A Message From the Director

Welcome to the Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine Family Medicine Residency program at Southside Hospital! Over the past four decades, our well-established residency program has graduated over 300 family physicians. Our alumni excel in various positions (academic, administrative, clinical, and research) across the country. Our residency is one of five programs in New York State to have a voting chapter at the NYS Academy of Family Physicians. Our faculty and residents belong to various medical societies that promote the issues of family medicine. We take pride in the fact that over the last 40 years, we continue to grow and provide new opportunities for our residents to learn.

As of February 14th, 2011 Southside Hospital became a tertiary care center, allowing our residents and faculty even greater exposure to a variety of complex medical issues. The residents in our unopposed program are given ample opportunity in virtually every area of medicine: obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, adult medicine, geriatrics, care of surgical patients, emergency medicine, community medicine, and electives areas. From treating our patients in the comfort of their homes and in our community-based clinic to caring for them in our inpatient facilities, our faculty, residents, and students exhibit a unique combination of skill and compassion. We place a strong emphasis on clinical skill and research. Family medicine residents learn new skills and practice new procedures in North Shore-LIJ’s state-of-the-art BioSkills Education Center as well as our Simulation Lab at the North Shore-LIJ Center for Learning and Innovation. All residents participate in research projects along with support from our faculty. These supported research projects typically culminate in presentations at regional, state, and national (and in some cases, international) medical conferences.

In addition to my position as Director of Family Medicine Residency at Southside Hospital, I am also the Chair of Family Medicine at the Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine.

 In 2011, North Shore-LIJ teamed with Hofstra University to open the Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine. The Hofstra medical students are involved with family medicine preceptors in the outpatient setting during their Initial Clinical Experience (ICE) and the inpatient setting during their Advanced Clinical Experience (ACE). Dr. Michael Delman and I are the site directors for the ICE course located at the Southside Hospital site. The department of family medicine has an established Family Medicine Interest Group which is open to all students.

Our program also boasts an innovative family medicine clerkship for our external medical students. Each student is involved in a 4 week rotation which involves 3 weeks in the community setting with family medicine preceptors, and a 1 week rotation with the family medicine residents on the inpatient setting. Students participate in academic activities including grand rounds, team based learning sessions, journal club, small group discussions on careers in family medicine, end of rotation quizzes, simulation and procedure workshops. Interested students have the opportunity to participate with residents and faculty on quality improvement initiatives and research projects. I work as the Director of Medical Education for this clerkship with Dr. Michael Delman and Dr. Richard Bonanno as key faculty.

We pride ourselves on having a diverse faculty and residency program and in collaborating with our sister residency programs at Glen Cove Hospital and Plainview Hospital.  We hold regularly scheduled Family Medicine Academic Day sessions whereby each program takes a turn at hosting a session that has both a resident track and a faculty track. We have had a multi-site presentation at the Society of Family Medicine annual meeting and continue to develop programs that will lead to interaction between the three campuses.

Our future goals are to be more involved with community outreach projects, both locally, nationally and internationally. We strive to bring the most inclusive experience for our residents hoping to foster the development of each resident in their career be it clinical, academic, administrative or research oriented. We are open to change and innovation. We want each person to achieve their goals and succeed in their chosen career path.

Take some time to come and visit our program! Let us be part of your journey into the world of family medicine!!

Tochi Iroku-Malize, MD, MPH, FAAFP, SFHM