BWH/DGM Primary Care Residency Overview

Our Mission

The mission of the Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Division of General Internal Medicine (BWH/DGM) Primary Care Program is to train outstanding primary care clinicians and to foster the next generation of leaders in general internal medicine.

Our mission encompasses these guiding principles:

Cultivating clinical excellence

• Residents receive rigorous clinical training in both the outpatient and inpatient settings, facilitated by protected ambulatory time and reinforced by an innovative curriculum. Training with clinical leaders in diverse fields, residents learn both the science and the art of general practice.

Fostering community, supporting individual paths

• We are dedicated to building a diverse and inclusive community, united by shared values, with infinitely varied career pathways. Our graduates have become leaders in every corner of healthcare, from community health to research to medical education to health policy. Through personalized mentorship, we help each resident discover and achieve their own personal goals.

Promoting health equity, social justice, and community engagement

• We are committed to recognizing and addressing systemic injustices and social determinants of health, as well as empowering our local communities to understand and improve their health. Our residents develop knowledge and skills that will prepare them to be effective advocates at every level, from the clinic to Congress.

Championing general medicine

• We believe in primary care as the bedrock of a high-functioning health care system. We recognize the unique privilege of generalists to address and advocate for the comprehensive needs of our patients. We empower residents to envision how primary care can be sustained and transformed in the future and take pride in promoting the value of primary care throughout our community.

Our Mission Statement was revised in 2019 through a resident-led collaborative process. We seek to promote resident engagement and collaboration in all facets of our program.

About the BWH/DGM Primary Care Residency

Our primary care program is a close-knit family within the larger community of the BWH internal medicine residency. Our residents hail from medical schools across the US and go on to pursue exceptionally diverse career pathways after training.

Hallmarks of our program include: diverse clinic sites where residents assume primary ownership of a patient panel; a graduated curriculum that progresses from foundational to advanced topics with each year of training; and wrap-around mentorship to support personal and professional growth

Over thirty faculty members in the Division of General Medicine serve as the program’s core educators; they are among the most highly regarded clinicians and teachers in the Department of Medicine and at Harvard Medical School. Our faculty reflect a wide spectrum of interests including clinical primary care, health services research, community health, public policy and public health, advocacy, medical education, and health care administration. They include nationally-recognized leaders in all of these domains. Our Division has particular areas of research expertise in health care inequities and disparities, access to care, clinical innovation, health policy and economics, and patient safety.

After Residency

Many of our graduates practice general medicine while also cultivating an additional area of clinical or extra-clinical expertise. They practice in highly diverse settings throughout the U.S. and internationally including community health centers, private practices, innovative healthcare organizations, academic medical centers and government-affiliated systems such as the Veterans Administration and the Indian Health Service. Many pursue academic pathways as clinician-educators, clinician-innovators or clinician-investigators. Others have taken on major leadership roles in academia, government, and public health. Still others have spearheaded novel initiatives aimed at transforming healthcare delivery or have played important roles in setting state and federal health policy. We proudly maintain an active alumni network and our alumni are routinely involved in mentoring and advising our current residents.