The Internal Medicine resident gains
extensive experience in the performance
of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures.
Residents perform numerous lumbar
punctures, arterial line placements,
Swan-Ganz catheter placements,
thoracenteses, and chest tube
placements as early as the end of
the first year. Outpatient diagnostic
equipment is also readily available
for procedures such as flexible
sigmoidoscopy in the Internal
Medicine Clinic.

New changes in the curriculum
include training in Evidence-Based
Medicine, Sports/Occupational
Medicine, Hospitalist/Consultative
Medicine, Business of Medicine, and
Medical Informatics. The latter
emphasizes the development of computer skills. A new General Curriculum lecture series has also been developed addressing several essential medical skills such as: Professionalism, Risk Management, Managed Care, Writing/Speaking Skills, Ethics in Research, Medical Practice Management, and Time Management.

The elective program at Ball Hospital provides experience in all internal medicine subspecialties and related surgical subspecialties. Residents in pursuit of subspecialty fellowship training are successful in finding positions at outstanding institutions.

Residents are involved with research and scholarly activity. Residents must complete a one month Research rotation during the PGY-2 year, with emphasis on writing and presentation skills, epidemiology, manuscript preparation, and biostatistics. Residents are encouraged to join clinical research trials and must complete a scholarly project suitable for journal publication prior to graduation. Additional research experience is available to interested residents.

The ambulatory experience is broad. The Internal Medicine Clinic, under the direction of Dr. Brandon Dickey, provides a three-year longitudinal continuity experience for management of ambulatory patients. Additional experiences in outpatient orthopedics, ophthalmology, rheumatology, and gynecology are obtained in the Multidisciplinary Ambulatory Experience in each year of training. Experience in a community general internist's office is also obtained during these block rotations. A two-week outpatient rotation in the third year emphasizes adolescent medicine at the Ball State University Student Health Center. We also have added a one-month experience in Sports & Occupational Medicine.

The Internal Medicine Residency has a large number of institutionally-based faculty members. The primary ward medicine experience is supervised by hospital-based general internists with a strong commitment to teaching. Integration of the Hospitalist Service with Medical Education has created a large faculty base to enhance residents' supervision and education.

A large number of faculty members have received training at institutions other than Indiana University, including Duke University, The University of Pennsylvania, Northwestern University, The University of Cincinnati, and the University of Utah. An extensive visiting professor program supplements our local faculty.

Our residents strive for academic excellence. Our residents have won the Indiana ACP Chapter’s “Doctor’s Dilemma” academic competition four of the last six years (including 2008) and competed in the national championship three years in a row. Our residents and faculty publish many articles in peer-reviewed journals and regularly present posters and abstracts at regional and national meetings. Dr. Romero, one of our past Chief Residents, presented a poster at the ACP national meeting in Washington two years ago.

Full accreditation by the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) and the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) virtually guarantees that each resident will develop proficiency in the diagnosis and treatment of adult medical problems.

There is ample opportunity for the residents to earn additional income. In-house moonlighting and teaching of sophomore medical students at the Indiana University School of Medicine—Muncie are examples. The residency will cover malpractice insurance for approved off-site moonlighting activities.

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GENERAL INFORMATION
J. Matthew Neal, MD, MBA, CPE, FACP, FACE, Program Director
Karen Siefert, Program Coordinator
Phone: (765) 747-3367 Fax: (765) 751-1451
E-mail: ksiefert@chsmail.org

Residency Location: City of 75,000 with a college community of 20,000
Total Operating Beds: 350+