This program offers a unique educational experience where internal medicine fellows learn from faculty and each other through lectures, clinical case presentations, and informal discussions throughout the week. The fellows bring this new knowledge back home to share with colleagues and apply to their patients to advance care. Fellows also leave with an expanded network of colleagues creating future opportunities for observerships and collaborations. The impact of this seminar is meaningful, far-reaching, and enduring. It is truly wonderful experience for both faculty and fellows alike!
Since 2001, doctors from Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons have traveled to Salzburg to share their knowledge with physicians from all over the world.
This year, 33 fellows from 24 various countries, such as Mexico, Tanzania, and Viet Nam, gathered at Schloss Arenberg to hear the latest updates in Internal Medicine. There was a special focus on the topics of Endocrinology, Gastroenterology, and Infectious Diseases. An excellent group of faculty, consisting of eight experts, was eager to equip fellows with new knowledge and skills to enable them to improve their healthcare practices back in their home countries.
Dr. Kristin M. Burkart, Professor of Medicine, Director of the Pulmonary and Critical Care Fellowship Program, and Medical Director of the Chest Clinic at Columbia University Medical Center, served as the course director this week. She was supported by co-course director Dr. Guenter Weiss, Professor of Medicine and Director of the Department of Internal Medicine II, Infectious Diseases, Immunology, Rheumatology, Pneumology at the Medical University of Innsbruck. Additional faculty members from the USA included Dr. Benjamin Lebwohl, Dr. Jacqueline Lonier, and Dr. Benjamin A. Miko. Dr. Susanne Kaser, Dr. Heinz Zoller, and Dr. Alexander R. Moschen completed the Austrian faculty.
Additionally, the OMI was honored to have a special guest for the entire week, Dr. David Kershenobich Stalnikowitz, former Director General of the National Institute of Medical Sciences and Nutrition Salvador Zubirán (INCMNSZ), one of Mexico’s most prestigious medical and scientific institutions. As a board member of Alianza Médica para la Salud (AMSA), the OMI’s partner organization in Mexico, Dr. Kershenobich attended the course to familiarize himself with the OMI programs.
Three slots were reserved in the schedule this week for fellows to present their own case presentations. Five of these cases were chosen by the faculty to be published in the OMI online case library.
On Wednesday, as usual, fellows and faculty were able to enjoy a free afternoon. Most of them took the opportunity to visit Hallstatt, an ancient village in a breath-taking mountain setting that owes its existence to the rich salt deposit in the mountain of Hallstatt and has a lot to offer: the oldest salt mine in the world, a lovely boat ride on Lake Hallstatt, a trip to the breath-taking cave world in Obertraun, or a visit to Lake Gosau with the Dachstein glacier.
On Friday, after the conclusion of the academic part of the seminar, fellows and faculty gathered in the evening to enjoy drinks and a formal three course dinner during the traditional graduation ceremony at Schloss Arenberg. Fellows were awarded their certificates of attendance and had a very nice time celebrating the success of the seminar together with faculty.
