s and PGY-3s

The lifestyle medicine residency curriculum (LMRC) is an opt-in residency track that allows for the education and possible certification of residents in lifestyle medicine. Lifestyle medicine is the evidence-based practice of lifestyle interventions/modifications that allow patients to prevent, treat, and even reverse chronic diseases. The LMRC will train residents in the six pillars of lifestyle medicine: nutrition, physical activity, restorative sleep, stress management, social connectedness, and avoiding risky substances.

The LMRC is a standardized educational track created by the American College of Lifestyle Medicine that acts as one of two possible routes to acquiring board certification in lifestyle medicine (DipABLM). Residents in the track will experience a mix of didactics, independent activities, patient encounters, and intensive therapeutic lifestyle change programs to learn, implement, and practice lifestyle medicine themselves and with their patients. Upon completion of both the educational and practicum components of the curriculum, residents qualify to sit for the American Board of Lifestyle Medicine certification exam. A partial implementation version of the track provides the education for residents who want to pursue a secondary track.