About the Department of Medicine

The Department of Medicine at Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC) is comprised of over 110 faculty members, all of whom hold appointments at the University of Minnesota Medical School.  Fourteen are Professors, 15 are Associate Professors, and the remainder are Assistant Professors.  In addition, the Department has five basic and clinical scientists who also have appointments.  Each Internal Medicine subspecialty is represented.

HCMC is one of the most efficient Public Teaching Hospitals in the United States. The Department of Medicine has an inpatient service of approximately 140 beds, admits about 900 patients per month, and has an average length of in-hospital stay of 4.0 days. The Department of Medicine continues to provide state-of-the-art equipment and facilities in all specialties and provides superior care not only to medically vulnerable patients, but also to the greater community of Hennepin County.

With a growing emphasis on ambulatory care, we have structured new delivery systems for the elderly, as well as for patients with cardiovascular diseases, renal diseases, HIV, cancer and diabetes mellitus. We support a team approach for the care of our sickest patients in the critical care units, and our clinical outcomes exceed national benchmark experiences. In this context, our residents and fellows have an ideal opportunity to learn and experience a clinical approach to patient care that will serve as the foundation for their future.

Education has long been a paramount goal of the Department of Medicine and every year more than 300 University of Minnesota medical students experience Internal Medicine in our department. Whether on the wards or in the clinics, the student experience at HCMC has been considered excellent. The Department has focused on both undergraduate and graduate medical education and has provided considerable faculty resources under the leadership of Drs. Anne Pereira and M. Thomas Stillman. As the Director of Undergraduate Education, Dr. Stillman was named the winner of the Minnesota Medical Foundation's (MMF) Distinguished Teaching Award for three years in a row. This award is based on votes cast by third and fourth year University of Minnesota medical students. In addition, Dr. Stillman has also won the MMF's Outstanding Medical Teacher Award. This award is voted on by faculty serving on the Honors and Awards Committee at the University of Minnesota Medical School.

To effectively educate and provide state-of-the-art care, a department must be involved in ongoing cutting-edge research. The Department of Medicine has long had a tradition of investigation. This has involved bench research with direct clinical applicability. In addition, clinical science involving both prospective, hypotheses-driven clinical trials as well as outcome-based clinical investigations has become a readily identifiable strength of our department. Some of the largest clinical databases are available for medical student and house officer research projects with our faculty, and these have given rise to publications for our trainees during the past years. Research support has been growing in the Department, and in 2009, we were awarded nearly $12 million for these activities. Almost 50% of that amount came from the National Institutes of Health. We are one of two centers in the United States supported by the National Institutes of Health to evaluate the roles of Complementary Medicine in the treatment of various patient syndromes and symptoms. The availability of a strong research group in this area should provide needed information regarding the value of these alternative and complementary therapies.

Our goal in the Department of Medicine at HCMC is to provide you with the necessary tools and clinical experiences to allow you to develop into an effective and well-trained internist. The dedication and consistency of our faculty provide you a unique venue to attain your educational goals.