If you are thinking that “Every program has something good, but it seems that no program has everything I want.” Well, I’m with you; I used to think that too. But after years of effort, I believe we have finally built the perfect program: the program where nothing is sacrificed, and excellence in one area only augments excellence in others. This program is Tulane. This team is Tulane. We invite you to have a look around the website to learn about our remarkable story. If you are short on time, let me give you the quick 411 on the Eleven Things You Should Know About Tulane (as of September 12, 2008).

1. The Highest Quality Residents - There is no program that matches the quality of the Tulane Team. Many programs have smart residents, but few, if any, have the combination of the intelligence and the collegiality of the Tulane resident. The Tulane Team is composed of “real people”…. people with whom you will want to be friends. And this is important… because most of your training will not be spent in lectures or with faculty; most of your time will be spent with your fellow residents. Life’s too short to be stuck with unhappy, disgruntled or boring people. While Tulane’s admission standards are competitive, the final decision in selecting the Tulane resident is based upon an applicant’s character and capacity for teamwork… far more so than board scores or grades. Check out our admissions standards and the admissions process to see how Tulane guarantees that its team is composed of only the finest people. The last two years have been the best match classes in Tulane history, with residents from all over the United States. You will find great diversity among the Tulane Team: our 100 residents represent over 35 different US medical schools, and comprise a blend of races, religions and ethnicities. And that should be important to you, for the Tulane motto holds truth: “Requisite for being a great physician is being a great person… and requisite for being a great person is not just tolerating diversity, but embracing it.”

2. Excellent Faculty - Tulane’s Department of Medicine has 137 faculty devoted to the training of the Tulane Team. More impressive is the nature of these faculty members. The Tulane wards are staffed by a core of Teaching Hospitalists, each of whom has been hired not only for his or her clinical aptitude, but also for his or her teaching excellence. As hospitalists, they do not have clinics or procedures for which they must hurriedly leave the wards: they have the liberty to spend extra time providing education not only during attending rounds, but also during the afternoon. Procedures at Tulane, for example, are directly supervised by faculty hospitalists to ensure that you learn the safe and effective methods of each procedure. Our teaching hospitalist team is a young, energetic team, comprising the same diversity as that of the resident team. The added benefit of teaching hospitalists is that it frees up our subspecialty faculty for more time to devote to teaching the Tulane resident the content and procedures of their specialty during subspecialty elective months. And of course, each faculty has added time to devote to mentoring Tulane residents’ research projects. With faculty like this, its no wonder that the Tulane Team has enjoyed an unparalleled board pass rate, fellowship match rate, and research productivity.

3. Patient Diversity: Our Three Hospitals - The strength of Tulane has always been in the patients for whom we provide care. The Tulane Team provides service for Tulane Hospital, Charity Hospital, and the VA medical center, three of the four functional medical services in Orleans Parrish. This combination of training opportunities provides not only diversity in patient demographics (race, religion, socio-economic status), but also diversity of disease and severity of disease. The Tulane resident repeatedly manages diseases only read about in most programs, and sees diseases that most of the country considers to be only of historical significance. And then there are the clinics… we have expanded our patient-care mission by building community-based clinics: bringing medicine to the people, instead of asking the people to come to medicine.

4. Resident Ownership, Autonomy & Flexibility - Responsibility evolves from being put in a position of being responsible. The residents, not the administration, owns the Tulane program; all decisions, big & small, are made by the resident firms. This includes schedules, operations of the clinic, how the firm’s ward service operates, how the firm teaches students, and (believe or not) the match list. We also believe that the responsible resident, more than the administration, knows what is best for him or her when it comes to designing his or her schedule. Everyone has a “point B”…. that is, a desired career destination… and responsible residents can quickly figure out what it takes to get to that point B. The Tulane schedule may be the most flexible of any program in the country. Interns receive 3 to 4 months for electives, and R2’s and R3’s receive 4 to 5. Wiese sees his role as not to determine that point B, but to provide the coaching and support to get the resident to that point. Check out how the residents own this team!

5. The Most Innovative Curriculum: The Tulane Friday School Curriculum. If you are tired of power-point lectures in dark rooms, well, we have the answer for you. Residency training should not be years 5, 6 and 7 of medical school. No, a residency curriculum should acknowledge that learning medicine should be an active, not a passive process…. And it should emphasize team-work, not merely individual performance. Finally, a residency curriculum should acknowledge that a resident’s time is precious, and that a resident should never be put in the position of choosing between caring for her patient and attending a lecture. For all of these reasons, we dispensed with the tired-old, dark-room, power-point laden, boring noon-conference concept. Instead, we laid down a commitment to resident education in the form of FRIDAY SCHOOL. There are no noon conferences at Tulane- during the noon hour, residents are free to continue with a great teaching session on attending rounds, or get an early start on completing patient management plans laid out during attending rounds. Each Friday however, every resident in the program has four hours of protected time to participate in an interactive, team-based curriculum where they solve “mystery vignettes” in a create-your-own mystery competition. The residents meet in the morning while the interns round with their attendings; in the afternoon, the interns have a dedicated Friday School, while the residents finish up the work on the wards. Learning should be fun… and Friday School is just that. Check it out… it’s the best thing going, and its no wonder that there is 100% voluntary attendance.

6. Research Opportunities Abound - Research opportunities abound at Tulane. In addition to the nine fully-accredited and fully-functional subspecialty sections, Tulane offers the added benefits of The Tulane Cancer Center, The Tulane Abdominal Transplant Institute, The Tulane Primate Center, The Hayward Genetics Center, The Center for Bioenvironmental Research, and over 15 other centers for research excellence. With the undergraduate campus in town, residents can also take advantage of the research and courses offered at the Tulane undergraduate campus. As one of the largest NIH recipients in the south, there is no question that you will have the opportunity to pursue a research project of your choosing. Indeed, one third of our intern class will use on of their three to four elective months to start their research project. And then there is the world-renowned Tulane School of Tropical Medicine and Public Health. With research projects occurring around the globe, this is a unique opportunity to be involved in international research. The Tulane faculty is also engaged in health services research, outcomes-based research, clinical effectiveness and quality (our hospitalists research) and educational research. If you have the interest, Tulane will take you there. Want proof? Check out our publications….Over the past three years, The Tulane Residency has had over 150 regional and national presentations by residents. Last year, 22 residents made the trip to Los Angeles for the National SGIM meeting; this year 24 residents presented at the National SGIM meeting in Toronto. All made possible by the opportunities to do research at Tulane, and the program’s commitment to paying the way to the national meeting if you are accepted for publication. If you are looking for a great academic career, or a great fellowship, this is the key: you have to be well trained, you have to have teaching skills, and you have to have shown that you can occupy a place in the scientific conversation (i.e., research). Research is the key, and with the strong research opportunities and mentorship at Tulane, this can be yours.

7. Teaching Excellence - Tulane is about training world-class academic leaders. We know that not every graduating resident will choose a career in academics, but we want every resident to have the skills to make that choice for himself when the time comes. Tulane residents are taught to teach (or should I say, coach) like no other residency program in the country. Dr. Wiese serves as the personal mentor for each resident as they perfect their teaching skills. An organized curriculum, multiple opportunities for direct feedback on their teaching skills, and multiple opportunities to teach first, second, third and fourth-year students combine to make the Tulane resident one of the finest educators by the time she graduates. Teaching is the right thing… not only because it furthers the art, but also because it precisely defines what a physician (i.e., the one doing the teaching) knows and does not know. With this awareness, the great teacher becomes an even better clinician. And that’s what happens at Tulane, and that’s why Tulane graduates are sought after upon their graduation.

8. Career Advancement - As the tenth oldest medical school in the US, Tulane has enjoyed a renowned reputation for almost two centuries. Combine Tulane’s name recognition with the national recognition of the Tulane resident’s excellent clinical training, research skills, teaching excellence and collegiality, and it is no wonder that 100% of Tulane residents entering the fellowship match found a program of choice. Check out where our residents match.

9. Riding on the City of New Orleans - The Big Easy Is Still the Greatest City on Earth. Since the 17th century, New Orleans has been a bastion of culture and diversity, and that definitely continues today. Whether it be great performing arts, incredible music, elaborate festivals, tasty food, year-round outdoor activities, professional sports or just the freedom to find yourself, no city matches New Orleans. Once again, we believe that requisite for being a great physician is being a great person, and there are few places better to develop yourself than the Big Easy. In addition to being a city of unique character, New Orleans is also a renewed city: the schools are new and improved, housing is more than available, and the festivals march on. Check out residents’ votes for the best things to do in New Orleans, and why we love this city so much.

10. A Program With a Philosophy - A residency program should be more than a series of lectures and clinical assignments: didn’t you have enough of that in medical school? Residency should be about developing the virtues of the great physician, and it should have an underlying philosophy that ensure this development. Developing autonomy, responsibility, stewardship, and a sense of social justice… these are the products of the philosophy that underlies the Tulane method. Check it out.

11. A Program With A Mission Statement - Great teams are bound together by more than just lectures and day-to-day activities. It a common mission statement that makes great teams exceptional. And with this, even in the face of adversity, great teams do not dissolve. Check out the mission statement of our program, especially if you are that special type of person who really wants to make a difference in your life… not later, but now.

Thanks again for checking out the Tulane Team. I hope you’ll take the time to visit Historic New Orleans and to meet first-hand the incredible people that comprise our Tulane team. I know you will enjoy New Orleans and I definitely know you’ll enjoy meeting our team. If the message and philosophy of this website speaks to you, I look forward to the prospect of being your coach.

And as a final bonus, feel free to take the Tulane Medicine Quiz… complete the 9 questions correctly, and we’ll send you a free copy of the Tulane Intern Manual.

See you soon….