Chair of Internal Medicine 'Pleased' With Talent of Incoming First-Year Residents

July is not only an exciting time for incoming residents but also for faculty members who prepare each year to teach and mentor a new class of physicians.

Gregory Rouan, MD, Gordon and Helen Hughes Taylor Chair in Internal Medicine, says that this year, he’s seeing a lot of talent entering the department’s categorical, medicine-pediatrics (med-peds), clinical scientist and preliminary tracks to train in the UC College of Medicine, UC Health hospitals and the Academic Health Center as a whole.

Rouan says the new class of medicine-pediatrics residents consists of six women and one man—five of the seven are members of the Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA) Honor Medical Society—and come from the University of Nebraska, the University of Michigan, the University of Texas Medical Branch, the Medical College of Georgia, Eastern Virginia Medical School the University of Arkansas and Jefferson Medical College, reflecting the bright minds recruited from across the country.

"Similarly, matches in categorical internal medicine include a list of strong students from 13 different U.S. medical schools—and four international schools,” he says. "Students from top medical schools such as Emory University in Atlanta and the University of Maryland are joining the program in addition to six students from the University of Cincinnati. Our residents represent a diverse group with considerable backgrounds and interests.

"I am so pleased not only by the talent in our incoming house staff but also by our program directors and graduate medical education leaders on faculty, including but not limited to Drs. Eric Warm, Caroline Mueller, Brad Mathis, LeAnn Coberly, Florence Rothenberg and their staff."

Rouan says that each July presents a chance to not only teach but also to be taught, taking in the experiences of resident physicians and their view of medicine, which can be invigorating.

"July is an exciting time as we hit the ground running," he says.

As part of the new resident orientation last week, Rouan stressed the missions of personalized care for patients, as well as best clinical practices, partnerships internally and within the community and innovative, interdisciplinary care and research.

"I urged all first-year residents to become consumers of content and processes within the department, to consider themselves ‘junior colleagues’ of each faculty member in the institution, and to make personal and professional success a priority—by following these steps, these residents will leave us with more than what we have imparted to them," he says.