Academic Time

The innovative core curriculum for the residency program is done through weekly Academic Time. Interns have a dedicated 90-minute session every Thursday to actively learn about key topics that covers the acute diseases they see in their daily work. Upper level residents have two sessions weekly, Mondays and Tuesdays, to cover a wide range of specialty topics that round out a comprehensive curriculum that prepares residents for their careers. We encourage participation at all conferences to help residents wrestle with the nuances of patient care diagnosis, therapeutics, acute and chronic management strategies. Topics are provided with best evidence. Our Academic Time Leaders, Drs. Todd Cutler, Brett Fischer, and Anthony Ogedegbe inspire tremendous learning and habits of mind for being a student of medicine that will last a lifetime.

Residents prepare for each session in advance by accessing a case, image, or board review question about the topic. They hand off their pagers before they arrive so they can concentrate on learning. The sessions vary but can include a short mini lecture on the topic followed by teams working to complete uniquely developed workbooks that include patient cases designed to highlight the most important teaching points. Academic Time is led by high-energy medical educators, chief residents, and invited faculty experts on each individual topic. Sessions might also include board-like knowledge questions using an audience response system, interactive debates about best practice, timed races to find the relevant literature, and cost analysis of different diagnostic or management strategies.
Weill Cornell Medicine Residency Academic Time
Over 150 different topics are offered over three years with each one developmentally targeted to the year of training. For example, the intern curriculum includes fundamental topics like hyponatremia, acute chest pain, rapid atrial fibrillation, and delirium. The PGY2 residents wrestle more complicated topics like infective endocarditis, lupus nephritis, multiple myeloma, and autoimmune hepatitis. PGY3 topics expand to include fungal infections, leukemia, sarcoidosis and transplant medicine.

Academic Time is enhanced by the weekly conference schedule of Morning Reports, Medical Grand Rounds, Morbidity and Mortality Conferences, Patient Safety Conferences, High Value Care Conferences, Journal Clubs, Chair's Conferences and Senior Seminar Series. Residents are active learners in all of these conferences with strong faculty participation.

Contact Information

Mailing Address

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/
Weill Cornell Medical Center
Weill Department of Medicine 
525 East 68th Street, Box 130
New York, NY 10065

Residency Office

530 East 70th Street, M-507
New York, NY 10021
Tel: (212) 746-4749
NYPCornell-IMResidency
@med.cornell.edu

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