The core of an osteopathic physician's knowledge and treatment of disease entities is found in internal medicine. The basics learned here pervade primary care, surgery, and the subspecialties of medicine. At CCOM, medicine is taught on the floors of affiliate hospitals. Because much of the teaching in medicine is one-on-one or with small groups, the members of the department are able to provide individualized instruction for the medical students. This enables the faculty to ascertain whether or not the medical students can incorporate the material mastered in the basic science courses into their practice of clinical medicine. Medical students can gain significant ambulatory experience in general internal medicine and subspecialty clinics while rotating through their required and elective clerkships in internal medicine.

The members of the Department of Internal Medicine, all of whom are highly trained general internists or sub-specialists, are engaged in clinical as well as bench research. Medical students may assist in these projects by monitoring patient progress and helping to collect the data for these studies. Consistent with our osteopathic principles, students will learn about the whole patient approach to medical care. Students will also understand how to partner with the patient care team to assist with the promotion of health.