Internal Medicine

Program Overview

Internal Medicine Residency Program is the largest and most diverse Residency Training Program within Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), and we take great pride in the comprehensive, high-quality training we offer. The program is designed around a robust and comprehensive core curriculum, delivered through a combination of supervised daily patient care activities and a variety of high-quality didactic educational sessions. These experiences are carefully structured to support residents in their development into competent, confident, and compassionate physicians.

The residency program is structured to align with the six core competencies outlined by the ACGME. It ensures that each resident is provided with the opportunity to acquire medical knowledge, clinical skills, interpersonal and communication abilities, professional attitudes, and behaviors necessary to become an exceptional general internist. General Medicine training is designed to equip Internal Medicine residents with the knowledge and clinical skills necessary to provide safe, effective, and patient-centered care. Residents are expected to understand and implement a coordinated, multidisciplinary approach that incorporates various sub-specialties to optimize patient outcomes.

The educational content of training in acquiring medical knowledge, skills to apply the best medical care to patients and the necessary medical ethics, so we aim to produce a physician who is knowledgeable, skillful and ethically sound. The training also ensures continuous quality improvement and provides the residents with some legal aspects in the practice of medicine and encourages the residents to acquire the basic necessary skills and tools for conducting research.

Residents must consistently apply evidence-based practices and stay current with the latest advancements in medical knowledge. They are required to demonstrate a solid understanding of established and emerging concepts in biomedical, clinical, epidemiological, and social-behavioral sciences, and effectively integrate this knowledge into the care of general medical patients.

Goals and Objectives

The goals and objectives of the Program include developing Patient Care and Procedural Skills, Medical Knowledge, Practice-based Learning and Improvement, Interpersonal and Communication Skills, Systems-based Practice and Professionalism.

Residents will:

· Learn the principles and knowledge necessary for the practice of general internal medicine balanced with comprehensive exposure to the medical subspecialties.

· Gain this clinical knowledge in diverse ambulatory and inpatient settings by caring for patients with a variety of illnesses and from many socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds.

· Attain competency in performing various medical procedures necessary for optimal patient care.

· Receive balanced exposure to patients with acute or life-threatening illnesses and to those with chronic or subacute problems.

· Develop a strong clinical skills base in both inpatient and outpatient internal medicine.

· Understand and practice graduate or graded responsibility over the three years of training to reach the ultimate goal of independent practice.

· Develop innovation in teaching and attaining the Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) core competencies through clinical experiences.

Clinical Training and Key Rotations

General Medicine training is aimed at preparing the trainees of Internal Medicine Residency to acquire knowledge and clinical skills that are essential for the provision of safe and effective patient care. They should understand and practice a coordinated multi-disciplinary care that involves various sub-specialties required to optimize the care of patients.

In addition, residents are required to apply the best and most up-to-date, evidence-based care of patients. Residents must demonstrate knowledge of established and evolving bio-medical, clinical, epidemiological, and social-behavioral science, as well as the application of this knowledge to care of general medical patients. They should develop proficient communication skills and practice in accordance with the ethical principles that are keeping the patient in the center of care. 

Five teams exist in the general internal medicine department, each divided into two sub-teams. All operate under the progressive responsibility concept with the PGY-1 residents supervised by PGY-2 and PGY-3 residents. Each sub-team consists of an attending, a senior resident (PGY-2/3 and 4), two junior residents (PGY-1) and one or two medical students, as well as residents rotating from other specialties. Each team will be on call every fifth night and will follow patients admitted that night to the internal medicine in-patient areas.

In addition, there is a separate medical consultation team, consisting of an attending and 3-4 senior residents (PGY-3 and 4). They provide medical consultation services to the rest of Hamad General Hospital (HGH) specialties and disciplines, such as cardiology and surgery, as well as the other neighboring hospitals such as Women Hospital (Ob/Gyn), and Psychiatry Hospital.

As part of the general medicine rotation, the residents are expected to rotate also in both Al-Khor and Al-Wakra hospitals where they will be exposed to basically the same experience as in HGH and they will be supervised by the local site program directors and faculty.

The residents will cover the Ambulatory care, and each resident is expected to do a ½-day weekly clinic under supervision by senior attendings.

By the end of the rotation, residents should be able to demonstrate sufficient knowledge to diagnose and manage acute medical conditions across a range of specialties, including Cardiovascular, Respiratory, Gastrointestinal, Rheumatology, Hematology, Oncology, Nephrology, Neurology, Infectious Diseases, and Endocrinology.

It is an absolute requirement that each resident under training in the Internal Medicine Program should strictly follow the rules and regulations of each of the areas in which he/she is rotating and should be keen and show enthusiasm in attending and participating in the various educational activities whether departmental or under each of their respective disciplines.

Contact Information

Program Director:
Dabia Al Mohanadi

Associate Program Directors:
Dr. Essa Abdulla Abuhelaiqa, Dr. Wanis Ibrahim & Dr. Ali Rahil

Program Coordinator:
Seeya Yoosuf

Program Email:
syoosuf@hamad.qa

Program Faculty and Core Faculty

Faculty of Internal Medicine Residency Program

There are more than 180 physician faculty members in the Department of Medicine at HGH. The chairman of the department and the program director and his assistants are administratively responsible for the operation of the residency program. Division heads and the Sub-specialty Education Coordinators (SEC) in cardiology, critical care medicine, gastroenterology, infectious diseases pulmonary medicine, oncology, hematology, endocrinology, neurology, nephrology, emergency medicine, psychiatry, geriatrics and rheumatology have major teaching responsibilities toward the residents. Most of the faculty also holds clinical faculty appointments at Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar (WCMC-Q) and College of Medicine –Qatar University.

Core Faculty Responsibilities

The Core Faculty are physicians who are expert evaluators of the competency domains and work closely and support the Program Director. They will assist in developing and implementing evaluation systems for the Internal Medicine Residency Program; they will also teach and advise (mentor) residents and devote a minimum of 15 hours per week to residents’ education.

The Core Faculty are selected from among the general faculty members of the program, and they play major role in the education process and are involved in the evaluation of the residents and the program as well as in deciding which residents to be promoted at the end of each academic year. The core faculty members are also members of the Clinical Competency Committee (CCC) and other committees in the program.

Core Faculty Must:

• Devote sufficient time to the educational program to fulfill their supervisory and teaching responsibilities and demonstrate a strong interest in resident education.
• Administer and maintain an educational environment conducive to educating residents in each of the ACGME-I competency areas.
• Participate in faculty development programs designed to enhance the effectiveness of their teaching skills.
• Promote scholarly activities within the department of medicine and help residents to participate in such activities.
• Provide mentorship for residents in general, and for some residents who have certain difficulties and need more specific attention and guidance.
• Establish and maintain an environment of inquiry and scholarship with an active research component.
• All faculty must regularly participate in organized clinical discussions, rounds, morning reports, journal club, and conferences. etc.
• All faculty should encourage and support residents in pursuing scholarly activities.
• Some members of the faculty should also demonstrate scholarships by one or more of the following:
• Publication of original research or review articles in peer-reviewed journals, or chapters in textbooks.
• Publication or presentation of case reports or peer-reviewed educational seminars, or clinical series at local, regional, or national professional and scientific society meetings.
• Participation in national committees or educational organizations.

Some of the core faculty have the additional task of being members of the Clinical Competency Committee and the Program Evaluation Committee.

Research Highlights/Programs​

Residency training is an important time to explore personal and professional interests. Scholarly activities including clinical research are considered an essential part of the internal medicine residency experience. The Internal Medicine Residency Program at Hamad Medical Corporation encourages and supports its resident’s active participation in research.

The Internal Medicine Residency Program has recently developed a Research Focus Group (RFG) Committee headed by Dr. Wanis Ibrahim as the “Research Officer” with the purpose to develop a research curriculum to provide Internal Medicine residents with a structured educational opportunity, facilitate their understanding of research and enhance their research activities. The Research Focus Group committee has recently launched regular scheduled mentoring meetings with the residents under the supervision of the committee faculty to help the residents in a step-by-step approach to formulate a research paper; from brainstorming to study publication and resolve any hindering factor.

The Annual Medical Residents Research Day is organized by the program at the end of each year to celebrate and recognize the residents’ scholarly achievement and motivate others to follow suit. Scholarly activity can include a continuous quality improvement project, involvement in a clinical study or trial, literature review paper, a meta-analysis or a case report.

A body within the department of Medicine such as Research Focus Group committee can take the lead in organizing and implementing the research program as well as assisting residents in this regard. Members of this committee will include consultants who have experience in research and are interested in mentoring residents, other members will include medical trainees from fellows and residents with similar interests in research so that they can help guide their peers.

Components of the research curriculum include:

• How to formulate a clinical question.
• Literature search.
• Research methodology workshops.
• How to critique a medical article.
• Writing the research proposal.
• Submission of the research proposal and IRB process.
• Writing a medical paper (case report, case series, and review paper).
• How to publish your work.
• How to present at a conference.

The Internal Medicine Residency Program residents are obligated to obtain certification from The Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) Program. This is considered a mandatory course for all medical residents and fellows, and everyone should be certified before they can register or be accepted to participate in any research project.

Also, Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) and Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF) require this certificate from all researchers before they can approve funding of research projects.

Facilities and Resources​

Academic Weekly Activities Schedule:

Internal Medicine General Teams Educational Activities

Weekly Schedule

Location: HGH, 5^th Floor, Medicine Conference Room

*Academic activities including Morning Report & Mid-week Activity are ongoing all year long except Ramadan and Public Holidays.

** Ground Rounds & Morbidity & Mortality (M&M) Conferences are ongoing all year long except Ramadan and Public Holidays, at Hajar Auditorium in the Medical Education.

***Medical Jeopardy (MJ) is held once every 6 months in the place of Morning report.​

Note: 1-Attendance is mandatory for all residents PGY-1 - PGY-4, and registration of attendance is required, and the attendance of all the educational activities should exceed 70%, for all residents. Complying with such requirements is an essential prerequisite for further evaluation and promotion