Our curriculum is delivered through elective blocks that are spaced evenly over the three-year residency. These elective blocks allow us to build and deepen our knowledge across a variety of topics, including:

• Primary Care Core. In this block, residents master the essential topics of primary care, from caring for specific populations (geriatrics, LGBTQ health, formerly incarcerated individuals) to integrative medicine, substance use disorder management, advanced musculoskeletal exams, and more.
• Advocacy and Population Health. Through off-site experiences and initiatives, residents learn to advocate for their patients, themselves, and the health care system. This series explores how to care for both individuals and populations while identifying meaningful ways to drive change.
• Leadership and Career Development. In this block, residents focus on building a unique career path while becoming an effective, confident leader. Through readings, discussions, leadership training, and career sessions with physicians, residents develop the tools for success. Connecting with mentors and co-residents is a key component of this development.
• Scholarship and Education. All residents conduct their own research projects with mentors across the Mount Sinai Heath System, developing an educational session to teach their peers. Under close mentorship from our Primary Care Track directors, we use a personalized, scaffolded approach to give residents a framework for future scholarship and teaching.
• Personal Development and Reflection. Caring for our patients means caring for ourselves. Using narrative medicine, book clubs, and reflection practices, we join with colleagues across Mount Sinai to discuss spirituality, ethics, and other topics, creating a safe space to process our experiences in medicine.

Throughout the program, all residents keep a primary care panel at Mount Sinai-Internal Medicine Associates. They are also matched to a secondary elective site, where they see a panel of patients longitudinally during their residency. This allows our residents to care for populations different from what we typically see. Secondary sites include:

• The James J. Peters Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center
• The Institute for Family Health
• HIV Primary Care Sites
• Mount Sinai Faculty Practice

Our residents additionally spend time in specialty clinics across the Mount Sinai Health System, with rotations in geriatrics, dermatology, rheumatology, and cardiology. We tailor rotations to each resident’s individual interests.

To fully serve our patients, we engage with them beyond our hospital walls and within their own communities. Examples include tours of East Harlem, visits to local food pantries, exposure to supportive housing programs, and tours of health care delivery at Rikers Island.

We also organize specialized health training to ensure our residents are equipped to care for all populations. These include buprenorphine/naltrexone substance use disorder treatment training with opportunities in the REACH program, intimate partner violence training, and human rights forensic asylum training.

Our residents additionally participate in advocacy work. Examples include residents who spoke with national representatives in Washington, D.C. for the Society of General Internal Medicine's Hill Day, and residents who met with local representatives to support vital health initiatives in New York City.

As part of the three-year residency, every participant creates a scholarly project under the guidance of a Mount Sinai faculty member. At least once during their residency, most residents present their work at local or national conferences.

Our former residents have presented a dynamic range of topics, including complex diagnostic challenges in infectious diseases and oncology, quality improvement in chronic disease management, innovative approaches to medical education and health policy, nutritional deficiencies and cardiac implications, geriatric mental health, genetic counseling dilemmas, and acute medical emergencies. These examples of scholarship reflect our commitment to advancing knowledge across the full spectrum of primary care and internal medicine.

PGY-1
Our internship year focuses on developing core basic skills in primary care. Clinical rotations center on providing continuity of care at our ambulatory care sites along with specialty clinics in geriatrics, HIV care, addiction medicine, and various outpatient specialties. The first-year curriculum introduces residents to topics such as health policy, advocacy, scholarship, and integrative medicine. Residents also begin to identify a mentor and an associated research project based upon mutual interests. They complete six additional weeks of an ambulatory primary care elective, complementing the 14 weeks of ambulatory primary care, for a total of 20 weeks of primary care.

PGY-2
In the PGY-2 year, residents hone their primary care skills by rotating through other specialty care clinics while maintaining their continuity practices. This curriculum further delves into health policy, advocacy, ethics, and spirituality in medicine. Early in the year, residents select their research mentor and begin work on their major scholarly project. They have eight additional weeks of an ambulatory primary care elective, complementing the 12-week program of ambulatory primary care, for a total of 20 weeks of primary care.

PGY-3
In the PGY-3 year, residents begin to take on leadership roles in the outpatient setting. Our final-year curriculum focuses on medical education, teaching, and leadership development. Residents complete their scholarly projects and present their work at Mount Sinai’s Department of Medicine Research Day, as well as at regional and national meetings. They have eight additional weeks of an ambulatory primary care elective, complementing the 14 weeks of ambulatory primary care, for a total of 22 weeks of primary care.