St. Vincent Charity Hospital Dedicating To Teaching Tomorrow's Caregivers

A Teaching Hospital

Teaching Hospitals, especially SVCH, are the clinical "classrooms" for physicians, nurses and other health professionals. The United States health care system relies on teaching hospitals including their outpatient clinics, emergency rooms, community outreach programs, hospices and out-patient care centers to provide rich training grounds for medical students and residents. Teaching hospitals across the nation make it possible for the medical students of today to become the skilled professionals on which we will all rely in the future.

St. Vincent Charity Hospital, a Catholic Hospital founded by the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine and today owned in partnership by University Hospital Health Systems offers an additional and unique aspect of medicine to its residents. SVCH holds, that like Christ was a teacher, its purpose is to help educate the doctors and health care professionals of the future to care for the whole patient, the mind the body and the spirit.

St. Vincent Charity Hospital is affiliated with the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and accommodates 45 residents in its internal medicine program. The Hospital also supports residency programs in podiatric medicine, Dentistry and Clinical Pastoral Education.

Everyone Benefits

Teaching hospitals offer a "win, win, win" situation. The system of teaching hospitals inevitably benefits everyone: the students, the patients, and the hospital. St. Vincent Charity Hospital, set in an urban, economically challenged neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio feels the benefits somewhat more than other hospitals. The Hospital's mission has always been to serve all members of the community without regard to ability to pay. Without the residents, the Hospital would not be able to meet the needs of those without insurance or means to pay for medical care. Because of the strong working partnership between attending physicians and residents, St. Vincent Charity Hospital is able to offer high quality, full medical care to all the patients brought through their doors.

The residents also benefit at St. Vincent Charity Hospital. Residents strive to see as many different illnesses diagnosed and treatments performed as possible during their rotations. This is how they learn and build on their classroom knowledge. The more they are exposed to, the more valuable their residency experience. Since St. Vincent Charity Hospital is a Catholic Hospital committed to caring for every patient, residents are often exposed to a greater variety of ailments and conditions. The residents also benefit from working in a Catholic Hospital; they are learning to treat the patient with integrity and respect, which is the focus of treatment at St. Vincent Charity Hospital. Residents learn to listen to the patients and understand their individual concerns, fears and feelings.

Consequently, many patients who would at other hospitals be turned away or denied costly treatments are able to receive full, comprehensive care because St. Vincent Charity Hospital supplements it's staff with residents and medical students to work side by side with the attending physicians and the nursing staff.

The Program's Success

St. Vincent Charity Hospital is proud of the fact that 100% of its residents who have finished the program in the last five years have passed the American Board of Internal Medicine board certification exam. The national average over the same time period is 85%. In addition, St. Vincent Charity Hospital requires residents to take their exam immediately following their completion of the program. Other hospitals and programs allow students up to five years to take the examination consequently allowing doctors to practice medicine without board certification.

Board certification is a voluntary effort by the physicians to demonstrate clinical competence at a level above what is considered the minimum for the profession. Board certification is awarded only after the following requirements have been met:

• Completion of three years of accredited clinical training in internal medicine following graduation from medical school.
• Verification during training of a standard of clinical competence including humanistic qualities, professionalism and ethical behavior.
• Success in passing a challenging, secure examination.

Requiring graduated residents to pass the American Board of Internal Medicine certification exam is one way that St. Vincent Charity Hospital promotes excellence in medical care. Like the board, St. Vincent Charity Hospital believes that physicians who successfully complete the required training and pass the board examination have documented their commitment to the highest level of professionalism in patient care.