Mission

We will forge clinically excellent, mission ready, well-rounded physicians. The physicians who complete this program will be able to continue on to further categorical residency programs, or practice independently as a General Medical Officer in the U.S. Army.

Vision

Well-rounded military medical education to develop ready, patient-centered military physicians.

Aims

The aim of this program is to develop and provide each resident with a strong, well-rounded foundation of medical knowledge and clinical skills to excel in further residency training and in patient care as an active duty General Medical Officer physician in the U.S. Army.

The Program runs Transitional Year specific academic conferences weekly. Trainees attend an hour-long noon conference in the TY Conference Room. The schedule provides a wide range of topics in Medicine, Surgery and all specialties. The schedule also incorporates journal club and simulation lab on a quarterly basis. Once a year there is a team building exercise day, as well as dedicated time with a behavioral health specialist. This schedule is in addition to all the required academic conferences during each of the core rotations. While on General Surgery, Internal Medicine, or Orthopedic Surgery, the trainees are required to attend all the academic conferences of their rotation.

We have 13 four-week rotations including:

• General Medicine Wards - 2 blocks
• Emergency Medicine - 1 block
• General Surgery - 2 blocks (or three if pre-select dermatology) 
• Medical Intensive Care Unit - 1 block
• Cardiology In-patient Service - 1 block (except pre-select Dermatology)
• Orthopedic Surgery - 1 block (except pre-select Dermatology)
• Obstetrics and Gynecology - 1 block 
• Ambulatory Medicine (Usually Family Practice) - 1 block
• Selective - 2 weeks chosen from core rotations (Traditional Interns). These include: dermatology, pathology, plastic surgery, infectious disease, rheumatology, and many others.
• Elective - 3 blocks (Traditional Interns)
  • Elective for Preselect Dermatology - 4 blocks

Pending availability, electives options range from: Anesthesia, Dermatology, ophthalmology, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Rheumatology, Pulmonology, Pediatrics, Gastroenterology, Neurology, Radiology, Pathology, Infectious Disease, Plastic Surgery, Otolaryngology, Nephrology, Urologic Surgery, Vascular Surgery, and Obstetrics and Gynecology.

• Outpatient rotations usually do not have overnight call schedules. Overnight calls are part of the typical work schedule during rotations in Inpatient Internal Medicine (wards/Medical ICU/IPC), General Surgery, and Obstetrics & Gynecology.
• On internal medicine rotations, day interns usually work around 5:30 a.m. - 6:30 p.m., night interns usually work 6:30 p.m. - 12 a.m.
• On general surgery rotations, intern call schedules are usually from 6:30 - 7 a.m. the following morning.
• On OB rotations, intern call schedules are usually 8 p.m. - 8 a.m.

The program has an available unique curriculum whose purpose is to provide residents with the knowledge and experience to be able to practice independently as a General Medical Officer upon graduation of their intern year. They are also sent for a 10-day Combat Casualty Care Course (C4) which is designed to enhance the operational medical readiness and pre-deployment trauma training skills. The curriculum focuses on the following core elements of military unique medicine:

• Preventive Care (medically ready force)
• Ambulatory Care (troop medical clinic)
• Inpatient care (field hospital)
• Emergency Triage and Stabilization
• Critical Care

All trainees are required to maintain Basic Life Support (BLS) and Advanced life support (ALS) certification. They are also required to complete Combat Casualty Care Course (C4) training prior to graduation.

William Beaumont Army Medical Center has a state-of-the-art simulation center on site. The TY Program uses the simulation center as part of its Academic program on a quarterly basis.

Common examples of the use of simulation include critical care and trauma scenarios. Common procedure skills include central line placement, arterial line placement, intravenous line placements, thoracentesis, paracentesis, thoracostomies, Focused Assessment with Sonography in Trauma (FAST) exams, urethral foley placements, cricothyroidotomies, intubations, Intraosseous line placements, and suture practice kits.

The program provides a wide range of opportunities to develop leadership skills. The opportunities ranges from giving formal lectures, to leading journal club in a small group fashion, to volunteering as a class leader, to working on Process Improvement (PI)/Quality Improvement (QI) projects. The trainees are also often in contact with rotating medical students whom they can mentor.

The program strives to ensure that each trainee is provided with a wide range of opportunities and mentorship to participate in research projects. Even prior to their arrival to WBAMC, each trainee is strongly encouraged to participate in research. To that end, they are introduced to current residents and staff in their desired categorical residency programs as available. WBAMC has an annual WBAMC Research Day and the trainees are encouraged to prepare and present a project. The trainees are required to complete a group Process Improvement (PI)/Quality Improvement (QI) project prior to the completion of their intern year.

The program has a quality improvement/practice improvement graduation requirement for all the trainees.

Each trainee is also required to present a Morbidity and Mortality (M&M) report during the weekly academic conferences, and are also expected to participate in M&M meetings during their rotations throughout the year.

The program supports residents’ efforts to complete, publish and present research and scholarly work. Several residents have been able to attend national conferences to give research or podium presentations, as well as locally at the WBAMC research day.

All rotations are completed at William Beaumont Army Medical Center.

The TY program does not have specific TY rotation opportunities. The WBAMC internal medicine, general surgery, orthopedics, and obstetrics/gynecology programs have rotation opportunities; please refer to their notes regarding WBAMC rotation opportunities.

Interviews are not required for the WBAMC TY program. However, trainees are welcome to contact the program director and/or the program coordinators for questions and further information.

There are no TY-specific board exam. All trainees are required to complete and pass the U.S. Medical Licensing Exam (USMLE) Step 3 or Comprehensive Osteopathic Medical Licensing Examination (COMLEX) three exams prior to graduation.

The TY program is embedded into the other WBAMC residency programs and, as such, provides ample opportunities to practice being a ‘resident as teacher’ to rotating medical students. Throughout the year, much of the weekly academic conferences are resident-led with resident-taught lectures, resident-led journal clubs, and resident-led morbidity and mortality presentations.

The TY program is embedded into the other WBAMC residency programs. Please review the other lists for details.

Trainees are assigned a faculty member by the program. The program attempts to match a mentor based on the trainee’s specialty/residency interest. Residents are free to choose additional mentors on their own. The assigned faculty members meet with their residents several times throughout the year, with special concentration during the application process for personal statement and curriculum vitae writing/editing.

The program takes trainee well-being seriously and has built-in group counseling sessions with a behavioral health specialist. These take place usually twice a year, once close to the beginning of the year as well as once after the match process is complete. Given the nature of any TY program where the program was not the intended plan, we are particularly sensitive to the trainees’ need for support and mental health care.

The residents are authorized 21 days away from training for vacation/leave and all trainees are authorized 12 weeks of parental leave in accordance with DOD policy, with an additional 6 weeks of convalescent leave after delivery.

WBAMC and the Army has a wide array of resources available for trainees to help support their health and wellness including an ombudsman, behavioral health resources, chaplain services, military and family life counseling, among many others.

Once a year, the program has a team-building day that allows the residents a half-day off from clinical/resident duties, and allows for time for team building activities. The program also hosts an annual intern hail-and-farewell picnic to celebrate the successes of the outgoing interns and welcome the incoming interns.