The Department of Internal Medicine (DIM) similar to other departments with King-Drew Medical Center, began primarily a service-oriented unit in 1973 when Dr. David Ulmer relocated from Harvard Medical School to direct the DIM. He initiated the residency program in Internal Medicine and recruited outstanding faculty into the DIM. Over the subsequent 15 years, the Department became the premiere educational component of the King Drew Medical Center (KDMC). The Department was led by a number of interim chairs until Dr. Thomas Yoshikawa took over the
charge as Chairman of the DIM in June of 1995. Over the past 7 years, the DIM has matured and evolved into an academic unit with an active research component. DIM faculty contributions in the area of hypertension, kidney diseases, diabetes mellitus, muscle physiology, male hormone function, geriatric infectious diseases, and HIV/AIDS are nationally and internationally recognized. Furthermore, DIM faculty serves as directors of centers of excellence/research units including the Lillian H. Mobley Clinical Trials Unit, Clinical Research Center, and Diabetes Research and Education Center. The department has added subspecialty fellowship training programs in geriatrics, endocrinology and nephrology during the past decade, in addition to its already existing fellowships in infectious diseases and gastroenterology. The Internal Medicine and Dermatology residency training programs as well as all five subspecialty fellowship programs are currently fully accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education.
In 2005, Dr. Vidya Kaushik became Chair of the Dept after Dr. Yoshikawa assumed his new role as the Acting President, Provost/Chief Operating Officer of Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science.
Administration:
The Department of Internal Medicine (DIM) is the largest department within the Charles Drew University’s College of Medicine and King-Drew Medical Center. It is composed of 10 divisions, 45 full-time faculty, 58 house staff (residents and fellows), 25 non-physician medical staff, 10 postdoctoral research staff, and 20 administrative staff. The DIM cares for 40% of all hospital admissions and accounts for 22% of all non-emergency room outpatient visits.
The departmental leadership is comprised of the Executive Committee, who collectively participates in the development and recommendation of major policies and practices affecting the faculty, house staff, students, administrative staff, research personnel and
other support staff within the DIM.
The DIM Executive Committee is composed of the following faculty:
Chairman
Vice Chair for Clinical Affairs
Designated Institutional Official and Associate Dean for Graduate Medical Education
Program Director and Associate Program Director
Director, Medical Student Curriculum and Associate Dean for Curriculum
Faculty Advisor Resident Research Program and Coordinator for the Physicians’ Assistant Rotations
Vice President for Research
The DIM's office administrative staff includes:
Executive Assistant to the Chair
Secretary to the Chair
Residency Program Coordinator
Administrative Assistant for Faculty Appointment/Promotions
Student Coordinator
The DIM's staff for Quality Management (IOP) include:
Director
Program Coordinator
Administrative Secretary
The DIM houses and supports the medical center's Infection Control program:
