Combined Residency in Internal Medicine & Clinical Research Fellowship

A Combined Residency/Fellowship

This four-year program includes one year dedicated to a Clinical Research Fellowship followed by a conventional three-year Residency in Small Animal Internal Medicine. The purpose of this four-year program is to enable the Resident-Fellow to enter an academic specialty career better prepared to design and administer clinical trials, pose pertinent research questions, and discover new knowledge in the discipline of Small Animal Internal Medicine.

Fellowship

The Clinical Research Fellow is a licensed veterinarian who will obtain post-graduate training in the design, execution, and administration of large-scale longitudinal clinical research and trials. The Clinical Research Fellow will be supervised by and work closely with the leadership of the Dog Aging Project, a nationwide prospective longitudinal study of 10,000 companion dogs. The Dog Aging Project is funded by the National Institute on Aging, of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Through this post-graduate year, the Clinical Research Fellow will gain knowledge and experience in large-scale prospective clinical research through exposure to and active involvement with protocol design, participant enrollment, participant communication, and data management for the Dog Aging Project. There will be up to three two-week clinical rotations during this year, and the Clinical Research Fellow will participate in the care of patients enrolled at Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital (VMTH) into the clinical trials associated with the Dog Aging Project. The Clinical Research Fellow will participate in decision-making with respect to the management of patients on clinical trials, and the reporting of clinical trials results. It is expected that the Fellow will submit at least one first-author peer-reviewed publication prior to completion of the Fellowship year.

Residency

The main goals of our three-year SAIM residency program are to enable the resident to build the credentials, knowledge, skills, and aptitudes necessary to achieve the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (ACVIM) board certification and to start work as an internist. We are very proud of this program and our recent graduates who have gone on to have successful careers in both private specialty practice and academia.

Faculty

There are six small animal internal medicine diplomates in direct support of our residency program:

  • Dr. Audrey Cook,
  • Dr. Katee Creevy,
  • Dr. Johanna Heseltine,
  • Dr. Jonathan Lidbury,
  • Dr. Katie McCool, and
  • Dr. Jörg Steiner.

Learn more about our team.

Our internists have a wide variety of clinical expertise and interests including infectious diseases, gastroenterology, hepatology, urology, nephrology, interventional radiology, endoscopy, and biomarker discovery. We pride ourselves on collegiality, strong mentorship, and having a team-orientated approach to patient care.

We are fortunate to have three cardiologists, three oncologists, four neurologists, three criticalists, two radiation-oncologists, and two dermatologists in direct support of the program. This ensures that our residents receive broad and complete training. As part of the three-year program, each resident will also spend time with our four radiologists and four clinical pathologists to gain important skills in imaging and laboratory diagnostics.

You can learn about the VMTH and clinical faculty by visiting the VMTH website.

The Program

Our program provides residents with a relatively busy but balanced caseload. This means they become well-rounded internists but also allows them to become proficient in a wide variety of procedures including flexible and rigid endoscopy, laparoscopic liver biopsy, bone marrow aspirate/biopsy, arthrocentesis, and feeding tube placement. The internal medicine section also has an increasing caseload of patients requiring interventional radiology/endoscopy procedures, such as urethral/ureteral stenting, laser lithotripsy, and laser ablation of intramural ectopic ureters.

Residents are provided with many opportunities to receive didactic training including weekly board examination preparation seminars, journal club, book club, as well as the option to attend rounds run by other specialty sections within the department and college. Multidisciplinary grand rounds take place every month. Residents are also required to present 3 seminars over the course of their training program, which is very valuable for the development of their presentation skills.

Residents are allowed a generous amount of time free from clinical responsibilities to prepare for the ACVIM board examinations. Our residents have had an excellent pass rate for the ACVIM general and specialty examinations. Faculty guidance, time off clinics, and funding are provided to support resident research projects.

For More Information & to Apply

All applications for this program should be made through the Veterinary Residency and Internship Match Program (VIRMP). Further details of our internship are available on the VIRMP website.

Interested candidates may contact us by email with any questions.


Cyrus looking at a kitten

Previous Residents Talk About Our Program

 

“The medicine services are busy, but we have great support from our senior clinicians and perform a lot of diagnostic procedures. It’s a great program.”
— Joseph Cyrus Parambeth, BVSc & AH, MVSc (Vet Med), PhD candidate, Medicine Resident 2015–2018

 

 

Puchot listening to a dog's heart rate

 

 

“We see a wide range of cases and every day is different. The faculty is very hands-on, and I am always learning.”
— Melanie Puchot, DVM, Medicine Resident 2014–2017