Internal Medicine Residency Program

Research

Plenty of great opportunities for research as long as you get involved early enough. Faculty are willing to work with you and help get your name on a paper (or a few). - Absalon Gutierrez, recent graduate.

The Department of Internal Medicine values research by its faculty and residents. In 2005, the department was #38 in the NIH rankings of monies awarded to US medical schools, thus grouped with such schools as University of Rochester, Georgetown University, and New York University. From 2003 to 2005, the department raised its ranking from #62.

Scholarly Project

All IM residents are required to participate in a “scholarly activity” sometime during their 36 months of training. A resident research committee coordinates all research efforts and its members are available to assist house staff. Some residents fulfill this requirement through a research elective.

Every resident is assigned a mentor at the beginning of their residency who helps them identify a scholarly project. Past projects have ranged from case reports to published studies, community surveys while traveling abroad to poster presentations.

Protected Time: Residents are allowed up to 3 months of protected time for research pending approval by our research committee. Many motivated interns begin research during their first year.

University Resources: Residents benefit from the resources of the University of New Mexico, our ranking in the top 40 National Institutes of Health grant funded departments and our designation as a NCI designated Cancer Center. There are plenty of basic science and clinical studies in which to participate. Furthermore, as an institution committed to serving the underserved, there are many opportunities to contribute to public health and preventative projects such as Project ECHO.

Opportunities to Present: Our local chapter of American College of Physicians hosts a yearly meeting in which many residents present oral case reports as well as poster presentations. Each year, a few are chosen to go to the national meeting. Many residents present at the annual meeting of the Western Resident Medical Research Forum in Carmel, California as well as other national conferences.

Examples of Resident Research

Helberg, Scott B., Anderson, Susan. Chart-Based Case-Based Learning. South Dakota Journal of Medicine. 2007 Oct; 60(10): 391, 393,395, 397, 399.

Ho WHS, Aguero RL, Ramadass B, Bard J, De Lisle RC, Lin HC. Molecular Evidence Supports Lactulose Breath Test in Detecting Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth. Digestive Disease Week. 2009 Publication Status: Submitted.

Sexual Transmission of Q Fever, 2nd place at New Mexico ACP Scientific Meeting 10/08. (Andrea Veryser)

"Hemochromatosis-induced diabetes. Is phlebotomy curative or falsely reassuring?" Matthew Bouchonville, New Mexico ACP Scientific Meeting, Awarded First Place for Oral Presentation 10/07.

Gutierrez AD, Gonzalez de Serna D, Robinson I, and Schade DS. A Mechanism of Vitamin E’s failure to Reduce Cardiovascular Risk. Pub Status: In-Press for Metabolism.

Mizzell, J., Qualls, C., Schuyler, M., Sood, A.. (2008, May). Comparison of Ecoscreen and RTube Devices of Exhaled Breath Condensate Collection - A Meta-Analysis. Poster presented at: American Thoracic Society; Ontario, Canada. Wang, S.Z., and K.S. Harrod. The Immunobiology of Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection. Clin. Appl. Immunol. Rev. 2006; 6: 37-52

Safety and compliance with an emergency medical service direct psychiatric center transport protocol. Cheney P, Haddock T, Sanchez L, Ernst A, Weiss S. Am J Emerg Med. 2008 Sep;26(7):750-6.

Wang, S.Z., Z.J. Jie, B. Li, Y.X. Bao, J.A. Berger, X.G. Guo, J.B. Knight, C.L. Emerson, and K.S. Harrod. Prolonged Lung Injury to Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection in a Nonhuman Primate Model. Pediatric Research. (in preparation).

Campus Resources

The Clinical Research Center (CRC) is one of 78 research centers across the United States funded by the National Institutes of Health – one of the two located in an inner-mountain area. The center provides the opportunity for research projects including investigating causes, progression, prevention, control and cure of human disease. Most projects are collaboration between basic and clinical sciences. The members of the Department of Internal Medicine administer the CRC.

A joint project of the Department of Internal Medicine and University Hospital, the Clinical Trials Center, opened in early 1992. The center is the coordinating site for both inpatient and outpatient studies jointly undertaken by investigators from the Medical Center and commercial enterprises.

The Cancer Research and Treatment Center (CRTC), recently named one of the 50 best cancer treatment centers in the USA by US News & World Report, coordinates patient care, research, and training for New Mexico and the Southwest. The CRTC offers educational and investigative training opportunities in medical oncology, medical hematology, radiation oncology, and cell biology.

The Health Sciences Library and Informatics Center offers bibliographic instruction including seminars on research techniques, reading skills, and computer searching. Also available are fee-for-service computer searches of online databases, a reference service, and the “bedside data service” called the LATCH. OVID, MDConsult, Harrison’s Online, Up-to-Date and other databases are available at no charge to the housestaff on the libraries website.