 | "Northwestern has been an enriching environment in helping me grow as a clinician. I feel extremely privileged to be at a place where I can work daily with great friends, care for challenging patients, and learn from supportive faculty."
- Jennifer Gong, MD
The University of Michigan Medical School |
Our inpatient medical service goals have led us to implement online inpatient notes and orders. Universal access to patient charts and ordering inside and outside the hospital have yielded significant enhancements in patient safety and medical care efficiency. A highly extensive collection of online references is also available to assist in clinical decision making. In fact, Northwestern Memorial Hospital was recently named one of America's "100 Most Wired" hospitals by Hospitals & Health Networks. The ability to access charts and resources from anywhere in the hospital, wirelessly, from call rooms and from home has made this a success.  Patients admitted to the medical service are triaged to either the Northwestern, Hospitalist or Attending services by a senior resident. Currently, approximately 65% of patients are admitted to the Northwestern service, 30% to the Hospitalist service and 5% to the Attending service. This system has allowed us to be fully compliant with team and admission caps.
Northwestern remains a center for tertiary care exposing residents to patients with rare pathology. The hospital also exists in one of the busiest urban areas in the country providing exposure to all of the 'bread and butter' medical conditions. Northwestern is committed to community service, dedicated to indigent health care and provides more charity care than any private hospital in the Chicagoland area. Resident physicians are assigned to this service. Each team is comprised of a single attending physician, one PGY-2 or PGY-3 resident, two PGY-1 residents and medical students. Residents present new cases to the attending at the bedside on morning rounds. Northwestern service teams cover all patients admitted to three 30-bed units at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. Geographic localization of patients allows for close working relationships between resident physicians, nurses, social workers and discharge planners. This team approach to patient care is a highlight of the residency program. Attending physicians are selected to serve in this capacity based upon prior teaching evaluations and expertise in inpatient medicine. Patient demographics extend to all ages, socioeconomic status, ethnicities and medical conditions making the teaching comprehensive. The Northwestern Service affords residents the opportunity to provide clinical care for conditions which are complex, acute and intellectually stimulating. Residents gain tremendous experience and education on one month inpatient subspeciality rotations including Cardiology, Heme/Onc and Hepatology. Team structures remain the same as on the general medicine services but with a subspecialist attending. These services remain a core feature of the curriculum.
The residency program and medical school are affiliated with the Chicago Veteran's Affairs Hospital system. This consists of the Westside Location and the Lakeside Location on the Northwestern campus. The Northwestern Medical Service at the VA consists of over 100 beds including those in the CCU and MICU. The Northwestern medical service at the VA has approximately 4,000 annual admissions to the medical service, and all medical subspecialty services are available, including cardiac catheterization and percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty. The VA maintains one of the premier electronic health records and allows for nationally recognized patient safety and quality improvement initiatives.
While inpatient services occur at the Westside facility, approximately 3 miles from the main campus, outpatient activities occur at the Lakeside facility which is adjacent to Northwestern Memorial Hospital and the Medical School. Shuttle service is every 30 minutes between campuses and takes less than 15 minutes. The VA experience remains the premiere in urban, indigent health care.
| 
