Chair's Welcome

Welcome to the Department of Medicine and the Internal Medicine Residency Program at the University of Colorado. As a trainee in internal medicine, you will join one of the largest departments on campus consisting of 1,100 faculty across 16 divisions. The Department of Medicine at the University of Colorado consistently attracts some of the best clinicians, researchers, educators and learners from around the world.  We are proud to provide a fertile training ground where you will grow your clinical, education, advocacy, and research skills to improve the care of patients and the health of our community.

We recognize that for a physician to become truly pluripotent, exposure to different clinical settings and patient care models is key. University of Colorado trainees benefit from our academic affiliation with a large quaternary referral center- the University of Colorado Hospital; metro Denver’s true safety net hospital – Denver Health; and one of the largest VA hospitals in the country - the Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center. Because of this breadth, residents receive extraordinary training in all facets of medicine and are highly sought after by fellowship programs and employers following the completion of their training. 

The Department is proud of its rich tradition of excellence in research, clinical care and, especially proud of our longstanding commitment to medical education. As Chair, I am committed to providing housestaff with a vibrant environment and a responsive program that rises to meet the ever-changing landscape of medical education. As a trainee in our program, you will have enriched experiences in general internal medicine as well as hospitalist, primary care and critical care education. You will be provided ample opportunities to explore career pathways in health equity/disparity, basic and translational research, and global health. Your experience and growth here will be second to none!

Vineet Chopra, MD, MSc
Robert W. Schrier Chair of Medicine
Professor of Medicine

Leadership

The leaders of our Residency Training program includes educators that collectively represent more than 80 years expertise in training general medicine residents.

Program Director

Our Internal Medicine Residency Training Program is directed by Geoffrey Connors, MD, FACP. Dr. Connors received his undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan, went to medical school at Tulane University, and completed his residency and Chief Medical Residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Colorado. He trained in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at Johns Hopkins and then spent several years at Yale University where he served as the Associate Director of the Medical ICU, was an Associate Program Director in Internal Medicine, was the Director of Clinical Reasoning for the Medical School. Dr. Connors continues our strong commitment to train future leaders in medicine and build on the many strengths within our program. His education and research focus is in clinical reasoning, coaching, curriculum design, and resident wellbeing.

Dr. Connors is assisted by a team of experienced and dedicated Associate and Assistant Program Directors ​including:  

Associate Program Directors

• Joe Burke, MD, Associate Program Director at Denver Health, Site Director
• Lisa Davis, MD, Associate Program Director at Denver Health, Research and Investigation
• Dan Heppe, MD, Associate Program Director at the Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center, Site Director
• Julia Limes, MD, Associate Program Director at UCH, Site Director, Co-director of the Hospitalist Training Program, Curriculum Director
• Adrienne Mann, MD, Associate Program Director at the Rocky Mountain VA Regional Medical Center, Coaching
• Yasmin Sacro​, MD, Director for Primary Care Track
• Katie Suddarth, MD, Senior Associate Program Director at UCH
• David A. Schwartz, MD, Physician Scientist Training Program Director

Assistant Program Directors

• Hoda Farajpour Bhaktiari MD, Assistant Program Director for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
• Emily Gottenborg, MD, Assistant Program Director, Co-director of the Hospitalist Training Program
• Christine Haynes, MD, Assistant Program Director, Primary Care