General Program and Application Information

Why train at Northern Westchester Hospital?

Our program was founded on the principle of resident-centered learning. Here, you are integral to patient care decisions, always supported by attending physicians who foster a safe environment for you to learn, make mistakes, and grow. We intentionally designed our entire system this way from the outset to ensure comprehensive resident support.

Furthermore, you'll train in a hospital nationally recognized for excellence. NWH ranks in the top 5% of all U.S. hospitals for delivering exceptional patient care (see our Healthgrades Ranking for details). This commitment to quality defines our training environment.

- Top 5% of all Hospitals in the Nation
- Critical Care - Top 10% in nation, #2 in New York State
- Neuroscience - #5 in New York State
- Stroke Care - #5 in New York State
Full article here.
- Northern Westchester Hospital houses our inpatient rotations.
- Chappaqua Crossing is the location for our resident practice and subspecialty offices, two miles down the road from NWH.
  - 3,500 sqft resident practice with dedicated educational space.
- Free parking at both locations
- Superb clinical training at Northern Westchester Hospital
- A hospital culture that is second to none; hospitals from around the world visit to see how we do we what we do.
- Focus on wellness in and out of the clinical environment
- True protected educational time; attendings cover patient care during academic half-day.
- NEJM Resident 360 and Knowledge+ for all house staff and integrated into didactic curriculum
- POCUS curriculum
- Funding for regional and national conference presentations
- 38 fellowships in the Northwell Health network covering all the major medicine subspecialties.
- Reduced rate staff housing adjacent to NWH, with free parking
- Faculty and Staff gym adjacent to NWH, open 24/7
- Train station to NYC one mile away
- Westchester County Airport is 15 minutes away.
- Four international airports around NYC
- A myriad of restaurants: Tipsy Taco Bar, Bareburger, Village Social Kitchen & Bar, and many more.

Curriculum

Our approach to resident education is built on ensuring learning sessions are interactive, content is timely and relevant to your needs, and you have protected time to focus. We achieve this through:

Our learning sessions are interactive workshops and team-based activities. We guide your self-directed learning, and our group sessions focus on applying that knowledge to real-world clinical scenarios.
We provide a level-appropriate curriculum, thoughtfully mapped across your residency, ensuring you receive relevant instruction precisely when you need it.
We ensure protected learning time during our Academic Half Day. With separate AHDs for interns (Wednesdays) and senior residents (Thursdays), residents provide cross-coverage for each other. This allows their colleagues to fully immerse themselves in educational sessions without clinical distraction.
We utilize large, dedicated classroom specifically designed for modern educational delivery.

Our Academic Half Day (AHD) is a cornerstone of our educational program, providing dedicated and protected learning time.
Staggered & Covered: Interns attend Wednesday PM, Seniors Thursday PM. This schedule enables resident cross-coverage for focused, distraction-free learning.
- Staggered & Covered: Interns attend Wednesday PM, Seniors Thursday PM. This schedule enables resident cross-coverage for focused, distraction-free learning.
- Level-Specific Curricula: Distinct content for interns and seniors ensures timely, relevant learning, with intentional overlap for reinforcement.
- Interactive Sessions: AHD utilizes active learning, including small groups, team-based problem solving, and case-based activities to deepen understanding and practical skills.
Our Clinical Reasoning Conference (CRC), traditionally known as 'morning report,' is a vital session for honing diagnostic skills and discussing complex case management. We strategically schedule these conferences in the afternoon. This timing allows residents to prioritize direct patient care during the morning, the hospital's most high-yield period for such activities.
CRC Schedule:
- Tuesdays: Interns & Senior Residents
- Thursdays: Senior Residents (as part of their Academic Half Day)
- Fridays: Interns
Our Primary Care Didactics are designed to provide focused, high-yield learning during your ambulatory block. Key features include:
- Schedule & Setting: Sessions are 30-45 minutes long and occur four times a week, just before the start of patient care. These didactics are held in a large, dedicated teaching space conveniently located within our resident practice.
- Curriculum & Engagement: We utilize the nationally recognized Yale Ambulatory Curriculum as our foundation. This is enhanced by resident-driven presentations, fostering an interactive learning environment where residents actively teach and learn from one another.
Our Grand Rounds provide valuable learning opportunities from leading experts, both within our local hospital and across the wider Northwell Health system. Key features include:
- Northwell Health System-wide Grand Rounds: These prestigious sessions occur on Friday mornings, featuring presentations by world-renowned speakers on a diverse range of cutting-edge medical topics.
- Northern Westchester Hospital Grand Rounds: Held locally on Tuesday mornings, once or twice per month, these rounds focus on topics pertinent to our hospital community and patient population.
- Flexible Access: Recognizing the demands of patient care, both system-wide and NWH Grand Rounds are recorded. This allows you to view the sessions at a time that best fits your schedule, ensuring you don't miss out on these important learning opportunities.
Our comprehensive Point-of-Care Ultrasound (POCUS) curriculum is integrated throughout all three years of your residency, designed to build proficiency in this essential clinical skill. Key aspects include:
- Progressive Curriculum: The POCUS curriculum spans your entire residency, ensuring progressive skill development from foundational techniques to advanced applications.
- Expert-Led Instruction: Our program is co-led by an EM/IM-trained Pulmonary and Critical Care physician and an IM Hospitalist, both with extensive experience in POCUS education and clinical utilization.
- Hands-On Learning: We emphasize practical skill acquisition through hands-on simulation instruction and direct patient application.
- Accessibility & Integration: To ensure POCUS is readily available when you need it for patient care, residents have access to portable POCUS units, facilitating real-time learning and improved diagnostic capabilities at the bedside.

Statistics & Application

- Location: Mount Kisco, NY
- Hospital Type: Community, Not-for-profit
- Beds: 245
- ED visits/yr: 22,000
- Admissions/yr: 5,000
- First class: July 2024
- Categorical Residents: 8/year
- Preliminary Interns: 8/year
- Chief Resident: 1/year
Our program participates exclusively in the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) and will only accept applications submitted through ERAS. Applications deadline is November 30. The program will use Thalamus to manage the interview scheduling process. Interviews will be held between mid October and January.  All interviews will be conducted virtually.   
We realize that everyone’s path is unique. Therefore the interview committee takes a holistic review of applications. Complete applications must include:  
- Curriculum vitae
- Personal statement 
- 3 Letters of Recommendations  
- MSPE/ Dean’s letter 
- Official medical school transcript (Diploma if graduated) 
- Official USMLE/COMLEX transcript 
- ECFMG certificate (for applicants who have graduated from medical school outside USA) 
- Program will sponsor J1 visa. Candidates seeking sponsorship who meet the selection requirements must be eligible for visa sponsorship under the criteria set forth by the ECFMG.
Applicants must have graduated medical school within the last 3 years from time of application.  We do not have cut-off scores for USMLE, but applicants must have passed the exams on the 1st attempt.  USMLE Step 2 scores are not required at the time of application but must have a passing score to be ranked.
We are listed on ERAS as follows: Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell at Northern Westchester Hospital Program
NRMP Numbers
Categorical: 2380140C0
Preliminary: 2380140P0
Welcome to the 2024 Interview season! Our program will adhere to NRMP and AAIM policies and guidelines relating to interviews. All interview events will be conducted via Zoom, there will be no in-person activities.
Applications submitted through ERAS will be reviewed by the Selection Committee beginning on September 28th, and end on November 30th. The first round of invitations will go out the week of October 7 and will continue on a rolling basis based on availability. Applicants are encouraged to apply early. Interviews will be conducted late-October through the end of January. Initially, only applicants selected for interviews will be contacted. Applicants placed on a waitlist or not invited will be notified later in the interview season.
Applicants who are scheduled for an interview should expect to receive confirmation with the final schedule and Zoom link approximately 7 days prior to the scheduled interview. The tentative schedule on interview day will run from 11:30am-3:00pm (EST). The virtual interview day is designed to convey the spirit and culture of the Internal Medicine Residency program at NWH.  Please review our website for program information.
AAIM and NRMP discourage routine thank you notes and emails from interviewed applicants. These types of communications will not receive a reply. Of course, we’ll gladly answer any clarifying questions that may arise after the interview. The contact information will be provided on interview day. In the spirit of fairness to all applicants, post-interview communications and participation in virtual second look visits will not impact an applicant’s ranking.
- We preferentially review and offer interviews to applicants that signal our program. However, we do offer interviews to applicants that do not signal our program.
- Regional preferences are considered in our interview offering process. They are not strongly weighted.

What Our Students Are Saying

“This IM rotation at NWH felt like it was the epitome of what such a formative clerkship should look like. ”