Welcome From the Chair
The faculty, staff and fellows of the UC Department of Internal Medicine have a long-standing tradition of and reputation for clinical and academic excellence. The department has many missions, including education, research, clinical care and community service.
We seek to excel at each mission. We believe in setting high levels of expectation and that individuals working as a coordinated and supportive team can accomplish far more than those working in isolation.
As detailed below and throughout this site, the department has accomplished much, but constantly strives to be even better.
Sincerely,
Gregory W. Rouan, MD
Gordon and Helen Taylor Professor of Medicine
Chair, Department of Internal Medicine
Departmental Organization
- Nine divisions that include the major subspecialties and general internal medicine.
- 220 faculty, 121 residents, 65 fellows and 373 staff.
- Administratively organized into four areas: Educational, Clinical, Research and Veterans Affairs.
- Associate Chairs:
Judith Feinberg, MD, Associate Chair for Faculty Development
Carl Fichtenbaum, MD, Associate Program Director of Research and Director of the Clinical Scientist Program
Bradley Mathis, MD, Associate Chair of Clinical Affairs
Mitch Rashkin, MD, Associate Chair of Subspecialty GME
Gary Roselle, MD, Associate Chair for Veterans Affairs
Robert Wones, MD , Associate Chair of Quality Assurance and Regulatory Compliance - Residency Program Directors:
Eric Warm, MD
Caroline Mueller, MD
Florence Rothenberg, MD
Clinical Activites
Physicians within the department are part of the UC Health University of Cincinnati Physicians group practice, providing comprehensive clinical services in primary care and all medical subspecialties.
We function as a primary referral practice for primary care, as well as tertiary and quaternary care in highly specialized areas such as solid organ transplantation, cancer, diabetes, osteoporosis, heart failure, pulmonary hypertension, interstitial lung disease, cystic fibrosis, chronic liver disease, sickle cell disease, hemophilia and HIV care.
We admit about 40 percent of all the patients at UC Health University Hospital. Our full-time faculty also direct the internal medicine service at the geographically adjacent Cincinnati Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center with the support of our residents and fellows.
We also provide care at UC Health's West Chester Hospital and Drake Center, the latter being the largest facility for rehabilitation and post-acute care facility in the region.
Ambulatory care is provided at the Hoxworth Building's residency and faculty outpatient practice site adjacent to University Hospital, UC Health Physicians Offices in Clifton, West Chester and Montgomery, Cincinnati VA Medical Center and additional faculty practices throughout the Tristate area.
The provision of the highest quality of care to the underserved population of Cincinnati and Hamilton County is a long-standing commitment of the department and its faculty that is done in partnership with University Hospital.
New clinical practice programs include a diabetes center, sleep center and heart and vascular center. We actively participate in innovative treatments and clinical trials of HIV and Hepatitis C infections with National Institutes of Health research support. The department is also heavily involved in renal, pancreatic and liver transplantation and in all areas of internal medicine.
Several clinical diagnostic programs are located in the recently opened and consolidated Cardiovascular Diagnostic Center of University Hospital. Similar diagnostic and therapeutic services exist at our adjacent VA Medical Center, which has state-of-the-art digital cardiac catheterization and electrophysiology facilities. These two units are completely integrated in the department's structure and training programs.
The Pancreatic Disease Center at UC specializes in the diagnosis, evaluation and treatment of a wide range of pancreatic problems including complicated or recurrent acute pancreatitis, chronic pancreatitis, cystic lesions of the pancreas and pancreatic cancer. Staffed by some of the country's foremost pancreatic disease specialists, this center facilitates rapid evaluation of patients utilizing the most advanced and comprehensive diagnostic and treatment services.
A multidisciplinary brain tumor program was recently initiated in partnership with the departments of neurosurgery and radiation oncology and University Hospital. It joins other multi-specialty cancer programs that comprise the Barrett Cancer Center at University Hospital and the cancer program in West Chester.
Education
Our faculty, residents and fellows play a major role in medical education at the University of Cincinnati. We are responsible for about 25 percent of medical student education over the four years of medical school.
Although most teaching is done during the clinical years, many of our faculty are actively involved in educational programs during the preclinical years of medical school.
In addition, in conjunction with the UC Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, our department supports a PhD graduate training program in pathobiology and molecular medicine, facilitating collaborative interactions between bench science and clinical care.
Our residency training programs include graduates from 40 to 50 U.S. medical schools and a highly select group of international schools each year. Clinical training is divided between University Hospital and Cincinnati VA Medical Center (along with Cincinnati Children's for our med-peds residents), providing for an excellent mix of patient populations.
A major portion of our admissions are through University Hospital's emergency department, the only Level I trauma center in the Greater Cincinnati area. This provides an outstanding experience with critically ill patients.
In addition to the 121 residents in the Department of Internal Medicine, we also provide clinical rotations for internal medicine residents from Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton and residents in other University of Cincinnati departments.
Our commitment to education for our fellows is nationally recognized among the approximately 400 internal medicine training programs. We have had three successive approvals with five-year cycles (the longest available) from the Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).
In 2006 we were among only 17 programs nationwide named as one of the founding institutions for the ACGME's Education Innovation Project. This provided us with the opportunity to create and implement a unique and forward thinking curriculum that emphasizes personalized educational experiences for our residents firmly grounded in evidence-based medicine.
Opportunities for research experiences are also a key component of the curriculum. These have allowed our residents and medical students to have excellent success in academic presentations at state and national levels.
Each of our medical subspecialties offer highly competitive fellowship training programs, with 65 individuals currently enrolled in those programs. Our own residents, whom about 85 percent chose to pursue fellowship training, are extremely successful in obtaining these positions, as well as those at other outstanding academic centers throughout the U.S.
Research
The department is heavily committed to research, which is supported by funding from the NIH, the VA, private foundations and industry. Each division of the department has one or more focus areas of research in which they excel. The type of research is broad and includes bench research, translational research, clinical research and outcomes research.
Many of our research programs are multidisciplinary in nature and involve collaborations with faculty from other UC departments and colleges, as well as Cincinnati Children's. The UC research infrastructure includes many research core facilities that provide investigators with access to the latest in cutting edge technology.
Our clinical research efforts benefit greatly from the Center for Clinical and Translational Science and Training (CCTST), funded in 2009 through a Clinical and Translational Science Award by NIH to our Academic Health Center. The CCTST provides critical infrastructure for clinical and translational research, as well as training of individuals for future careers in such research endeavors.
Training for future research careers is also an important part of the department's mission. Opportunities for research electives are available for all residents and research experience is a keystone of the curriculum of each of the fellowship training programs.
Learn more about research in our various divisions: