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Research & Mentorship

At UC Irvine, we value the role that mentors, coaches and educators play in the daily lives of residents. Recognizing that the transition to residency is a difficult one, we assign you faculty and chief resident mentors from the very beginning.

Every categorical resident is paired with a primary care attending, who serves formally as their faculty mentor for all three years of residency. Residents meet every six weeks throughout the academic year with their mentors for faculty development and a review of each resident’s progress.

In addition, numerous subspecialty and research mentors are available for career and fellowship development. Our chief residents also serve in mentorship and coaching roles, with a chief resident assigned to every cohort of residents.


Research Opportunities

The Department of Medicine has more than 300 research protocols that represent the entire spectrum of medicine from basic science, clinical trials, healthcare policy and outcomes to translational medicine. Our principle investigators hold nearly $40 million in awards including prestigious National Insitutes of Health and other federally funded grants.

Resident Research

Our residents routinely have the opportunity to participate in cutting-edge research with our 11 subspecialty divisions. Every year our residents are successful in first and second author publications, national conference presentations and regional research competitions.

Residents have the opportunity to use elective time for dedicated, three-week research blocks. We also host an annual research day to give residents the opportunity to showcase their work in a poster presentation session as well as oral presentations during the Department of Medicine grand rounds.

ABIM Research Pathway

The American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) Research Pathway is an integrated program combining training in research with training in clinical internal medicine. This pathway is appropriate for physicians who intend to pursue a career substantially based in basic or clinical research.

Our university-based residency training program sponsors residents in the ABIM Research Pathway. We strongly encourage individuals interested in either clinical or basic research careers to consider our program for their clinical and research experience. The research pathway allows trainees to accelerate their clinical training in return for a commitment to research time and productivity under supervision of a faculty mentor.

The Research Pathway has two options.

  • Internal Medicine Option — All trainees must successfully complete two years of training in an accredited categorical internal medicine training program. The usual requirement outside the Research Pathway is for three complete years. After completion of two years of clinical training, the candidate enters the research commitment, which lasts for three years. During this time, the candidate commits 80 percent of his or her time to research and 20 percent to clinical work.
  • Clinical Subspecialty Training — On this track, the candidate is able to obtain board eligibility for general internal medicine as well as a subspecialty of medicine. The minimum requirement for full-time clinical subspecialty training for certification through the research pathway varies by discipline and would be 24 months in general internal medicine (rather than 36 months) followed by:

    • 12 months in allergy and immunology, critical care medicine, diabetes and metabolism, geriatric medicine, hematology, infectious disease, nephrology, medical oncology, pulmonary disease or rheumatology
    • 18 months in gastroenterology, hematology/oncology, pulmonary/critical care, rheumatology/allergy and immunology
    • 24 months in cardiology

After completion of the appropriate clinical curriculum, the trainee would enter the research period for three years. Eighty percent of their time would be spent in research, 20 percent in clinical activities. Candidates must be qualified both clinically and academically to be considered for the pathway. Evidence of commitment to an academic career is also required. Candidates should already have obtained a Ph.D. or other advanced degree.

All applicants must apply to the Categorical Program via ERAS.  Applicants wishing to identify themselves as interested in the Research Pathway should contact Susan Altmayer at saltmaye@uci.edu or 714-456-5691 so that we can include your interest in your file.

For more information regarding the ABIM research pathway please visit ABIM.org.