Our Program Aims & Goals

• Train clinically-focused physicians in an academic environment of critical thinking, scholarly activity and innovation.
• Preserve and foster an environment that is welcoming and sustainable for all people, respecting diversity of race and ethnicity, gender and gender identity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, language, culture, national origin, religious commitments, age, (dis)ability status, and political perspective.
• Preserve and foster our commitment to increasing diversity and inclusivity while promoting equity for every medical student, resident, faculty, and staff at Abbott Northwestern. We strive towards a goal of greater provider diversity that mirrors the diverse communities we serve.
• Provide a common but tailorable curriculum and mentorship to successfully guide residents interested in primary care, hospitalist medicine, or subspecialty careers.
• Foster a diverse and highly qualified core faculty across that same spectrum who are passionate teachers & mentors.
• Value the outpatient and inpatient training experience equally.
• Value and reward faculty time spent across the categories of patient care, scholarly activity, and teaching.
• Maintain a training environment that demonstrates an appropriate work life balance necessary for a sustainable and rewarding career in medicine.
• Promote physician wellness as part of routine.
• Engage every resident and faculty member such that they feel a true sense of ownership and purpose in the wider healthcare system and community we serve.
• Teach the skill of dealing with uncertainty, and the ability to say, “I don’t know,” coupled with the resourcefulness to find an answer.
• Train residents and faculty with leading edge educational and clinical technology such as point-of-care ultrasound, simulation, peer-to-peer teaching, etc.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging

The Abbott Northwestern Internal Medicine Residency program resolves to preserve and foster an environment that is welcoming and sustainable for all people–respecting diversity of race and ethnicity, gender and gender identity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, language, culture, national origin, religious commitments, age, (dis)ability status, and political perspective.

We aim to preserve and foster our commitment to increasing diversity and inclusivity while promoting equity for every medical student, resident, faculty, and staff at Abbott Northwestern. We strive towards a goal of greater provider diversity that mirrors the diverse communities we serve.

Within The Residency Program

We have established a resident-led DEI committee in order to drive change within our residency program and our institution as a whole. This committee consists of residents from all years and faculty facilitators, allowing continuity and sustainability from one year to the next.

Our lecture series includes ten DEI lectures, covering topics such as health equity, microaggressions, refugee health, and care for transgender patients. In addition, every 8 weeks, our residents lead a bystander training for medical students, helping to educate them about bias and empower them to intervene when they see bias in their work, current or future.

Other opportunities to work with diverse patient populations include an additional community clinic in South Minneapolis which serves a large underinsured population, many of whom are Spanish speaking. There are also elective rotations to allow residents to further pursue experiences in LGTBQIA+ care, addiction medicine, women’s health, rural primary care or hospital medicine, and more.

In The Community

Since 2020, our residents have been partnering with Minneapolis South High School to foster an interest in healthcare related careers through a longitudinal mentorship program. South High is located 1.5 miles from Abbott Northwestern Hospital and serves the linguistically, ethnically, racially, religiously, and economically diverse families of South Minneapolis. Our hope is to provide educational and mentorship opportunities that empower students from underrepresented groups as they pursue careers in healthcare. Our involvement allows residents to assist in quarterly outreach events including ultrasound experience, first aid training, and simulation center opportunities. We are proud of this resident-led community involvement and look forward to its continued growth. You can view a recap of our annual on-campus day with the students here.

DEI at Allina

As part of the Allina Health System, we also have access to and participate in a number of system-wide DEI initiatives. To learn more about these initiatives, go to the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Allina Health webpage.