Internal Medicine Residency

Message from Program Leadership

Welcome to the internal medicine residency training program at MaineHealth Maine Medical Center (MHMMC)! We are excited that you are interested in our residency program. As the sole internal medicine residency program in Maine, we offer comprehensive training covering all aspects of internal medicine. This training is provided across various settings, including the state's only tertiary hospital, the Portland metro area's safety-net hospital and outpatient clinics, as well as in rural areas of Maine. All of these resources are available within a single program.

Our residents and faculty are passionate about taking care of Mainers, the people living in our own communities. Patients come to us from across Maine and parts of New Hampshire from remarkably diverse backgrounds. We are deeply committed to maintaining a safe, inclusive culture and training environment that aligns with MaineHealth’s diversity, equity, and inclusion priorities. Our community believes in the importance of fostering a collaborative, respectful, and equitable environments so our learners, faculty, and teams can thrive. The program is also deeply committed to diversifying our workforce so that we can mirror the population of patients that we care for.

The program leadership believes strongly in the following aims for residency training at MHMMC:

Provide comprehensive, patient-centered training in internal medicine, preparing physicians for hospital-based and ambulatory practice in general internal medicine and subspecialties, in both urban and rural settings.
Maintain a supportive, inclusive learning climate for a diverse group of learners, teachers, and patients.
Cultivate a learner-centered program that supports an individual's personal and professional goals.
Support our community through service and education in order to reduce healthcare disparities in Maine.
Promote a growth mindset approach for our residents, our program, and our institution.

Our program also has the dual benefit of being a tight-knit community of trainees that also work within a large, resource-rich healthcare system. Residents at MHMMC receive significant support and mentorship from many sources: faculty, fellows, program leadership, and members of a dedicated interprofessional care team. As the largest training program within MHMMC, we support and encourage trainees to explore their individual interests and passions while also providing core education in all areas of internal medicine. Educating the next generation of physicians is central to our efforts as a program. Residents have critical roles in teaching students who are part of the Tufts University School of Medicine Maine Track program along with University of New England students who rotate across all our services. Our website highlights pathways that support trainees as they pursue their career goals whether that be in primary care, hospital medicine, or fellowship specialization.

We are excited to have the opportunity to share our program with you, especially the chance to introduce you to our incredible resident physicians who make our residency so phenomenal!

Ross W. Hilliard, MD, FACP
Program Director

Matthew Clark, DO
Lesley Gordon, MD
Hassan Mahmoud, MD
Kristen Sciacca, MD
Associate Program Directors

Our Hospital

MaineHealth Maine Medical Center (MHMMC) is a 700-bed, non-profit hospital and the largest medical center in northern New England. When it opened as Maine General Hospital in 1874, MHMMC was the first general hospital in the state of Maine. Today the institution serves as both the largest source of tertiary care and largest teaching hospital in northern New England. Patient care at MHMMC ranges from primary care to the full spectrum of tertiary care serving a referral base of more than 1.4 million people.

Our Health System

MHMMC is the flagship hospital of the MaineHealth system, which includes 12 hospitals serving Maine and New Hampshire. MaineHealth hospitals share a common mission (working together so our communities are the healthiest in America), values (patient-centered, respect, integrity, excellence, ownership, innovation), electronic health record (Epic), and strategic priorities (patient-centered care, care team well-being, healthy communities and affordable care).

Our Department

The mission of the Department of Medicine at MHMMC is “to deliver equitable and exceptional health care to the people of Maine by a team of diverse and dynamic leaders dedicated to professional wellness and excellence in education, research, and patient care”. The vision of the Department of Medicine is “to be the Department where everyone wants to work”. The values of the Department of Medicine are “belonging, integrity, ownership, patient-centeredness, innovation, respect, adaptability, humility, trust, and excellence”.

Our Program Overview

As Maine’s only internal medicine residency program, our program has been training internal medicine residents since 1956. We currently support 36 categorical IM residents, 3 rural IM residents, 3 IM-geriatrics residents, 16 IM-pediatrics residents, 14 preliminary interns (from anesthesia, neurology, and radiology programs), and 2 chief residents. Residents are attracted to our program for the unique combination that we offer: the broad clinical exposure and opportunities offered at a large academic medical center, and the personalized attention and supportive relationships found in a smaller residency program.

Our Program Aims

Provide comprehensive clinical training for general internists and sub-specialists, with preparation for both hospital-based and ambulatory practice, in both urban and rural settings.
Provide a flexible, supportive, and learner-centered program.
Maintain a positive, inclusive learning climate for both our learners and teachers.
Reduce healthcare disparities in Maine through engagement with our under-served populations.
Promote a growth-mindset approach for our residents, our program and our institution.

Our Commitment to Diversity

The Internal Medicine Residency Program and Department of Graduate Medical Education (GME) at MHMMC believe that welcoming different ideas, perspectives and backgrounds improves the academic environment, drives innovation and enhances our ability to provide compassionate and patient-centered care to our patients and their families. Our mission is to ensure a safe, inclusive culture where each person has recognized value and we are committed to fostering a collaborative and respectful environment where our learners, faculty and teams can thrive in an ever-changing global community. Learn more about DEI at the MHMMC GME program.

Medical Education at MHMMC

MHMMC supports over 250 residents and fellows in 15 residencies and 14 fellowships - all ACGME accredited. Our medical school affiliate is Tufts University School of Medicine (TUSM), which includes the highly successful TUSM-MHMMC “Maine Track” medical school partnership. Educational and research affiliates include VA Maine Healthcare, the Maine Practice Network, and the MaineHealth Institute for Research (MHIR). State-of-the-art facilities for simulation training are located on MHMMC’s Bramhall and Brighton campuses. MHMMC teaching faculty are developed and supported by the MHMMC Institute for Teaching Excellence (MITE).

The Resident Experience at MaineHealth Maine Medical Center