RWMC: Residency: FAQ

RWMC Offers Clinical Variety in a Community Setting

Roger Williams Medical Center is a community-owned and governed health care organization providing some of the most advanced specialty care available today. That care is administered across a variety of settings, both on and off our campus. This page offers answers to resident's most common questions, but if you have questions we haven't addressed here, please feel free to contact us.

Where is your campus?
Are you affiliated with other facilities?
Do you have a visiting professors program?
What expertise does RWMC faculty offer?
How is Roger Williams Hospital configured?
What special programs and technologies does RWMC offer?
How busy is the hospital?
How are admissions handled?
How many residents are there?
What research is RWMC involved in?
Do you offer fellowships?
What benefits do you offer?
What educational services do you offer?
What is your track record for graduate placement?

Q. Where is your campus?
A. We occupy more than 30 acres overlooking downtown Providence, within easy highway access. The Center includes Roger Williams Hospital, Academic Departments, Research Laboratories, Elmhurst Extended Care Facility, the Therapeutic Radiation Facility and the residents' Practice Offices. Across the street, the Veteran's Administration Medical Center provides a venue for clinical electives and clinical research. We are also in the midst of a major facilities plan that will greatly enhance our scope and capabilities.

Q. Are you affiliated with other facilities?
A. Yes, we are a major Boston University School of Medicine teaching hospital and BUSM faculty serve as medical staff at Roger Williams. This affiliation enables access to the latest medical practices and enhances your educational experience.

Q. Do you have a visiting professors program?
A. Yes. Prominent scientists and clinicians from outside the RWMC community are often on campus to give Grand Round presentations or for collaboration with a faculty associate. Housestaff benefit beyond the primary presentation when the visiting academician rounds with or consults to the housestaff in small groups.

Q. What expertise does RWMC faculty offer?
A. Neurology, gastroenterology, rheumatology, dermatology, oncology, substance abuse, endocrinology, and infectious disease distinguish RWMC. For example, the surgical, medical, and radiation oncologists who staff our Cancer Center's five-bed bone marrow transplant facility provide expertise that rivals any area hospital.

Q. How is Roger Williams Hospital configured?
A. The hospital is a 220-bed general medical and surgical hospital which provides primary and tertiary care. The Medical Service occupies 120 beds including:

new 8-bed ICU
new 7-bed CCU
renovated 22-bed telemetry and stepdown unit
renovated Emergency Department
8-bed Day Chemotherapy Unit
Outpatient Procedure Room
Bone Marrow Transplant Facility
dedicated Addiction Medicine Unit
Sleep Laboratory
new 16-bed hospital-based Subacute Care Unit

Q. What special programs and technologies does RWMC offer?
A.

a highly regarded multidisciplinary oncology program
outstanding gerontological services
an integrated musculoskeletal center
a Radiation Therapy facility

Q. How busy is the hospital?
A. There are over 6,700 admissions to RWMC per year, the majority through ER. One-third of admissions are to "service" while the remainder are admitted from the practice of a RWMC staff physician.

Q. How are admissions handled?
A. All medical patients are admitted to the housestaff teaching service. All orders are written by housestaff. Attendings and consultants contribute to management discussion but all care is directed by and ordered by the house officer. Fellows or consultants participate through the house officer who requested the consultation. Procedures are done by the housestaff with the appropriate supervision.

Q. How many residents are there?
A. Fifty-five residents and fellows are salaried by the institution.

Q. What research is RWMC involved in?
A. Research is an important facet of our academic training. Both bench and clinical research are conducted by our faculty at on-campus labs. The scientific staff, research associates, research technicians and support staff comprise a large non-physician population which contributes substantially to housestaff education. Our academic research efforts and expertise are on a par with the best in the country.

Topics include: osteoporosis, HIV therapies and novel chemotherapy regimens, molecular biology, immunology, carcinogenesis.
We recently opened our Center for Stem Cell Biology to unlock how stem cells can be used to treat a host of diseases from Alzheimers' and Parkinsons' to heart and liver disease.
For 2000-2001, grants with funding of over $15 million are active, with more than 40 investigators.
There are currently 149 Clinical Trials taking place.
Thirteen animal studies are also underway.

Q. Do you offer fellowships?
A. Yes, we offer fellows in all of the medical subspecialties. For details, check the section of our site specific to your specialty.

Q. What benefits do you offer?
A. RWMC offers a competitive compensation and benefits package:

Annual Stipend
Malpractice Insurance
Vacation (PGY-1: 3 weeks; PGY-2: 3 weeks; PGY3: 4 weeks)
Comprehensive Medical and Dental Plan including family coverage
Maternity Leave
Short/Long Term Disability Insurance
Life Insurance
Tax-sheltered annuity participation
CME Allowance
Book Allowance
Meal Tickets
Pharmacy Discounts

Q. What educational services do you offer?
A. The Medical Library at the hospital is open 24 hours a day and staffed during regular working hours. It stocks more than 150 medical and scientific journals and maintains a large collection of scientific, medical and nursing textbooks. Free unlimited photocopying is available 24 hours a day for housestaff. Microfilm records and a microfiche reader are also available.

Computer access to the National Library of Medicine collection via the Internet or OVID CD-ROM discs is available 24 hours a day. The hospital Librarian can obtain print copies of references not available within the hospital without charge, usually within two days.

A separate housestaff library is located in the patient care portion of the hospital, convenient to on-duty housestaff. It contains current, major textbooks of general and specialty medicine, a computer and printer and the "Chief Residents' File," a compendium of recent journal articles of clinical import.

Q. What is your track record for graduate placement?
A. The RWMC residency has a solid reputation for graduate placement in competitive fellowship or research positions. About one-half pursue academic training beyond the residency. The remainder enter practice, and many choose to practice in Rhode Island and admit to RWMC.