Internal Medicine Residency

Internal Medicine Residency Header The Spectrum Health/Michigan State University College of Human Medicine Internal Medicine Residency program is a three-year program accepting 12 positions per year. We provide a rich educational experience with a culturally diverse population. With over 679 beds, Butterworth Hospital is a Level I Trauma Center and a clinical leader in cardiovascular, cancer and neurosciences, among many others. The availability of higher level services provided at Spectrum Health, including heart, lung, and bone marrow transplant, has added to the exposure of these complex specialized patient populations to our resident physician and truly enhanced the educational experience we are able to offer. Spectrum Health has been awarded primary stroke center and heart failure certifications and has won the Beacon Award for Critical Care Excellence.

Welcome to the Spectrum Health/Michigan State University Internal Medicine Residency Program. I’m so glad you decided to stop by our website and learn more about our awesome program! Let me tell you why I think it’s an amazing place to learn and grow and why you should be here.

The main locations our residents practice medicine is Spectrum Health Butterworth Hospital. Spectrum Health Butterworth and Blodgett Hospitals have been recognized among the nation’s best, as well as high-performing in various specialties, by U.S. News & World Report in its Best Hospitals rankings for six consecutive years.

The brilliance of our “Medical Mile” allows our residents to practice medicine in world-class facilities. Spectrum Health and Grand Rapids has more than 100 years of investing in graduate medical education. As medicine has evolved, so has our residencies. We are proud to have produced some of the best primary care and hospitalist physicians, in addition to having prepared the many others who have gone on to fellowship training in various internal medicine subspecialties.

While our hospitals and clinics are second to none, we boast the most about our community attending physicians and the passion they have for resident education! We have high expectations of our residents and with the guidance of our faculty and staff, our residents always rise to the occasion. We place a strong emphasis on education over service. Our general medicine units and ICUs are staffed with attending physicians 24/7. All of our teaching services are closely supervised by in-house attending physicians. There is always someone to look to and to learn from, making ours a nonmalignant learning environment that fosters mentorship and camaraderie. Simply put, we make good doctors!

We invite you to learn more about our community here in West Michigan. It’s a beautiful place to live and Michigan’s second largest populated city. Whether you enjoy walking along the river-side taking in the view of the rapids, watching minor league sporting events such as baseball, basketball or hockey, attending big-ticket artist concerts, taking in a Broadway play, the symphony, or perusing downtown for museums and good eateries, there’s something here for you. So, check us out! We hope to see you soon!

TaLawnda Bragg, MD
Program Director

Innovate. Inspire. Impact.

Additionally, we are proud of the relationships our physicians have built with patients and families. Through inspiring stories, Health Beat provides an editorial platform to bring patients and physicians together, sharing information on innovative care and personal journeys. Read about our innovative care and the brave families who inspire us.

Forging a New Path

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Didactics
Morning report (three per week)–Conducted by chief resident or a key faculty member, interesting cases or admissions from overnight are presented to discuss clinical presentations, differential diagnoses, appropriate interventions and therapeutics.

Formal resident patient handoffs–Occurs twice a day to insure the upmost quality and safety with transitioning care to covering residents.

Teaching rounds (three to five per week)–Each inpatient team lead by one faculty member spend one to two hours discuss patients on the service. Emphasis is placed on bed side teaching.

Grand Rounds–Weekly

Mortality chart review, safety cases and readmission root cause analysis–A regularly occurring conference built on our didactic sessions. The emphasis is on proving safe, timely and effective care, rooting in the six core ACGME competencies.

Morbidity and mortality (one per block)–Formal presentation by senior level residents at grand rounds.

Continuity clinic lecture daily in clinic–Each week, residents are provided reading material addressing multiple aspects of outpatient/ambulatory care medicine which include non-medicine subject matters such as ethics, billing, coding, running a practice, etc. Prior to each clinic, the reading material is discussed with a key faculty member(s) who staff the afternoon clinics.

Core curriculum lectures (weekly)–The core curriculum is given as a three hour lecture block each Friday. This is protected time free of clinical duties for the education of our residents. All disciplines within the field of medicine are presented by community subspecialists in order to prepare our residents for board certification in internal medicine.

Journal club (one per block)–Upper level residents select peer-reviewed journal articles that are critically reviewed by house staff.

Procedure skills lab (two per year)–This two to three hour session gives residents the opportunity to hone procedure skills such as intubations, thoracentesis, central access, etc. In addition, mock codes are performed.

Research
Manageable and realistic resident research opportunities: The internal medicine program strongly supports resident research, and many of our faculty are very involved in clinical research. Part of this support comes from the scholarly activity support team, led by Alan Davis, PhD.

For research support, the scholarly activity support team can assist you. The scholarly activity support team also offers biostatistics consultation, and poster preparation. Residents will be expected to submit their work for presentation at an institutional Research Day.

Residents develop a research project during their residency training, and have the opportunity to present it at numerous meetings. Some have even been submitted for publication! Our residents present at a city wide Research Day that occurs every year in April. Financial support from available funds can be requested not only from our internal medicine program, but also the scholarly activity support team pledged financial support for resident projects.

The internal medicine residency program holds a half-day retreat in September. This a great opportunity for residents to enjoy fun team-building activities and take time to get to know the new interns.

Spectrum Health provides a comprehensive and very competitive benefits package for our residents, staff and their families. In addition, our program provides educational monies to support your ongoing education. Download our salary and benefits document to learn more.

All applications are accepted through the Electronic Residency Application Service. Applications will be evaluated on an individual basis and applicants granted an interview as space allows.

We require three letters of recommendation, including a letter from the internal medicine department chair.
We prefer scores of 210 or higher on both Step 1 and Step 2 of the USMLE on your first attempt.
MD applicants: Results for Step 2 CK and Step 2 CS exam must be available to be considered for ranking.
DO applicants: We prefer USMLE Steps 1 and 2 but will accept COMLEX 1 and 2.
We prefer passing score result on the CS exam on your first attempt.
We prefer applicants who have graduated medical school within the past two years.
All applicants must possess U.S. work authorization or be eligible for J-1 status

For more information about our program, please contact the internal medicine residency program coordinators.

All visiting medical student applications must be submitted through the Visiting Student Learning Opportunities program (formerly known as VSAS). For more information on visiting medical student opportunities, please visit our Visiting Learner page.

About West Michigan

Grand Rapids was named one of The New York Times 52 Places to Go in 2016. It's known as Beer City USA and is home to one of the world's top festivals. Grand Rapids, Michigan is all of this and so much more - a city with unforgettable experiences made easy, affordable and friendly. Learn more about West Michigan on our community information page.