Thank you for taking an interest in our Internal Medicine Residency Programs. Choosing the right environment for further learning is an important event in your career development. There are many considerations to balance as you decide among the institutions and training opportunities that you will visit. I want to share a few thoughts about our Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center programs, and we look forward to engaging with you in your discovery of the right fit for your needs and future.
I became the Chair of our Department of Medicine after serving for 15 years as our Chief of Gastroenterology and Hepatology. During my years here at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, I have been delighted to observe and participate in the continuing evolution of the component institutions: Dartmouth Hitchcock Clinics, Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital, Geisel School of Medicine, and the VA Medical Center in White River Junction, Vermont. We have an outstanding integrated network throughout our region, linking the academic and clinical enterprises at the Lebanon, Hanover, and White River Junction campuses with those throughout our region in New Hampshire and Vermont. We have nearly 2 million people in our clinical catchment area, and the acuity of care for our admitted patients at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center is the second-highest in New England. There is a wonderful variety of learning opportunities from the plethora of clinical care presentations of our patients.
Our medical center and its surrounding community emphasize teaching and creating new knowledge, and strong institutional support is provided for undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate education. The Department of Medicine continues its role as the flagship unit leading the efforts in education, patient care, and scholarly work, and is generously supported by interactions with colleagues in Surgery, Pathology, Radiology, Critical Care, and Emergency Medicine. Among the many clinical and research programs of our department, there are core strengths in digestive health, heart and vascular care, lung biology, rheumatology, infectious disease, palliative medicine, and cancer care. An overarching emphasis has emerged in three important areas, and we encourage our faculty and trainees to become engaged in them: obesity, wellness, and weight management; end-of-life care; and global health. Many opportunities exist to participate in these areas at all levels.
The health and vitality of our residency program is central to all our missions in the department. We are advantaged by the collegial relationship that our attending physicians and nurses have with our house staff for team care, the excellent esprit de corps of the residents, and the dedication and teaching skills of our chief residents. We delight in the enriched educational environment created by our superb medical students of the Geisel School of Medicine, and the institutional resources of the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, the Tuck School of Business, the Thayer School of Engineering, and Dartmouth College.
As you take this important next step in your career, you will find that the Department of Medicine at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center offers a wonderful and caring atmosphere in which your intellect and medical skills will flourish. I look forward to meeting you during the upcoming internship recruiting season.
Richard I. Rothstein, MD
Joseph M. Huber Professor and Chair
Department of Medicine