Welcome to the Transitional Year Program
From the Program Director
Welcome to the Sanford School of Medicine Transitional Year Residency Program website. We are pleased you are considering our program. We would like to highlight some of the strengths of the program. We utilize the minimum ACGME requirements for the year. This translates into 4 months on the Internal Medicine wards, 1 month of Emergency Medicine, and 1 month of outpatient primary care medicine, which can be completed with Internal Medicine, Pediatrics or Family Medicine. Beyond these requirements for all Transitional Year Programs our philosophy is to not add further requirements. Residents in Transitional Year programs will be pursuing a variety of specialties and the educational needs and interests of a Transitional Year resident going into dermatology will be very different from a Transitional Year resident going into Radiation Oncology, for example. Our schedule provides the flexibility to customize educational programs to the greatest extent possible.
During the 4 months on the Internal Medicine wards, the Transitional Year residents find themselves fully integrated into the inpatient rotation working side by side with Internal Medicine R1s without any differences in their duties or expectations. These months are rigorous and provide the solid foundation in hospital medicine needed by all Transitional Year residents regardless of their future objectives.
While on required rotations the Transitional Year residents find themselves treated indistinguishably from categorical residents (primarily medicine). While on specialty rotations; however, attending physicians are acutely aware of the different educational needs of the Transitional Year residents. A very rich educational environment is provided in areas such as anesthesia, ophthalmology, dermatology, and others. Some specialty groups also provide opportunities for research.
We foster research interests to the greatest extent possible and encourage residents to both initiate and complete projects that may have been started prior to their matriculation in the residency program. Commonly, residents will complete a research rotation during their Transitional Year but often have time to work on projects after hours when not on required rotations.
Thank you for considering our program. I look forward to the opportunity of meeting you during the interview process.
Eric Larson, M.D., FACP
Professor and Interim Chair of Internal Medicine
Program Director Transitional Year