Aurora Health Care Program

Program Identity & Fit

Aurora Health Care Internal Medicine Residency is a university-affiliated (University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health), community-based program anchored at two contrasting Milwaukee hospitals—the massive quaternary-referral Aurora St. Luke's (transplant, advanced cardiology) and the inner-city safety-net Aurora Sinai (ACE unit, refugee and returning-citizen programs, gender-affirming care, free clinic)—giving residents both tertiary-referral complexity and underserved urban primary care in one training arc. The program runs dual tracks (Categorical and a newly expanded Primary Care Track with Physician-as-Advocate curriculum, rural rotations, and community health project work), reflecting a structural commitment to both hospitalist/subspecialty preparation and community-oriented primary care, with fellowship placement data showing strong outcomes across cardiology, GI, nephrology, and critical care. Research is present (research institute, elective blocks, mentored Grand Rounds "mini-expert" projects) but not the organizing identity; instead the program emphasizes relational continuity (three-year stable clinic teams, dedicated faculty mentors), resident autonomy (code leadership, POCUS training, Sinai ICU under on-site intensivist), and explicit holistic, fit-over-metrics recruitment. Distinctive features include buprenorphine X-waiver training for all residents, a long-COVID clinic, an AIAMC hypertension-disparity initiative, and funded rural away-rotations reaching remote Wisconsin sites.