Fort Smith Arkansas GME Program - Internal Medicine

• The residents will have three blocks of inpatient medicine during PGY-1 & PGY-2 years, in addition to two blocks in their third year with a day float rotation. All inpatient medicine rotations will be at the Mercy Fort Smith location with teaching at bedside by hospitalist teaching faculty.
• Residents will have an opportunity to work on the critical care units in each PGY year with an intensivist.
• The program has a night-float system and electronically based sign-out system to meet the ACGME duty hour requirements, providing effective and safe transitions of care.
• The subspecialty rotation of Neurology and Infectious Disease will be 100% inpatient experience. 

• Subspecialty rotations: Cardiology, Pulmonology, Gastroenterology, Geriatrics, Nephrology and Hematology/Oncology rotations will have a balance of inpatient/outpatient experience.
• Rheumatology and Endocrinology will be full outpatient experience.
• Residents will have a half day clinic block of ambulatory medicine experience each week with a two-week continuity clinic rotation in the residents’ 2nd and 3rd years. 

• Residents are provided a unique Geriatric rotation with exposure to outpatient Geriatrics, Hospice, Palliative Care, nursing home rounds and inpatient rehab.
• Residents are allowed to moonlight beginning in their PGY-2 year with approval of the Program Director.
• Residents will have protected time in their PGY-2 and PGY-3 years to work on scholarly activity.
• There are 4 weeks of night float annually.
• No more than 80 hours per week is spent on patient care duties.
• Residents have at least one full day out of seven free of patient care and responsibilities.

Electives occur in the primary care and specialty offices (which may include inpatient consults). Mercy Hospital Fort Smith is a part of a larger Mercy community with options for electives at other Mercy locations.

Residents will have opportunities with physicians at Mercy for electives in:

• Psychiatry
• Dermatology
• Ophthalmology
• Women’s Health
• ENT
• Orthopedics
• Palliative Care
• Sleep Medicine
• Rehabilitation Medicine

The didactic program consists of five dedicated and protected hours of weekly academic conferences each week.

• Daily: Morning Report on inpatient
• Weekly: Basic Science Lecture, Board Prep (utilizing MKSAP), Specialty Conference, Residents Conference
• Monthly: Grand Rounds, Journal Club and M&M Conference
• Quarterly: Simulation