Internal Medicine Residency Program

Continuity Clinic

Organization:

Each resident cares for his or her own panel of primary care patients in what is called “continuity clinic” during their 3 years of training. During their non-ward months, residents spend 2 half-days per week in their continuity clinics, which are located on the HCMC campus. During ward months, each resident has a clinic partner who is available to care for clinic patients’ acute needs.

Our resident continuity clinics are divided into 3 firms to allow for a more personalized clinic experience. Each firm consists of a small group of residents, nurses, nursing assistants, and social workers, as well as a core group of attending staff.  Each individual resident is paired with a specific faculty member to encourage the development of close professional relationships between residents and faculty.   

As a public "safety net" hospital, HCMC cares for a diverse group of patients. Residents have the privilege of working with patients from a range of ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds and gain experience learning about incorporating cultural values into patient care decisions.

A recent New York Times story featuring HCMC demonstrates some of the challenges and rewards of working with immigrant patient populations.

• Foreign Ways and Scars Test U.S. Clinics - Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis offers an extraordinary vantage point on the ways immigrants are testing the medical establishment.
• At Clinic, Tales and Health Concerns of Hispanics - As in many public hospitals across the country, the largest number of foreign-born patients at Hennepin County Medical Center are Hispanic immigrants.
• Translating Health Care - Video about the challenges of delivering health care to immigrant populations. Dr. Michael Belzer, Dr. Veronica Svetaz, and Deb Boehm, RNCP interviewed.