Welcome

Welcome from Program Director

Melvin S. Blanchard, M.D.
Program Director,
Department of Medicine

We are delighted with your interest in the Washington University, St. Louis and Barnes-Jewish Hospital Internal Medicine Residency training program. We are committed to providing outstanding training to those planning careers as physician-scientists, clinicians, medical educators or any combination of the above. Our Division of Medical Education is led by the internal medicine program director and supported by 5 associate program directors, 4 chief residents, the clerkship director and other faculty and staff. This team is responsible for the residency, the medicine clerkship and subinternship, and sustaining the Department’s tradition of educational excellence. We are also responsible for The Washington Manual of Medical Therapeutics, The Washington Manual of Ambulatory Care, the 11 books in the Washington University Consult Series, and the Internship Survival Guide.

The environment at Washington University and Barnes-Jewish Hospital is educationally rich. The hospital, with 1700 physicians and over 900 occupied beds, is the largest medical center in the St. Louis region and serves a diverse population. Our tertiary care programs and special expertise in complex, specialized medical conditions attracts referrals from with a 300 mile radius of the Hospital. The Department of Medicine faculty has interests that span the full spectrum of diseases, rare and common, and they are national and international leaders in their areas of expertise. Among the faculty are basic science investigators, clinical researchers, and master clinicians. The medical students at Washington University are the most highly selected in the country and have been externally rated as such. The Division of Medical Education brings the Department of Medicine faculty, medical students and internal medicine residents together to provide superb clinical training, reflected in our 100% ABIM examination pass rate, generous mentorship in scholarly activities and career planning, and international reputation for unsurpassed excellence in training.

We are particularly proud of the unique scholarly opportunities we have created for our residents. For applicants with an MD-PhD or MD and a strong record of biomedical research experience, we offer the Physician Scientist Training Pathway. This program provides 2 years of outstanding clinical training as a categorical internal medicine resident, one or two years of clinical fellowship training in a subspecialty of internal medicine, then rigorous scientific training in the world-renowned laboratories at Washington University. The Clinical Scientist Training and Research and the Mentors in Medicine Research Grants Programs provide protected time, funding and structured training for other categorical residents with a research interest. We also invite our residents to write the book chapters for the Washington University Subspecialty Consult Series and Intern Survival Guide. These opportunities, coupled with our exceptionally rich learning environment, superb house officers and medical students, and internationally renowned faculty, make our residents highly competitive for the most desirable subspecialty fellowships.

Our residents are our greatest asset and focus. They are highly qualified, motivated and as a group come from diverse backgrounds with a broad range of interests. Yet, we maintain a very supportive atmosphere with many educational and social activities that maintain collegiality among our residents and with the faculty. We value and seek the input of our residents prior to developing and implementing plans to improve our program. The Department of Medicine, our faculty and staff are sensitive and responsive to the individual needs of our residents. This commitment to maintaining a positive and conducive learning environment is manifested in the camaraderie felt among our residents and evident to those who visit our program.

I invite you to explore our website to learn more about our training program and would be pleased to answer any questions you might have.