Welcome! The faculty, staff and trainees of the University of Cincinnati 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. 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 the web site, the Department has accomplished much, but constantly strives to be even better.

The Department of Internal Medicine has nine divisions that include the major subspecialties and general internal medicine. We have 220 faculty, 121 residents, 65 fellows and 373 staff. Administratively, the Department is organized into four areas: educational, clinical, research and Veterans Affairs. Our Associate Chairs are: Gregory Rouan, MD for both Educational Affairs and Inpatient Programs at University Hospital; Bradley Mathis, MD for Ambulatory Clinical Programs; Richard Snyder, MD for Quality Assurance and Regulatory Compliance; Melanie Cushion, PhD for Research; Judith Feinberg, MD of Faculty Development; and Gary Roselle, MD for Veterans Affairs. In addition, Eric Warm, MD is the program director for the categorical residency program in internal medicine and Caroline Mueller, MD is the program director for med/peds residency program.

CLINICAL ACTIVITIES

The Department, as part of the University of Cincinnati Physicians group practice (http://www.ucphysicians.com/), provides comprehensive clinical services in primary care and all of the 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% of all the patients at The University Hospital. Our full-time faculty also direct the internal medicine service at the geographically adjacent VA Medical Center with the support of our residents and fellows. We also provide care at the recently opened West Chester Medical Center and the Drake Center, the latter the largest facility for rehabilitation and post-acute care facility in the region. Ambulatory care is provided at the Hoxworth housestaff and faculty outpatient practice site adjacent to University Hospital, the Medical Arts Building, the Cincinnati VA, and additional faculty practices at University Pointe, Montgomery and sites numerous other locations throughout the tri-state 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 participate actively in innovative treatments and clinical trials of HIV and Hepatitis C infections with NIH 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 the University of Cincinnati 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 the University Hospital. It joins other multi-specialty cancer programs that comprise the Barrett Cancer Center at University Hospital and the cancer program at University Pointe.

EDUCATION

Our faculty, residents and fellows play a major role in medical education at the University of Cincinnati. We are responsible for about 25% 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 Department of Pathology, 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 US medical schools and a highly select group of international schools each year. Clinical training is divided between The University Hospital and the VA Medical Center (along with the Children's Hospital Medical Center for our Med-Peds residents), providing for an excellent mix of patient populations. A major portion of our admissions are through the University Hospital Center of Emergency Care, 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 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 trainees is a 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 to be named as one of the founding institutions for the ACGME's Education Innovation Project. This has provide us with the opportunity to create and implement a unique and forward thinking curriculum that emphasizes personalized educational experiences for our residents that are firmly grounded in evidence-based medicine. Opportunities for research experiences are also a key component of the curriculum. This has 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, of whom about 85% 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. Details can be found below. 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 Children's Hospital of Cincinnati. 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), recently funded 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. Clinical research focused on outcomes is further enhanced by a strong partnership with the UC Institute of Health Services Research. Training for future research careers is also an important part of the department's mission. We continue our successful partnership with the Department of Pathology in the jointly supported graduate program in Pathobiology and Molecular Medicine. 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.

Cardiovascular Medicine

Basic, translational and clinical research programs in cardiovascular medicine by Department faculty are broadly focused upon normal and pathologic processes involving the heart and vasculature. Extramural funding by full-time faculty is derived from the NIH, American Heart Association, VA and industry.

Major basic cardiovascular research interests in the department include vascular lipid metabolism; oxidative stress and inflammation in vascular disease; and cardiac stem cell biology. In addition to its basic research programs, the division has active clinical trials programs in the areas of coronary artery disease, electrophysiology, heart failure, interventional cardiology and cardiac computerized tomography. Clinical trials in the area of imaging include radiotracer imaging of cardiac sympathetic innervation, SPECT imaging of fatty acid tracers, and validation of coronary CT angiography. The division is also actively involved in novel therapies for coronary angiogenesis, including the cardiac application of adult autologous stem cells.

Digestive Diseases

The Division has four research laboratories and several distinct clinical research groups. The Hepatitis Research Group laboratories are nationally recognized for their contributions to the understanding of HCV molecular epidemiology, HCV and HBV pathophysiology and genetic diversity, and immunology of hepatitis A, B, C, and E. Other division faculty investigate the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease or mechanisms of bilirubin transport and its physiological roles in inflammatory and proliferative processes. Clinically focused research includes the diagnosis and/or treatment of viral hepatitis, HCV/HIV interactions, inflammatory bowel disease, liver transplantation, motility disorders, and pancreatic diseases, as well as novel endoscopic techniques for diagnosis and treatment of gastrointestinal, biliary, and hepatic diseases.

Endocrinology

Research activities in the Division of Endocrinology are extensive and focus on diabetes, obesity and metabolism, bone disease, and thyroid disorders. Particular areas of emphasis are on mechanisms of disease caused by hyperglycemia, regulation of insulin secretion, islet transplantation, osteoporosis, and obesity. While much of this research is directed towards understanding basic mechanisms of disease, the division has a growing emphasis on the application of research findings and is expanding their clinical research initiatives. Researchers in the division receive grant support from the NIH, VA, American Diabetes Association, American Heart Association and other organizations who have recognized the quality and importance of this work.

General Internal Medicine

Outcomes Research:

The Division of General Internal Medicine has a Section of Outcomes Research under the direction of Dr. Tsevat. Members of the Section are engaged in collaborative research, education, and primary care. The Section holds a biweekly multidisciplinary Outcomes Research Conference, which is a seminar for persons interested in conducting outcomes research. The Division also holds a monthly Medical Education Research Conference to foster research in medical education.

Specific programs and projects include: