Internal Medicine Residency Program Structure

The Department of Medicine at Boston Medical Center - Brighton is proud to offer ACGME-accredited training in two categories: categorical and preliminary. The internship year is similar for both Categorical and Preliminary interns except that preliminary interns do not have a scheduled outpatient continuity clinic. The program offers 16 categorical and eight preliminary positions annually.

The internal medicine residency training at Boston Medical Center - Brighton is a comprehensive clinical experience encompassing several educational opportunities located at Boston Medical Center - Brighton's Boston campus. We follow a “4+2” block model where every third two-week block is ambulatory followed by four weeks of a mixture of other rotations (inpatient and elective) which then repeats throughout the three years.

PGY-1

Rotation	Approximate Number of Weeks
Medical Wards	8 to 12
Night Float	4 to 6
ICU/CCU	8 to 10
BMC-B Cardiology Wards	2 to 4
Lemuel Shattuck Wards	2 to 4
Ambulatory	14 to 18
Elective rotations	1 to 2
Vacation	4 (3 Weeks + 5 Personal Days)

 

PGY2

Rotation	Approximate Number of Weeks
Medical Wards	8 to 10
Day Float	2
ICU/CCU	6 to 8
Night float ward	4 to 6
Lemuel Shattuck Wards	4
Neurology Consult	2
Pulmonary Consult	2
Ambulatory	16 to 18 weeks
Elective rotations	2 to 4 weeks
Vacation	4 (3 Weeks + 5 Personal Days)

 

PGY3

Rotation	Approximate Number of Weeks
Medical Wards	4 to 6 weeks
Day Float	4 to 6
Nephrology Consult	2
Cardiology Consult	2
GI Consult	2
ICU/CCU night float	6 to 8
Lemuel Shattuck Wards	2 to 4
Ambulatory	14 to 16
Elective rotations	4 to 6
Vacation	4 (3 Weeks + 5 Personal Days)

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Inpatient Rotation Locations

Boston Medical Center - South is an acute-care, 224-bed hospital located in Brockton, a city in Plymouth County, Massachusetts. The hospital is part of the Boston Medical Center Health System and provides comprehensive inpatient, outpatient, and Level III Trauma emergency services to Brockton and 22 neighboring communities. The hospital offers Centers of Excellence care in orthopedics, oncology, and cardiology, specialized care in surgery, family-centered obstetrics with Level II special care nursery, and advanced diagnostic imaging. Brockton is the sixth-largest city in Massachusetts and is sometimes referred to as the "City of Champions", due to the success of some of its native boxers and High School sports programs.

Lemuel Shattuck Hospital is a 255-bed public health and teaching hospital located in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. The hospital is owned and operated by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH). The hospital offers inpatient care, including that of inmates through its correctional unit, as well as outpatient care, including surgical services, outpatient clinics, radiological imaging, laboratory services, and social services. The Hospital’s services help economically and socially disadvantaged patients to get high quality, cost-effective care from a staff that respects their dignity.

Boston Medical Center - Brighton is an acute-care, 308-bed hospital located in the Brighton neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. The hospital is part of the Boston Medical Center Health System and is a Boston University Teaching Hospital that provides patients and families access to some of Boston’s most advanced treatments and specialty care, including its cutting-edge robotic surgery program, advanced center for cardiac surgery, Level III NICU, and nationally recognized Stroke Center, which earned the Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval for its dedication to high-quality care.

Summary of Rotations

General Medicine, Cardiology Wards, Day Float, and Night Float

Our General Medicine ward teams consist of one resident and one intern and are devoted to taking care of general medicine patients. Each team rounds with a dedicated teaching hospitalist. This structure fosters close supervision and robust bedside teaching.

Categorical interns rotate for two to four weeks at BMC Brighton, focusing primarily on cardiology patients. These patients are typically cohorted on a single floor, allowing for a concentrated learning experience under the guidance of dedicated cardiology faculty and fellows.

A designated Day Float resident (PGY-2 or PGY-3) admits patients during the day, enabling ward teams to focus on uninterrupted bedside rounds and teaching. This rotation enhances residents’ skills in clinical reasoning, efficiency, and admissions workflow.

Overnight, a Night float team, comprising one resident and one intern, manages admissions and provides cross-coverage for the General Medicine service.

Intensive Care Unit, Shattuck Hospital, and Emergency Medicine

Our ICU team provides comprehensive care for both medical and cardiovascular patients within an 18-bed multidisciplinary unit.   The day team consists of one PGY-2 resident and two interns, while the night team includes one PGY-3 resident and one intern. This structure ensures continuous, high-quality care and learning across shifts. Residents are exposed to a wide range of critically ill patients with diverse pathologies. They gain firsthand experience responding to rapid responses and codes and managing very complex cases including those with rare diagnoses. Our ICU also has an advanced practice providers (APPs) team during the day and night. Our APP are highly skilled with many decades of critical care experience and are available to assist residents during the day and night with procedures and helping respond to urgent clinical situations.

At the Lemuel Shattuck Hospital, the inpatient ward team includes one resident from BMC South track and three interns, some of whom come from other residency programs across Boston.  The hospital plays a vital role in bridging gaps in the health care system, serving individuals in state care and custody, as well as community members with complex medical and psycho-social needs. Through partnerships with the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health (DMH) and Department of Correction (DOC), the hospital provides high-quality care in a secure setting to patients with chronic mental illness and incarcerated individuals.

Our PGY 3 residents also rotate through the Emergency Department. This rotation consists of approximately eight eight-hour shifts over a two-week period, totaling four weeks. It offers valuable exposure to acute care, triage, and emergency management in a fast-paced clinical environment.

Neurology, Pulmonary, Cardiology

Neurology: PGY-2 residents rotate on the inpatient neurology consult service at BMC-Brighton, working closely with a dedicated neurologist to evaluate and manage patients with a wide range of neurological conditions. To enrich their clinical experience, residents also attend weekly neuroradiology conferences during the rotation, gaining deeper insight into neuroimaging and diagnostic approaches.

Medical consults (Pulmonology, Cardiology, GI, ID): Residents (PGY-1 through PGY-3) rotate on the inpatient medical consultation service, where they evaluate consults and round with subspecialty faculty. This experience offers residents exposure to complex cases and interdisciplinary collaboration that enhances diagnostic and management skills.

Ambulatory block

Through our 4+2 block system, in which every six-week cycle includes two consecutive weeks dedicated to ambulatory outpatient training.

Continuity Clinic

During each ambulatory block, categorical residents and interns spend two full days per week in their continuity clinic, located in a primary care office. Each resident is assigned to a primary care clinic preceptor and remains with the same attending physician throughout their three years of training. The focus is on learning how to manage a broad array of illnesses in an outpatient setting and the most important aspects of primary care, including chronic disease management and preventive care. This opportunity allows the residents to develop a continuous, therapeutic relationship with a panel of general internal medicine patients during the period of their training.

Subspecialty Clinics

The remaining half-days during the ambulatory block are spent rotating in various internal medicine subspecialty and other specialty ambulatory areas. Current offerings include Cardiology, Advanced Heart Failure, Endocrinology, Infectious Diseases, Nephrology, Neurology, Pulmonary, and ENT. We are in the process of expanding our subspecialty clinic experiences to include additional disciplines, further enriching residents’ exposure to outpatient specialty care.

Academic Friday Morning

During the ambulatory week, Friday morning is dedicated to didactics and hands-on activities. The first session is designated for Physician Education and Assessment Center (PEAC) module conducted by chief residents or core faculty physicians. The second session is designated as a hands-on activity including POCUS sessions with dedicated faculty, Code Blue/RRT teaching sessions including Mock sessions. Half-day study allows residents to independently study and prepare for an upcoming presentation or conduct research or quality improvement activities.

Electives

On-Site Electives: We offer elective rotations in Cardiology, Gastroenterology, Infectious Diseases, Nephrology, Pulmonary Medicine, and Emergency Medicine.

Off-Site Electives: Residents may wish to do one off-site clinical elective of their choice (up to four weeks in duration) during their second or third year of residency training with the approval of the program director. Residents may also have opportunities to do rotations at Boston Medical Center – Main Campus in certain subspecialties.