Academic General Internal Medicine Division

Division Head: David E. Willens, M.D., M.P.H., F.A.C.P.

Established in 1952 as several general medical divisions and consolidated into one in the 1980s, the Academic General Internal Medicine Division at Henry Ford Hospital offers expertise in practicing and teaching the more complex aspects of general internal medicine.

Our Mission

To advance the health and wellbeing of our community and to educate tomorrow's healthcare leaders.

Clinical care

Our Internal Medicine doctors focus on the delivery and teaching of high-quality, patient-centered, evidence-based care for health maintenance and management of acute or chronic conditions in the outpatient clinic and inpatient hospital settings. We specialize in helping patients and families faced with multiple health conditions including high blood pressure (hypertension), diabetes, body pain, HIV, transplants, kidney disease, and heart disease. Our Division has two inpatient units at Henry Ford Hospital where our doctors care for the patients and provide all education for medical students and residents on service. We are committed to innovations in patient safety and quality patient care.

Research

Our staff is actively involved in research on innovative models of health care delivery and quality improvement, medical education, and anticoagulation. We strive for the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s Triple Aim: health for a whole population, exceptional experience of care, and lower cost. Our research has included a nurse-led telephone care service for patients with diabetes, team-based care program to identify and address gaps in chronic disease care, workshops on teaching clinical decision-making, and participation in national evaluations of novel anticoagulation drugs.

Education

The Internal Medicine Residency Program at Henry Ford Hospital is one of the oldest and largest ACGME-accredited residency programs in the United States. Our staff physicians serve as educators and role models for hundreds of medical students and residents each year. Our cutting-edge medical care and teaching are the foundations of innovations in, for example, interdisciplinary education, high-value care, and patient-provider communication. Our faculty have academic appointments with the Wayne State University School of Medicine, are committed to inpatient and outpatient education of medical students and residents, and provide the inpatient teaching service for Academic Internal Medicine at Henry Ford Hospital.