Internal Medicine Residency Program - Des Moines

Greetings and welcome! The University of Iowa – Des Moines Internal Medicine Residency Program is a community-based university-affiliated program with greater than 40 years of experience in training residents in the science and art of Internal Medicine. We foster academic rigor in a supportive, innovative, and collaborative learning and working environment. As a result, our residents develop broad-ranging skills that allow the pursuit of careers in locations throughout the United States, ranging from general Internal Medicine practice to subspecialty practice.

We offer ten categorical and two preliminary medicine positions each year. With training sites that have a spectrum of patient care experiences from primary to tertiary care, and a program size that allows for significant schedule customization, we are able to offer primary care, hospital medicine, and subspecialty medicine training tracks to help residents achieve their career goals. Historically, one-third of our residents choose to enter into subspecialty fellowship training, frequently obtaining positions in competitive specialties and at nationally recognized programs.

Our faculty consists of outstanding general Internists and subspecialists actively involved in one-on-one teaching and mentoring. Our residents also play a major role in education, mastering abilities necessary to foster interdisciplinary collaboration, and growth of the knowledge and skills of students, residents, and faculty.

I trust that you will find the information on our site helpful. Please call, write, or email our office for more information. We look forward to helping you learn more about what our program has to offer.

Dr. Tyler Schwiesow
Program Director
University of Iowa - Des Moines Internal Medicine Residency Program
Iowa Methodist Medical Center
UnityPoint Health - Des Moines

About Our Program

The University of Iowa - Des Moines Internal Medicine Residency Program at UnityPoint Health has provided superb clinical training since 1976. Our residents benefit from dedicated faculty and a wide variety of rotations in an environment that emphasizes both academic excellence and collegiality. Our graduates are well prepared to enter competitive fellowship programs or private practice as general internists or hospitalists.

• Ten categorical and two preliminary year positions are offered in the match each year.
• Our principal teaching hospital is Iowa Methodist Medical Center, a Level 1 trauma and academic medical center. Rotations will also occur at Methodist West Hospital.
• Residents will see a diverse patient population as they rotate through our two additional teaching venues: Des Moines VA Medical Center and Broadlawns Medical Center, a county hospital.
• Individual rotations (including international opportunities) are available on a case by case basis.
• Superior clinician/educators provide 1:1 teaching and excellent supervision, while ensuring that the resident takes on increasing responsibilities and exercises meaningful autonomy.
• Over 1/3 of residents enter fellowship, with a 96% match rate over the past 13 years.

Mission of Program

Provide an educational environment that will enable residents to acquire the medical knowledge, clinical and procedural skills, and professionalism necessary to practice independently as an internist in a variety of practice settings, and to have a solid foundation for potential subspecialty training.

Aims

• Provide inpatient internal medicine and subspecialty training experiences, with supervised graduated autonomy, such that residents become proficient and confident in their practice.
• Provide ambulatory medicine training necessary to effectively manage the spectrum of illness seen in an internal medicine practice and to support the health maintenance of an adult population.
• Demonstrate and teach residents high-value care practices, and develop leadership skills in patient safety and quality improvement.
• Provide ample clinical and scholarly activity opportunities, along with appropriate schedule flexibility, for educational experiences that support residents toward their professional goals.
• Demonstrate and perpetuate collegial and supportive environments, with attention to resident and faculty emotional and physical well-being.

All rotations are taught by board certified faculty who participate in regular faculty development programs to further develop their supervision and teaching skills. The extensive formal education program covers a broad range of topics from general medicine and the internal medicine subspecialities. The curriculum also addresses topics from a variety of other disciplines.

Residents work one-on-one with faculty during clinical rotations. Patients admitted to inpatient teaching services are always cared for by medical students and residents working with one teaching staff physician. Residents write all orders for patients assigned to their care.

Residents are required to maintain ACLS certification and demonstrate mastery of airway management, mechanical ventilator management and hemodynamic monitoring of critically ill patients. Residents can also obtain ATLS certification during residency training.

A number of program graduates have chosen a hospitalist career path after residency training and report that the hospital and critical care training they received prepared them well for this career path.

One of the highlights of our residency program is the General Internal Medicine teaching division and outstanding general internist teachers, role models and mentors. The continuity of care clinics in which our residents participate provide excellent exposure to a wide variety of ambulatory patient concerns and provide a wonderful opportunity to learn health prevention and health maintenance skills.