Veterans Affairs Medical Center

The Denver VAMC is a premier 300-bed hospital within the VA system serving veterans and their families from Colorado and the surrounding region. The hospital is equipped with a fully staffed ICU, complete imaging capabilities, and subspecialty care.  Round-the-clock ancillary services are available so residents can focus on education and medical decision making. The inpatient medicine service includes four teams of one R2, two R1’s, and two junior students and a fifth team composed of an upper level resident and a hospitalist.  Teams admit on a q4 cycle with interns on overnight call every eighth night.  Two upper level night-float residents supervise overnight interns and sub-interns and are present on rounds the next day to assist with patient presentations.  The VA is one of two hospitals in our system with an open ICU policy, allowing teams to follow their patients from presentation until discharge.  The daily hour-long didactic session at 11:30 am features case presentations, ICU teaching rounds, quality-improvement presentations, M&M sessions, autopsy conferences, and outcomes conferences monthly.  A twice weekly post-discharge clinic provides an opportunity for inpatient team members to see patients in near-team follow-up, safeguarding their transition to outpatient care.

In addition to inpatient medicine at the VA, all residents will complete 2 – 3 months on our outpatient based medical team (OBMT).  OBMT combines daily clinic with consultative medicine and overnight general medicine admissions.  Residents are on call approximately 6-8 times a month but do not take call on weekends.  During the day, OBMT serves as the DVAMC acute care clinic, providing care to veterans that need to be seen on an urgent but not emergent basis.  OBMT also serves as an avenue for timely follow up from a recent hospitalization or primary care visit.  In addition to urgent care, OBMT provides medicine consultation to the surgical and psychiatric teams and serves and night float for the ward teams from Monday through Friday. OBMT morning report is held everyday from 7:30 – 8:30 and is run by the ambulatory chief medical resident and two primary care attendings.  An evidence based medicine curriculum is incorporated into OBMT morning report.

The VA houses numerous electives including geriatrics, ambulatory care, and all manner of subspecialty services.

rev 7/20/09