Program Director's Message

Welcome to the Internal Medicine Residency Program at Salem Hospital

Salem Hospital’s Historical Journey

Founded in 1873 through a local philanthropic effort, Salem Hospital was built in a historic place, full of traditions and innovations, to serve a very diverse socioeconomic and geographic community and since its inception has grown to be the largest healthcare provider on the North Shore of Massachusetts. Despite challenging times like the Great Salem Fire of 1914, or the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Salem Hospital has been able to provide uninterrupted, high quality, and ground-breaking medical service through its highly motivated providers and teachers to provide comprehensive care.

The teaching journey for Salem Hospital started in 1897, when a 13-nurse training program began. Almost 100 years later, in 1979, an Internal Medicine Residency Program was created to benefit the North Shore community. In 1985, the Residency Program became affiliated with Tufts University Medical School, and medical students started joining our inpatient rotations. Growing from its modest beginnings with 12 acute beds and only a handful of physicians, today Salem Hospital is a general medical and surgical hospital with 395 beds with nearly 600 physicians representing primary care, family practice, and more than 50 additional sub-specialties. Throughout its history of growth, the focus has always been on our people and our community, so it is no wonder that multiple alumni are still serving our community in Primary Care, Hospital Medicine, and multiple other specialties.

Mass General Brigham  

Salem Hospital is a member of Mass General Brigham, founded by Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Brigham and Women’s Hospital -- as well as top-tier specialty hospitals in psychiatry and otolaryngology/ophthalmology, seven community hospitals, Spaulding Rehabilitation, a health insurance plan, an extensive physician network, a teaching organization, and many locations for urgent and community care. As a member of Mass General Brigham, Salem Hospital is the largest metro- community hospital site. Our Internal Medicine Residency Program benefits from exceptional educational and development support.

Our Program

The Internal Medicine Residency Program has grown over the years and is currently at 27 trainees, with 24 categorical Internal Medicine Residents and 3 Preliminary Medicine Interns.

The clinical rotation schedule is 4+1 format, allowing for robust inpatient and outpatient experiences. Mass General Brigham Medical Group includes primary care providers who serve as clinical preceptors, mentors, and guides, enriching the outpatient experience. Inpatient clinical rotations are primarily at Salem Hospital, the largest healthcare provider on the North Shore offering a wide range of services. Residents also rotate at MGH Neurology and Hospital Medicine Consult teams, where they are exposed to high acuity cases and state-of-the-art treatment facilities.

New education tracks have been and continue to be added to our education platform to accommodate the changing healthcare landscape, including but not limited to training in point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS), improvement process curriculum, and interdisciplinary training in our state-of-the-art Simulation Center. Specifically, residents experience hands-on simulation training with peers, faculty, and interdisciplinary colleagues to learn procedures and sharpen their diagnostic skills. And through outstanding training in Process Improvement with thoughtful curriculum guided by Salem’s Kaizen Promotion Office Quality Specialists, residents earn an appreciation for system level thinking, teamwork, collaboration, and leadership. As a resident in our program, you have access to all Grands Rounds presented at any entity across the MGB systems, including our Academic Medical Centers, MGH and BWH. You will participate in shared noon conferences with the MGB departments of Rheumatology and Hematology, and conferences held by Harvard Medical School educators in Neurology, Dermatology, and Internal Medicine.

Individualized attention and resident voice

Residents are matched with mentors and coaches, as well as sponsors for projects they pursue. Resident voice and input are highly valued, respected and incorporated as decisions are made. The Program Evaluation Committee, consisting of resident class representatives, faculty representatives, and program administration, is the main driver for our success and receives continued support from the leadership team. During our yearly Resident Recognition week, you will have the opportunity to meet the hospital leaders, interdisciplinary leaders, and colleagues.

When training with us in Internal Medicine at Salem Hospital, we will guide you to find your professional balance. Since our categorical residents come from a diverse pool of medical schools from around the world, we have developed processes to help with the transition, including at-elbow shadowing sessions with current residents and nurses, and personalized faculty support sessions. You will receive mentoring from peer residents and core faculty, and have regular meetings with the IMRP leadership and department chiefs and chair. Together, we will help you find your career path and reach your long-term career goals through a diverse range of clinical rotations and ambulatory experiences. You will have direct interactions with attendings involved in patient care, to help clarify your chosen career path and bring joy to your heart for years to come.

A Note on Culture

Kindness is at the foundation of the Salem Hospital culture, whether towards our colleagues and patients, both inside and outside the hospital, at the bedside, or in office practice. Our program's main goal is to nourish happy and balanced physicians who are excellent healthcare providers. Flexibility is what we need, ask for, and educate our residents to embrace. As the landscape of medicine is continuously changing, our residents are trained to be part of any multidisciplinary treatment care team of the future. Working with specialist physicians, nurses, and therapists, we will teach you to comfortably provide medical care to a wide variety of patients from indigent, homeless citizens, to business owners and philanthropists.

We welcome you to learn more about what makes our program unique and hope you will consider us for your Internal Medicine residency training.

Mona Hinrichsen MD MHCM
Interim Program Director Internal Medicine Residency
Clinical Assistant Professor, Tufts Medical School
Site Director, Graduate Medical Education
Chair, Department of Medicine