Hospitalist Training Program
Resident Hospitalist Training Program
Welcome to the DHM Resident Hospitalist Training Program (HTP), a training track within the Internal Medicine Residency Training Program. Our goal is to train the next generation of leaders in health system improvement, specifically in the inpatient setting, which requires a focused curriculum on health system redesign, exposure to core faculty who engage in this work, and a clinical environment to practice in.
Please take some time to review our website to learn more about who we are and what a Hospitalist is. More information can also be found on the IMRP website.
What is a Hospitalist?
A Hospitalist provides hospital-based care for patients admitted to general medicine, or hospital-based subspecialty service, including critical care, oncology, or palliative care. A career in Hospital Medicine includes a focus on health system improvement and innovative care redesign, in the form of quality improvement, patient safety initiatives, medical education, or the development of transformative care delivery models.
How does the HTP prepare a future leader in Hospital Medicine?
The HTP provides a comprehensive and innovative preparation for residents seeking careers as hospitalists or hospital-based specialists, with a focus on the clinical skills required for hospitalist practice (procedural, ultrasound, consultation, oncology, palliative care); development of skills needed to embark upon systems improvement, intensive mentorship, and building of a supportive (and fun!) community.
Our HTP Founders:
The founders of the HTP are leaders in Hospital Medicine and Healthcare Redesign in Colorado and nationally. They continue to be engaged with our residents and provide high-level coaching and guidance on their careers in hospital medicine.
Dr. Jeffrey Glasheen, Chief Quality Officer, University of Colorado Health
Dr. Patrick Kneeland, Vice President for Medical Affairs, Dispatch Health
Dr. Read Pierce, Associate Chair of Department Medicine, Dell Medical School, University of Texas at Austin
Dr. Darlene Tad-y, Vice President for Clinical Affairs, Colorado Hospital Association
What do some of our HTP graduates do now?
Dr. Neelam Mistry (HTP 2019): Academic Hospitalist, University of Colorado Division of Hospital Medicine
Dr. Andy Bryant (HTP 2019): Academic Hospitalist, University of Iowa, Masters of Education candidate
Dr. Jeremy Hua (HTP 2018): Pulmonary/Critical Care Fellow, University of Colorado
Dr. Ryan Murphy (HTP 2015): Academic Hospitalist, University of Utah, Graduate Medical Director of Quality and Safety
Dr. Mysha Mason (HTP 2015): Rural Hospital Medicine, Yampa Valley Medical Center, Medical Director of Quality
Dr. Elizabeth Harry (HTP 2012): Senior Director, Clinical Affairs – Provider Wellness and Service Excellence, UCHealth
Dr. Kate Jennings (HTP 2011): Section Head, Hospital Medicine, Denver Veterans Affairs Hospital, University of Colorado
Dr. Amira Del Pino-Jones (HTP 2010): Director of Diversity & Equity, University of Colorado Division of Hospital Medicine
Dr. Dimitry Levin (HTP 2009): Oncology Hospitalist, Director of Clinical Operations, University of Colorado Division of Hospital Medicine
Dr. Nichole Zehnder (HTP 2009): Associate Dean for Education Strategy, Washington University in St. Louis
Dr. Chad Stickrath (HTP 2008): Assistant Dean for Education, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Colorado Springs Branch
Dr. Marisha Burden (HTP 2006): Division Head, University of Colorado Division of Hospital Medicine
Rotations and Electives
Hospital Medicine Preceptorship : High-yield educational experience where the resident runs their own inpatient medicine team, similar to a community medicine model. This is paired with structured learning around the role of physicians in the rapidly changing healthcare environment, including coaching on individual clinical efficiency, understanding the role of policy on physician practice, and “how hospitals work.”
Medicine Consult, Perioperative Medicine, and Neurology Stroke : Co-management of orthopedic surgery patients and medicine consultation to surgical teams, with the goal of understanding the delivery of interdisciplinary care, as well as exposure to the inpatient stroke team and the Mobile Stroke Unit.
Acute Care for the Elderly (ACE): An accountable care unit model caring for our geriatric inpatient population – an intimate, interprofessional team focused on care of the elderly. This is in place of an outpatient geriatrics rotation.
Palliative Care and Home Health & Hospice: Hands-on rotation with the inpatient palliative care team at University Hospital, with an opportunity to see patients receiving home hospice services.
Oncology: A medical oncology rotation caring for inpatients with cancer and medical complications, co-staffed by hospitalists and oncology faculty.
Point of Care Ultrasound: Two-week experience led by a POCUS-trained faculty member to gain skills and confidence with using point of care ultrasound. Residents also learn how to incorporate POCUS findings with clinical decision making.
Transitions of Care: Outpatient elective at Denver Health focused on examining the entire transition of care from a hospitalized patient to the outpatient setting, which includes time with the multidisciplinary team involved in transitions, a transitions of care clinic, and didactics.
Clinic Month HTP Half-day Experiences
Virtual Health: Exposure to the Virtual Health Center, an innovative program to deliver medical services remotely through telehealth technology.
Docline: Observe how the transfer center functions at a quaternary referral center, managing all outside hospital transfers and direct admissions to the University Hospital by spending time in the transfer center with the nurse managers and listen in to outside hospital transfer calls.
Tele-stroke: Join neurologists electronically as they conduct tele-stroke assessments for remote hospitals in Colorado to see the other side of the tele stroke consult.
Addiction Medicine: Join an inpatient team offering support and medication assisted treatment (suboxone, methadone) to patients struggling with opioid use disorder and other addictions.
Point of Care Ultrasound (POCUS): Additional time with POCUS experts practicing POCUS skills.
Home Health Care and Hospice: Spend time with a home health care nurse, home health care physical therapist, and home hospice nurse to see how home care is delivered and how to improve the hospital to home health transition.
Non-Clinical Curriculum
Longitudinal Didactic Curriculum: Monthly didactics on understanding health systems and health system redesign, patient safety, quality improvement and healthcare finance that complement clinical rotations and build leadership skills.
Career Development: Focused mentorship from our core faculty across all three clinical sites. Career roundtable featuring hospitalists from around the Denver metro area to discuss their different hospital medicine groups. Mock interviews, CV and cover letter review.
Quality and Systems Improvement: Experiential project work with focused didactics on how to enact QI, with a team-based project aligning with health system initiatives and priorities. Exposure to local leadership, and interdisciplinary partnership. Opportunity for local and national presentations, scholarly work, and involvement in local change efforts.
Bottom Line Journal Club: Monthly journal club covering clinical and systems topics with guest speakers from local thought leaders.
Social Events: Retreat to the mountains, holiday event, end of the year welcome/farewell event, and nights out during the year.
Applications for internship will be accepted only through the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) until 10/21/2021.
Our required application materials are the same as ERAS (Transcript, Chairman's Letter, two Letters of Recommendation, USMLE Transcript, Personal Statement, etc).
The NMRP number is: Internal Medicine-Hospitalist (NRMP 1076140C1). This is a separate NMRP number from the Categorical program.
HTP Days will be November 15, December 3, December 17, and January 10.
For questions regarding the HTP, please contact Program Manager at DHM-Education@ucdenver.edu.
Hi, future CU internal medicine residents! One of the aspects of CU’s internal medicine program that attracted me initially, and ultimately made me rank the program as my first choice, was the option to join the hospitalist training program. When I was applying to residency, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go into pulm/CC or hospitalist medicine, but knew that I wanted a program which would allow me to gain more experience with hospital-based medicine, provide leadership and mentorship opportunities specific to inpatient care, and allow me to learn more about quality improvement, high-value health care, and patient safety. I joined the HTP as an intern and have had access to incredible mentorship, electives, and leadership opportunities since that time. An unexpected benefit was my co-residents in the HTP; being part of a smaller cohort within a large residency program provided me with both peer mentors and with friends who have made residency incredibly fun (which, honestly, is equally important when you’re spending the majority of your life for three years with the same people). Please feel free to reach out if you have any specific questions!
- Michelle Knees, Class of 2021
Hello future HTP residents! There are so many reasons I chose to come to Colorado for residency, but the most specific was joining the HTP. Amidst all the excellent internal medicine residency programs out there, it was so nice to find one that featured such a robust and time-tested program to train future leaders in hospital medicine. The HTP is truly a family within our greater internal medicine residency program family. With us, you will have great mentors in every niche of hospital medicine, protected experiences inside and outside of the hospital, and the flexibility in your training to become the physician you dream of becoming. Most importantly, the people of the HTP are some of the best you’ll ever meet. I look forward to talking with you, answering any questions you have, and hopefully seeing you out here in Colorado!
- Jason John, Class of 2021
"Having been an Attending for just 4.5 months, I can say that the transition was so much easier having done HTP. I started at the same time as 3 other new graduates and feel well ahead of them in regards to billing, efficiency, QI work and patient volumes -which I owe to the HTP. And just my two cents, never get rid of the consultative medicine month. That knowledge has been incredibly valuable!"
-Matt Hansen, MD, Class of 2014
“I can't speak higher of my experiences in the Hospitalist Training Track.... it gave me a huge leg up to start fellowship in terms of experiences with QI as well as with consultative medicine.... something I definitely appreciated when I started here.”
- Matthew Stotts, MD, Class of 2013
Program Directors
Emily Gottenborg, MD, is
an Assistant Professor within the Division of Hospital Medicine, Department of Medicine, and has a passion in teaching the next generation of leaders in hospital medicine and healthcare system improvement.
She is the Co-Director of the Hospitalist
Training Program, and is faculty within the Institute of Healthcare Quality, Safety, and Efficiency. Dr. Gottenborg came to Colorado in 2014, and enjoys the mountain lifestyle with her 3 children, husband, and Berner, Bruiser.
Julia Limes, MD,
was born and raised in Denver and returned to complete medical school at the University of Colorado after attending TCU for undergrad. She completed her residency and chief residency here at the University of Colorado and has been on faculty
with the Hospital Medicine Division since finishing her training.
Her academic interests include patient care handoffs, transitions of care, and residency operations. She is the site director for the residency at University of Colorado
Hospital and co-directs the Hospitalist Training Program. Outside of work, she enjoys running, hiking, traveling, and cheering on the Denver sports teams.