 |
| Myron L. Weisfeldt, M.D. William Osler Professor & Chairman |
Welcome to the Web site of the Department of Medicine of Johns Hopkins Medicine. Whether you are a current trainee, a potential house staff member or fellow, a present or future patient, a member of our faculty or a colleague in medicine or science, we hope that you will find here the information you are seeking. Navigating this site will introduce you to whatever aspects of this great Department interest you.
The Department of Medicine is committed to fulfilling our stated mission:
The overarching mission of the Department of Medicine is to lead the world of medicine in discovery, healing, education, service delivery, and in shaping public policy.
The Department of Medicine stands firmly on the belief that we can, within the same department, achieve excellence in research, clinical care and teaching. It was a thrill for all of us to learn that last year’s Nobel Prize in chemistry went to Peter Agre, M.D., for the discovery of water channels. Peter Agre was a member of the Osler Housestaff and was pursuing basic research relevant to disease processes in laboratories of the Department of Medicine at the time of his Nobel Prize-winning discovery.
The Department of Medicine at Johns Hopkins continues to receive more National Institutes of Health grant support for research than any other department of medicine in the United States. All 13 divisions within the Department of Medicine boast outstanding research programs. In the last two years, the total of outside research dollars coming into the Department of Medicine has increased from $110 million to nearly $160 million per year. Most exciting is the fact that the largest part of this recent increase in grant funding is for center grants in which the center’s principal investigator is within the Department of Medicine. These centers are focused on common human diseases or on core disciplines such as Proteomics and Epigenetics. They focus on, among others, sudden cardiac death, ventilator-associated lung injury, endothelial cell biology reperfusion injury following ischemia, frailty, HIV-AIDS and tuberculosis. More than 60 trainees, fellows and faculty have received NIH career development K-awards.
In our mission of teaching and education, the Department of Medicine is an institutional leader, with 30 percent of all full-time faculty within the School of Medicine. The Department also leads Johns Hopkins in direct contact hours with medical students during all four years of medical school, with 60 percent of the total direct contact hours (80 percent during the second year of medical school). This shows our faculty’s commitment to teaching, which we believe is of tremendous benefit to our medical students, whose basic courses and lectures are delivered by physicians and scientists actively engaged in medicine, including the care of patients.
The Department of Medicine at Johns Hopkins has two medical house staff programs on our two primary campuses in Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Hospital and the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center. Bayview is home to a strong academic program with both a categorical track (in which most trainees go on to subspecialty fellowship training) and a nationally renowned primary care track. A vibrant research and teaching campus, Bayview attracts a diverse patient population and is the site of the nation’s leading program in geriatrics. At The Johns Hopkins Hospital campus, the Osler Medical Housestaff program led by Dr. Charles Wiener focuses on both academic general medicine and specialty training. It is also renowned for successfully training individuals committed to academic careers. This commitment to academic training brings both extra luster and extra responsibility. The recently published Osler Medical Handbook (available online at amazon.com or at your local bookstore) is an example of the quality of clinical commitment and the academic excellence of our house staff. Profits from the book and philanthropy from our many Osler alumni support the Fund for Scholarship that promotes opportunities for our house staff.
The Department of Medicine maintains a full range of subspecialty fellowship training programs in clinical disciplines as well as an immense array of specialized fellowships devoted to the advancement of knowledge and/or technical skills in diverse and highly specialized areas of medicine, as well as advanced training in biomedical research, clinical research, and outcomes research. In these and other activities of the Department, there is an emphasis on recruiting and fostering the careers of minority and women physicians and scientists.
Finally, the Department of Medicine has an outstanding record of effective clinical care. Approximately one-third of all discharges from The Johns Hopkins Hospital and from the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center are from the Department of Medicine. On The Johns Hopkins Hospital campus, the Department of Medicine has led a two-year effort to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of care by promptly making available all consults, procedures and imaging studies. This effort has led to a reduction of length of stay across the Hospital of eight to 10 percent, with no increase in readmission or mortality rates. Similar improvements in quality of care, safety and efficiency have occurred on the Bayview campus with the development of a large Hospitalist Program. On The Johns Hopkins Hospital campus, the increase in discharges from the Department of Medicine is such that we have met the ten-year goal for increased clinical activity of the Department in less than three years.
The Department of Medicine is concerned not only about the overall quantity and quality of care, but also increasingly committed to developing specialized programs and advances in the administration of care to improve patient safety. We are equally dedicated to maintaining quality education and standard duty hours for our housestaff. All trainee programs in the Department of Medicine at Johns Hopkins are fully compliant and certified by the Internal Medicine Residency Review Committee of the Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).
Johns Hopkins has stood for excellence in patient care, research and teaching for over a century. I am proud of the remarkably talented and collegial members of this great Department of Medicine and welcome you to get to know us better.
Sincerely,
Myron L. Weisfeldt, M.D.
William Osler Professor of Medicine
Chair, Department of Medicine
