Our Philosophy

The Department of Medicine is pleased to welcome your interest in postgraduate training at Stony Brook. Our comfortable learning environment fosters excellent physicians and leaders. As Suffolk County’s only tertiary care center, residents enjoy learning from our diverse and large catchment population. We are proud of our residents and through camaraderie and openness to resident feedback, we are always looking for innovative ways to improve our residency program.

Our Strengths

4 + 1 Schedule - After 4 weeks on inpatient services, residents a week of outpatient clinic where they can benefit from patient continuity without the competing demands of inpatient service every 5th week. Apart from their continuity clinics during this week, residents  also rotate through various subspecialty clinics such as rheumatology, pulmonology, ophthalmology and dermatology and are given dedicated time to work on their quality improvement projects.

Diversity - We are Suffolk County’s only level 1 trauma center and have a catchment area of 1.4 million, giving us the opportunity to treat patients of various socioeconomic statuses and ethnicities and see a wide array of pathology.

Northport VA Medical Center - As a major primary and secondary facility, Northport VA serves the largest regional veteran population in the United States. Residents are exposed to all subspecialties and benefit from working in a close-knit environment.

Dedicated Specialty Units - We have dedicated medical oncology, bone marrow transplant, and nephrology units where residents rotate 2 weeks at a time. Additionally we have a dedicated cardiology step down unit and CCU where interns and resident rotate for a significant amount of time.

Quality Improvement Research - The QI curriculum integrates didactics, small group discussion and project-based learning in the clinic during resident ambulatory blocks. Lectures cover a variety of topics, from basic concepts in quality to newer subjects such as the role of electronic health records and QI research. Residents work on group QI projects that are aligned with the aims of the Patient Centered Medical Home and institutional initiatives. The curriculum is designed to enhance resident knowledge of QI methodologies, provide hands-on experiences in implementing and analyzing quality processes, and prepare trainees to be able to implement continuous quality improvement in their future practices. Residents also benefit from presenting their research posters at national conferences and publishing abstracts and publications.

Culture of Constant Improvement - Open communication between Dr. Lane (Program Director) and house staff has created great changes. We have improved the schedule, refined our conferences, enhanced our educational curriculum and initiated the 4+1 system (an idea brought forth from a former resident).

The Wards - We operate on a “closed faculty” system where one attending is responsible for all team patient care and teaching experiences. Residents are only responsible for patients on the teaching service.

Patient Safety Quality Council - Our residents serve as leaders in the Patient Safety Quality Counsel (PSQC) made up of peer-selected medicine residents who represent the medicine residency program regarding patient safety issues across the institution. The counsel’s specific goals include discussing program-wide quality improvement project opportunities, creating a forum to discuss quality/safety issues seen by the residents and fostering a culture of safety and continuous process improvement. Group Patient Safety projects are conducted in a scholarly fashion with an aim for presentation at national meetings and dissemination of best practice.