Message from the Internal Medicine Director

The Creighton Internal Medicine Program is not just a collaboration of a renowned medical university and two large distinguished hospital systems. It is an alliance of their missions to achieve one common goal: to train compassionate and clinically outstanding physicians who will provide the highest quality, evidence-based medical care and advance the practice of medicine through excellence in patient care, education, research and quality improvement. One of our main focuses has always been our unwavering commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion and fostering that culture in our faculty, residents and students by dedicated training and several social events throughout the year to promote a sense of belonging.

Another aspect that has been of paramount importance to us has been the wellness of the residents and faculty. In fact, the culture of wellness has been so deep rooted in us, that we have had a dedicated “wellness chief resident” for a very long time. That has transformed over years to a dedicated wellness core faculty, a complete wellness curriculum. There are several wellness activities that residents and faculty engage on a monthly basis and that enables all to nurture an ideal team environment at work.

During your residency journey, you rotate through two large and well-established nation’s top-rated hospitals: St. Joseph’s Medical Center and Valleywise Medical Center. St. Joseph’s Medical Center is the oldest hospital in Arizona, a leader in Level 1 trauma that proudly houses the Barrow Neurological Institute, The Norton Thoracic Institute in addition to other multiple specialties providing advanced quality care to thousands of patients each year. There is no better opportunity to serve the community and make a positive impact in the health of the underserved than working at the Valleywise Medical Center. In addition to having the only burn center in the Valley, residents care for a myriad of interesting disease processes from travel medicine to substance abuse disorders. In my opinion, if you are looking for a well-rounded experience with a diverse patient population during your residency training, you are at the right place!

Finally, we have created a robust academic program with a goal to always keep subject matter relevant and enticing in a manner that is best suited for the “modern day learner”. Our curriculum covers a wide range of lectures from the traditional case-based discussion and didactics by our best educators and renowned speakers to unconventional and thought-provoking sessions like “show and tell”, “things we do for no reason”, podcasts etc. Mandatory and regular faculty development series helps our very effective educators remain versatile with their teaching techniques and learn best practices from experts. The balance between a busy clinical service and a broad academic curriculum is always challenging and we frequently reassess what is best for the residents based on resident feedback through multiple channels.

In addition, other program highlights include:

1. Innovative approaches to expand medical knowledge and clinical experience such as dedicated POCUS program, unique Medical Knowledge Donor use in procedures and other simulations to acquire most realistic and hands-on-experience for learners
2. Community outreach opportunities: CATCH program involving patient home visits, rotation at St. Vincent de Paul clinic etc.
3. Subspecialty elective opportunities at internationally recognized institutes like Norton Thoracic Institute, a leader in transplant programs and Barrow Neurological Institute
4. Highly structured academic curriculum including dedicated ABIM exam preparation
5. Focus on scholarly activities, quality improvement initiatives and participation in all conferences at regional and national level
6. Structured “Resident as teachers” series to enable learners to become effective teachers
7. Dedicated time for wellness activities

During all these years, I have often been asked: What is the best part of our Internal Medicine Program? While I am extremely proud of all our highlights you might have read, I am always amazed at the camaraderie of the program. Our hard work and dedication have enabled us to achieve exponential growth, but we haven’t changed our “small family approach” where each of us dearly looks out for each other. We celebrate successes as a team and unite as one in testing times. In my opinion, that is the best part of the program.

We are confident you will thrive in our program and look forward to welcoming you to our family!

Sri Boddupalli, MD
Program Director, Internal Medicine