The program’s goal is to maintain a systematic and continuous process of self learning, through hands-on experience and the critical analysis of the medical literature. Trainees rotate through a number of subspecialty services and have the opportunity to work closely with Board Certified specialists in their office and hospital practices. At all times, residents are carefully supervised by full-time faculty and voluntary attendings.

The program allots a sufficient amount of time to the development of a continuity panel of patients whom the residents follow in the outpatient department throughout their three years of training. Residents also spend dedicated blocks of time in the emergency department developing assessment and management skills of acutely ill patients and learning about the relevance of non-internal medicine subspecialty in the primary care of adult patients.

A night duty system has been instituted so there is no weekday overnight call during the time on the general internal medicine services. Residents throughout the three years of training participate on the night duty team.

Through an affiliation with SUNY-Downstate, fourth year students from SUNY-Downstate rotate through Flushing Hospital’s Geriatrics Service, taking advantage of the experiences of the inpatient geriatrics unit and the Geriatrics Fellowship Program. Medical students from St. George’s University and American University of the Caribbean complete twelve week, third year core clerkships throughout the various medical services offered at Flushing Hospital. For fourth year electives, they rotate through specialty services, as do students from Ross University.

In addition to daily work experience, residents will be exposed to a variety of educational opportunities, specifically case conferences, grand rounds, mortality and morbidity reviews, the evidence based medicine journal club, interdisciplinary conferences, board review sessions, and didactic lectures. Evidence based medicine is the primary objective of the training program. All trainees have access to the internet and web based reference sources, such as Up to Date and Ovid. The library is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Research endeavors are also strongly encouraged. During the PGY3 year, there is a dedicated block of time for residents to pursue a research project of their choice. The Research Coordinator is available to facilitate statistical analysis and submit data. Interested residents and staff will have the opportunity to present their work at regional and national conferences and have it published in peer reviewed publications, based on original investigations and case reports.

Flushing Hospital received national attention when an outbreak of encephalitis, in Queens, was identified as being caused by West Nile virus and again during the recent H1N1 epidemic. The program’s housestaff was an integral part of the team that researched, evaluated, and cared for these patients. Several educational presentations have been made about this discovery.