Welcome to the Brown University Internal Medicine Programs in Providence, RI

Our three programs (Categorical, Primary Care (GIM), and Preliminary), are based at Rhode Island Hospital with additional core rotations at The Miriam Hospital and the Providence VA Medical Center. We are situated in Providence, RI – a dynamic, art-, industry- and culinary-focused city, built on a foundation of inclusion and tolerance and ranked #16 for ethnic, language, and region of birth diversity among the 300 most populated cities in the United States. Our residents value the diverse population, a complementary variety of clinical locations, and a talented cohort of faculty educators and researchers within the Warren Alpert Medical School.

Our Mission Statement

The Brown University Internal Medicine Program seeks to promote the development of the consummate internist – doctors who practice with a high level of compassion, knowledge, skills, and professionalism. Our residents and faculty reflect a broad diversity of backgrounds and experiences unified by a dedication to our profession. We aim to give residents the opportunities, tools, and guidance to practice patient-centered care in a variety of environments. Our graduates will hold the care of their patients as their primary goal, accomplished through lifelong learning, scholarship, and education. We achieve this goal through mentorship, experiential learning, and by upholding high ethical standards. Our graduates are prepared for future growth as generalists and subspecialists, practitioners, and investigators, held together by the common bond of dedication to their patients and to the community of medicine. Collaboration, teamwork, and devotion to self and others are our core values.

The Brown Minority Housestaff Association would like to invite all self-identified underrepresented in medicine (URiM) applicants to our recruitment Happy Hours!

These events will take place via Zoom at 8PM on the following dates:November 12, 2021
January 21, 2022

For this year’s Happy Hours, we would like to invite all of applicants who are self-identified as ethnically underrepresented in medicine.

During these Happy Hours, the emphasis will be placed on life in Rhode Island as a person of color and show how BMHA can support PoC residents and fellows at Brown. We do not intend for these meetings to focus on the specifics of any given specialty; so we do encourage programs to host their own resident-specific diversity forums.

Please RSVP here.

We are happy to answer any questions you may have! Please direct them to bmhabrownuniversity@gmail.com.

What's New

Resident and Alumni Fellow elected to Graduate Medical Education Committee
PGY2 Internal Medicine Resident Rei Mitsuyama, MD and Internal Medicine/Chief Resident Alumnus/Current Brown GI Fellow Bret Roussel, MD were each elected by their peers to serve 2 year terms on the Graduate Medical Education Committee. This is a very important role in that housestaff members of the GMEC provide valuable resident and fellow perspectives and participate in the decisions that affect trainees in our GME Community. Rei and Bret join housestaff peers Kelsey Snapp from Surgery, Courtney Pederson from Emergency Medicine and Ravi Sarpatwari from Critical Care. Congratulations and thank you for this important effort.
Listen to our Latest Podcasts
Associate Program Director, Dr. Fred Schiffman, appeared on the “Medicine Mentors” Podcast

Dr. Schiffman explains Brown’s focus on Humanism in Medicine and how it contributes to excellence in practice and medical education.

https://campaignlp.constantcontact.com/em/1119270871185/6e1f6736-03ab-42be-8236-1ca62453434a

Program Director, Dr. Dominick Tammaro, describes some features of the Brown Internal Medicine Residency Program.

Listen on Spotify via the link below.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/5Eao62XrB8AwB8XH3t3b8E?si=w9KxttRaQRGo94_QzPXhkg

Bias Reduction Education in Brown Department of Medicine Podcast

Dr. Kate Cahill (Clinician Educator track Co-Director/Brown IM Core Clerkship Director/BRIM Instructor) joins Dr. Tammaro in this Podcast describing the nature and implementation of the BRIM program for faculty and residents here at Brown.

You can access the podcast at http://www.brownmed.org/needle/.
New Chief Residents AY 2022-2023 Named
Brown IM Program Leaders announced the new Chief Residents selected for the Academic Year 2022-2023:

Emmanuel Asiedu, MD
Warren Alpert Medical School

Colin Daingerfield, MD
University of Rochester

Ann Ding, MD
University of Texas, San Antonio

Anna Hardesty, MD
University of Washington

Amelia Tajik, MD
University of Vermont
Dr. Tammaro receives National Award from Program Director Association
Dr. Dominick Tammaro, Internal Medicine Residency Director at Brown, has been selected as the 2021 recipient of the Dema C. Daley Founder’s Award by the Association of Program Directors in Internal Medicine (APDIM). This award honors members of the internal medicine education and leadership community who are recognized nationally as educators, innovators, and leaders. The award presentation too place virtually at APDIM’s virtual Spring Meeting in April 2021.
New IM Residency POCUS Curriculum Director Appointed
The POCUS Curriculum continues to expand at Brown IM. Sarah Freeman, MD has been appointed the Director of this program and has been working on several initiatives in this area. Workshops at the Lifespan Simulation Center are ongoing, focusing on PG1 and PG2 Internal Medicine residents. Additional curriculum is being developed for non-procedural assessment skills. Plans are underway to recruit and appoint an Assistant POCUS program director for the coming AY 22-23.
Dr. Tehrani receives Stephen Abrahamson Award for Innovation at Innovations in Medical Education Conference
PGY3 Resident Bobby Tehrani presented work entitled “Evaluation of Barriers and Facilitators of Resident Research Following Implementation of a Dedicated Research Program”. This work, co-authored by PG3 Resident Michael Liu, MD and others, demonstrated research productivity by Brown Internal Medicine residents grew by a greater than 6-fold increase in both manuscript publication as well as national conference presentation over the 5 year period from 2015-2019. The increase was attributed to the implementation of a new research curriculum and intern research retreat in 2016, providing our residents with skills and guidance towards successful scholarly pursuits and mentorship.
Lifespan Hospitals Top Performers in LGBTQ Health Care Equity
Lifespan’s four hospitals once again achieved Top Performer status on the Healthcare Equality Index (HEI), a national benchmark of hospitals’ policies and practices related to equitable and inclusive treatment of their LGBTQ patients, visitors, and employees.

The Human Rights Campaign Foundation announced August 31 that Rhode Island, The Miriam, Bradley, and Newport hospitals had earned the designation. The Human Rights Campaign, the largest national lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer civil rights organization, has more than 3 million members and supporters.

The HEI assesses hospitals’ policies and practices regarding non-discrimination and staff training, patient services and support, employee benefits and policies, and patient and community engagement.

Participating hospitals “are not only on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic, they are also making it clear from their participation in the HEI that they stand on the side of fairness and are committed to providing inclusive care to their LGBTQ patients. In addition, many have made strong statements on racial justice and equity and are engaging in efforts to address racial inequities in their institutions and their communities. We commend all of the HEI participants for their commitment to providing inclusive care for all,” Alphonso David, HRC Foundation president, said in releasing the 13th annual report.

A record 765 health care facilities participated in the HEI 2020 survey. The Human Rights Campaign Foundation provides a searchable database for the public to learn about hospitals near them.
Department of Medicine Implements new JEDI (Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion) Curriculum
Dr. Debasree Banerjee (Pulmonary/Critical Care) has developed a seven-module anti-racism curriculum titled JEDI, which has been implemented for Department of Medicine faculty in the Divisions of Pulmonary/Critical Care, General Internal Medicine, and infectious Diseases. This curriculum was developed with grant support from the Department of Medicine and will be implemented for all faculty over the coming academic year. This new program complements the BRIM (Bias Reduction in Internal Medicine) workshop which has been conducted with faculty and residents in Internal Medicine at Brown for the since 2018. In June 2021, BRIM Facilitators from the Department of Medicine conducted the workshop, originally developed at the University of Wisconsin, for all incoming interns from all residency programs at Brown.

Resident Voices

On my interview day, the morning report here won me over. Beyond a sense of camaraderie, the atmosphere amongst the residents and faculty was beautiful in its honesty and remarkable in its simplicity. I recognized that I found a place in which I could train while continuing to develop and cultivate my self and and my personality. Here I'm able to find progress personally and academically, and even when I was tired, hungry, or hangry, the experience has been rewarding.

Athreya Tata, MD (PGY3 - Primary Care),
When I was looking at residency programs, Brown stood on its own in terms of philosophy and values. There is a culture of learning and support that extends from the leadership and percolates through the program that I think is uncommon to find at other places. I have grown so much as a person and healthcare professional, in no small part because of the mentors and teachers made available to me here.

Daniel Yee, MD (PGY3 - Primary Care),
Learning to practice medicine at Brown has been a privilege. The atmosphere here is one of professionalism, collaboration, and mutual respect. Interns and residents are given autonomy but also tremendous support and backup, and I’ve never once felt like I couldn’t ask for help. There are many internal medicine programs with great patient diversity and fellowship match, but I think you’d be hard-pressed to find a place where people treat each other with such benevolence.

Brian Osler, MD (PGY3 - Categorical),
Residency is hard work, so it is important to surround yourself with people who genuinely care about one another and bring a positive attitude to work everyday. My passion for General Internal Medicine has only grown since starting here, and I attribute this to being surrounded by countless incredible role models who make medicine fun! I truly feel that I will leave Brown with all the tools necessary to become an exceptional general internist.

Jaclyn McKenna, MD (PGY3 - Primary Care),
Residency so far has been a phenomenal experience I would never change. The family I have created with my fellow residents and my work as a physician has filled me with such joy. Residency has its hardships but you're never alone, always supported, and trained incredibly well here at Brown.

Grant Cagle, MD (PGY3 - Categorical),