The recently concluded Society of General Internal Medicine (SGIM) Regional Meeting in Chicago was a great opportunity to connect with other members and engage with new ideas and practices. It was also a great opportunity for Internal Medicine residents to practice their presentation skills for a larger audience.

Five residents—Drs. Heidi Ahmed, Salman Ansari, Chris Koehn, Jeremy Steinman, and Jenny Strouse—all had their quality improvement abstracts accepted for oral presentation. Drs. Nanmeng Yu and Brendon Boyle also attended the conference. Topics included improvements in depression-screening tactics, staffing models, telemetry use, and documentation of atrial fibrillation.

Dr. Koehn—mentored by Clinical Assistant Professor Dr. Carly Kuehn and Dr. Leslie Brettell, Adjunct Clinical Faculty at UIHC and Staff Physician at the VA—won Best Oral Innovation for his presentation, “Improving Appropriateness of Long-term Proton Pump Inhibitor Prescribing in Internal Medicine Resident Veterans Affairs Healthcare Systems Continuity of Care Clinic.” Dr. Bretell said, “I am proud of Dr. Koehn and the work of the VA team.”

Dr. Krista Johnson, Educational Director for Safety and Quality in the Residency Program, attended the SGIM meeting as well. “I had several people comment on how neat it was we had so many residents representing our program and our robust QI education.” It should also be noted the residents’ travel and attendance were sponsored by the Division of General Internal Medicine and Division Director Dr. Rich Hoffman. The Department appreciates and congratulates this kind of commitment to resident education.