Hennepin County Medical Center

Internal Medicine Residency Program

Educational Innovations Project (EIP)

In 2006, our residency program was honored to be selected into a pilot project with the Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). This pilot program is called the Educational Innovations Project (EIP). The 17 programs invited into this first cycle, and the 4 selected into the second cycle, were noted to have proven their excellence in accreditation and education. 

The ACGME chose us based on our proposed innovations to improve resident education and patient care.  The then chair, Dr. Henry Schultz, noted, "The EIP represents a bold new initiative in residency accreditation.  The Residency Review Committee for Internal Medicine is convinced that quality education and quality patient care are inextricably linked." 

This invitation into this select group of programs has enabled us to innovate in new and exciting ways. It also charges us with careful review of educational and patient care outcomes in order to participate in a program of continuous quality improvement.

Because we are part of this national EIP, we have the opportunity to offer our residents a unique way of continuity clinic practice.  Along with four other programs in the EIP (Duke, University of California San Francisco, University of Cincinnati, and Ohio State University), we have designed a new model for our residents' continuity clinic.  Rather than being required to have one session per week of continuity clinic throughout the three years of training, we concentrate our residents' experience into 2 sessions per week during their non-ward months.  Each resident is paired with another resident in their class as practice partners. When a resident is on wards, their practice partner is in clinic and is available for their partner's patients with acute care needs.

Another innovation we've instituted is personalized portfolio development for each resident. These portfolios are facilitated by a faculty mentor and designed to allow our residents to tract areas of demonstrated competence and areas in need of more learning. Residents can then use this information to craft a significant portion of their third year to best prepare them as a general internist and for their next professional step.