MERIT Pathways

The Clinical Research MERIT provides residents interested in a career in clinical research with intensive mentorship and access to unique educational opportunities. It provides a dedicated infrastructure for residents to identify and participate in clinical research and provides access to focused didactic programs, including the intensive 1-week course in Clinical Trials and Research taught by faculty from throughout the Department and University. MERIT residents co-lead one journal club a year (together with another resident and mentored by a faculty member) and participate in evening didactics, which include sessions on research careers, grants and grant writing, and choosing/cultivating mentorship relationships. Residents also have the opportunity to join the Research Interest Group and grow their programming skills through Coding Nights.

• Co-lead a journal club session.
• Poster presentation at the Resident Research Symposium during both PGY-2 & PGY-3 years and/or completion of the 1-week Clinical Trials and Research course.
• Participation in a minimum of 3 sessions (may consist of evening journal clubs, coding nights, mentoring dinners) per academic year. 

The Global Health MERIT is for residents who have an interest in focusing on underserved patient populations predominantly overseas. Opportunities include the 2-week Intensive Global Health Course, the Case-based Tropical Medicine Lecture Series, Leadership in Advancing Diversity program (LEAD), and more. MERIT members have the opportunity to meet faculty mentors who prioritize advocacy for global healthcare equity, learning through their experiences while gaining leadership skills to promote equity initiatives throughout their medical careers.

• Participation in a minimum of 3 quarterly events (e.g. Global Health journal club) each year. 
• Participation in the 2-week intensive global health course. 
• Present one "Hot topics in global health" lecture or lead one Global Health journal club during your residency.
• Have at least 1 annual mentoring meeting each year with one of the Global Health MERIT leaders.
• Optional but encouraged: Participation in the Global Health Scholars Program, through which residents have the opportunity to do 6-week clinical rotations in low-resource settings overseas (current overseas sites: Uganda, Rwanda, South Africa, Kenya, Ecuador, Sri Lanka) or through Indian Health Service (sites in Chinle, AZ and Shiprock, NM).  Given their interest in caring for underserved patient populations in LMICs, MERIT residents have priority for acceptance to this program.
• Optional but encouraged: Participation in the 2-week SCVMC Social Medicine rotation as space allows.

Stanford Hospitalist Advanced Practice & Education (SHAPE) is designed to foster professional growth and teach the skills that are highly sought after for future hospitalists, including: procedural skills, POCUS, surgical co-management, quality improvement, medical education, and clinical research. Its goal is to make graduates competitive for the ever-changing job market that they will face after residency training. To that end, SHAPE also offers focused mentorship, career guidance, and an annual career night to enable residents to reach their ultimate potential out of training.

• Required Clinical Rotations: preference given to SHAPE members during their R2 & R3 years. Note: if a rotation is unavailable, resident can still meet requirements. 
• Medicine consult
• Minimum of two ICU months during PGY2 and PGY3 [including CCU months]
• Ultrasound elective       
• QI elective
• Palliative care 
• Tri-Valley in Pleasanton
• Surgical co-management service
• Required Non-Clinical Work:
• Residents must complete a QI or research project during PGY2 or PGY3. SHAPE participants must present their work at an academic conference and give a senior talk regarding their work.
• Meet with mentors on a quarterly basis
• Present a 10-minute case presentation at Hospital Medicine Grand Rounds
• Meet with the SHAPE Program Director twice per year to discuss current projects and the job application process.

For more information, visit the SHAPE website.

The Stanford Ambulatory Care Excellence (ACE) program is designed to enhance the traditional Internal Medicine residency experience by providing opportunities to gain high-yield clinical skills for practice in the academic outpatient setting. Residents in this program participate in a yearly 2-week ACE rotation that is specially designed to expose them to non-medicine subspecialty clinics as well as Express Care clinic. Additionally, residents benefit from one-on-one mentorship pairings with ACE faculty who have expertise in their specific areas of interest, examples include: community health, QI, medical education.

• 2-week ACE rotation (available only to ACE program participants) - opportunities for customization based on areas of interest and need.  Examples include: dermatology, sports medicine, podiatry, addiction medicine
• Rotation in Express Care
• Additional Primary Care Block rotation
• Quarterly one-on-one meetings to review the mentee's progress towards their Professional, Educational, and Personal goals

For more information, visit the ACE website.

The mission of Stanford Health Equity, Advocacy, and Research (IM HEARS) is to develop physicians who are committed to the care of disadvantaged and vulnerable populations within the United States and to train future physicians to have the tools to be leaders and experts in addressing health disparities. The program aims to provide clinical exposure to domestic health inequities and to provide tools that will allow the best clinical care for vulnerable patients. There will be mentorship by faculty that have careers focused on addressing healthcare disparities. Residents will have the option to participate in scholarship and research focused on disadvantaged populations. Finally, there is a focus in development of leadership and advocacy skills for underserved populations.

• 2-week CAPSTONE rotation (available only to IM HEARS program participants)
• Rotations in the community based on resident's interest (homeless, LGBT, uninsured patients)
• Quarterly one-on-one meetings to review the mentee's progress towards their Professional, Educational, and Personal goals
• Scholarly project and/or participation in LEAD program

For more information, visit the IM HEARS website.