Philosophy of House Officer Training
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Residency training at Boston University is organized around several key principles:
The triad of patient care, education, and research forms the foundation for the department. While patient care must always be the central focus of the service, all three parts of the triad are fundamental to planning, program development, and organization. Dedication to our mutual education and to clinical investigation is integral to a training experience that will prepare young physicians for a rapidly changing profession.
Clinical experience is the house officer’s most effective teacher. All clinical activities in the program are based on the precept of supervised decision-making responsibility. Each of the three major inpatient facilities offers the opportunity for substantial clinical responsibility. The breadth of patient population served by the various institutions offers an unparalleled experience in primary, secondary, and tertiary care medicine. All house officer rotations in the inpatient and ambulatory facilities as well as in the community affiliates are supported and supervised by full-time faculty of the Boston University School of Medicine.
House officer training must be diverse, flexible and individualized. The scope of modern internal medicine is extraordinarily broad, and the strength of a department rests on its ability to support programs across that entire spectrum. Drawing upon the resources and missions of the diverse but integrated hospitals and staffs, Boston University offers an exceptional mix of clinical, educational, and research opportunities. Our core curriculum provides each individual with a solid foundation in Internal Medicine. Each house officer then builds on that foundation through the use of electives, highly personalized, and self-directed experience.
House officers have the opportunity to collaborate with faculty in the planning process for residency training, thereby shaping their program. Over the years, training programs must continually evolve to meet new challenges and grasp new opportunities. Here at Boston University, we believe that our housestaff are integral to this process and uniquely positioned to provide insight and guidance to the program leadership as new initiatives are devised and implemented. Residency Council Meetings, regularly scheduled and open to all residents, provide an invaluable venue for brainstorming with program leadership. Our residents participate in all curriculum planning committees. An example includes the recent inpatient service redesign, resulting in decreased work hours and patient hand-offs, based on a resident-devised model. Within the Primary Care Training Program (PCTP), the PCTP residents meet with the program director three times a year to review the curriclum, evaluate and enhance the experiences to tailor them to the residents’ interests.
A training program must offer personal, as well as professional support. House officer training is exciting, challenging, and immensely rewarding. However, it can also be stressful for even the most prepared and capable among us. Our program accepts the obligation to support and nurture the growth and development of residents as individual human beings, not just as professionals.
