Internal Medicine and Pediatrics Residency Program

Mission Statement

At MedStar Georgetown Med-Peds, we strive for clinical excellence in an environment that reflects the Jesuit motto of Cura personalis, “care of the whole person.” Our program seeks to recognize the unique gifts, challenges, and needs of each learner and teacher in our community. Residents graduate with the confidence and competence to excel in caring for patients of all ages in both inpatient and outpatient settings. We seek to recruit students with a diverse array of potential career pathways that build upon the common foundations of Internal Medicine and Pediatrics. We are united by a holistic, humanistic approach to patient care whether pursuing a subspecialty, primary care, global health, transitional care, public policy, academic medicine or hospitalist medicine. This aligns seamlessly with our healthcare system whose mission is to serve our patients, those who care for them, and our communities.

Welcome!

Welcome to the MedStar Georgetown Med-Peds Residency. If you are interested in a rigorous academic training program with a commitment to both subspecialty and primary care, please read on.
The Med-Peds program at MedStar Georgetown was founded in 1997 by Dr. Stephen Ray Mitchell, a Med-Peds trained Rheumatologist who was the Internal Medicine Program Director at the time. Dr. Mitchell’s initial mission was to create an integrated training program which included all of the requisite inpatient and specialty rotations as well as a curriculum dedicated to mastering ambulatory care. Whether one chooses to pursue general Med-Peds, or a specialty, much care is delivered in the outpatient setting. It is critical for trainees to learn to provide high quality care in this arena. Dr. Mitchell went on to become the Dean for Medical Education for the medical school where he served as an incredible role model for our medical students and residents.

While the details have changed over the last twenty years, we have maintained “clinic blocks” in our core schedule. These 2-4 week rotations allow our upper level residents to become proficient in managing acute and chronic medical problems for patients of all ages. Furthermore, they learn about the “systems” that enhance efficiency, satisfaction and outcomes in our academic practice. On a larger scale, they develop an understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of our current primary care system. Hopefully some will contribute to the national dialogue about optimal delivery of health care in this country and abroad. Even the residents who choose to pursue inpatient or specialty careers really enjoy the degree of independence and competence acquired during these ambulatory blocks. It also gives the program faculty a lot of exposure to the Med-Peds residents which fosters mentorship and teaching.

As program director, my first goal is to provide our residents with excellent clinical training in both Medicine and Pediatrics. The next priority is to support each resident as he/she builds upon this robust general foundation. Our program is richer given the diverse medical interests of our trainees. Whether this passion is for health care policy, advocacy, global health, subspecialty research, quality improvement, education or anything else, I will try to match the resident with the right advisors and experiences. Upon completion of training at MedStar Georgetown, the Med-Peds trained physicians are ready to excel in a wide range of careers.

Amy L. Burke, MD, Program Director
Combined Medicine-Pediatrics Residency Program

Continuity Clinic

Residents are provided with strong ambulatory training in both Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, at our Med-Peds continuity clinic which is supervised exclusively by Med-Peds trained faculty. Our clinic moved to a new, freshly renovated location less than a mile from the main hospital in June of 2022. The space was designed to optimize clinic flow and the patient experience. Our entire health care system uses the Cerner EMR which allows for coordination of care across the multiple subspecialty practices and hospitals in the Medstar network. The Med-Peds clinic also functions as a “home away from home” for our residents who look forward to reuniting with peers during their continuity clinic sessions. We have an ambulatory curriculum that includes 100 outpatient topics that repeat every 2 years. The pre-clinic conference is a mixture of case -based discussions led by faculty AND board review questions.

Our Internal Medicine program has adopted a “X + Y” scheduling system, while Pediatrics maintains a weekly continuity clinic. The Med-Peds residents follow this alternating structure. They attend weekly clinic when on pediatric rotations and longitudinal blocks when on medicine. Continuity blocks include didactic sessions with categorical residents, as well as subspecialty experience. A sample schedule is listed below:

The third and fourth year schedules include additional ambulatory time (three months per year) in the MedStar Georgetown Med-Peds clinic. Whether they are aspiring to a clinical career in primary care, as a hospitalist OR subspecialist, understanding how medical care is delivered in an outpatient setting is a critically important skill that our residents master. tur residents are experts in managing We aim to align the “subspecialty experience” with the professional and academic goals of the trainee. Some need the time for research, or desire exposure to community healthy sites. In addition to the usual medicine subspecialties, we’ve arranged rotations in family planning, sports medicine, school-based clinics, lactation, physical therapy, FQHCs, local private practices, ENT and with the DC DOH.

Residents on the Med-Peds ambulatory block are expected to perform thorough evaluations of patients in the office, attend conferences and lectures, and complete outside reading and self-study. During the rotation, residents are expected to become knowledgeable and proficient in the basics of preventative and general internal medicine and pediatrics, as well as common urgent care issues arising in the office.

The clinic is located at 2233 Wisconsin Avenue and is open from 8:30 am to 5 pm Monday through Friday. Residents are asked to evaluate patients and then present their findings, assessment, and plan to the designated Med-Peds Preceptor. The preceptor then sees the patient to verify exam findings for all intern encounters in the first 6 months of training. Subsequently, faculty may opt not to see certain patients if they concur with the resident’s diagnostic impression and plan of care. Faculty are ALWAYS amenable to seeing any patient when requested by the resident or patient/parent.

Contact Us

Medicine-Pediatrics Residency

MedStar Georgetown University Department of Medicine
Pasquerilla Healthcare Center, 5th Floor
3800 Reservoir Rd, NW
Washington, DC 20007

Please feel free to contact us with questions regarding the Medicine-Pediatrics Residency Program.

Amber Weller
Internal Medicine & Pediatrics Residency Administrator
Amber.R.Weller@gunet.georgetown.edu
Ph: 202-444-0809

2023-2024 Medicine-Pediatrics Chief Residents

Kirsten Martin, MD, Claire O'Grady, MD, and Christine Petrin, MD
gtownmedpeds@gmail.com

Amy Burke, MD MPH
Program Director
Amy.L.Burke@gunet.georgetown.edu

Sarah C. Thornton, MD
Associate Program Director
Sarah.C.Thornton@medstar.net