Welcome from the Program Director
Thank you for your interest in our Internal Medicine Residency Program—and congratulations on nearing the completion of your undergraduate medical education! This is a pivotal moment as you choose where to continue your training, and we hope you will consider The University of Kansas Internal Medicine Residency Program – Kansas City as your next step.
I have been fortunate to be part of medical education since 2012, initially as a chief resident, then as a Core Faculty member in 2016, and an Associate Program Director starting in 2017. In 2025, I stepped into the role of Program Director, a position I deeply value for the opportunity it gives me to support and guide our resident physicians.
Our program is led by a passionate and collaborative leadership team, including Associate Program Directors, Chief Residents, Core Faculty, and site Directors. Together, we are committed to creating a supportive and enriching environment where residents can grow and thrive.
Our mission is to train compassionate, highly competent internists who are fully prepared for the next step in their careers—whether that’s fellowship, clinical practice, or academic medicine. We encourage our residents to embrace their strengths, seek guidance where needed, and grow into confident, empathetic professionals. We also recognize the importance of balance and well-being in sustaining a meaningful career in medicine.
Our program goals are to:
- Recruit Excellent Medical Students: Attract and select individuals with exceptional communication, empathy, scientific curiosity, and strong potential.
- Comprehensive and Personalized Training: Offer a rotational framework that ensures core competency in Internal Medicine while supporting individualized learning paths.
- Diverse Clinical Experience: Provide rich inpatient and outpatient experiences where resident education is prioritized and faculty are empowered to teach effectively.
- Innovative Curriculum: Deliver a dynamic curriculum emphasizing active, simulated, and experiential learning to prepare residents for compassionate, equitable care across Kansas City, the state, and the Midwest.
- Mentorship and Career Development: Foster the growth of future physician educators and scientists through strong mentorship aligned with our department’s tripartite mission.
- Resident Well-being: Promote psychological wellness through proactive support systems like well-being consults, peer debriefing, and coaching.
- Culture of Respect & Support in Pursuit of Clinical Excellence: Cultivate a residency environment grounded in kindness, mutual respect, and continuous encouragement.
We are looking for residents who are hardworking, kind, humble, and always eager to learn and grow. We look forward to meeting you and are confident that once you get to know us, you will see why KU-Kansas City is a great place to continue your training.
Sincerely,
Laura A. Thomas, M.D.
Internal Medicine Residency Program Director
Associate Professor of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine
The University of Kansas Health System
The mission of our program is to provide our resident physicians with exceptional clinical and scientific training, in an environment that prioritizes inclusive excellence, allowing them to achieve distinction across all core Internal Medicine competencies. Beyond clinical readiness for practice and/or fellowship training, it is our goal to cultivate our residents’ innate desire to continually ask questions and to seek scientific answers by embodying a growth-oriented mindset. Furthermore, we aim for each of our residents to understand their personality strengths, empowering them to possess the confidence and centeredness to be dynamic, humble, and empathetic team leaders who are positioned to seek exceptional opportunities in their professional lives.
The goals of our Internal Medicine Residency Program:
- Achieve inclusive excellence in recruitment by prioritizing a selection of individuals with outstanding communication skills, a strong aptitude, an empathic personality, and an innate scientific curiosity.
- Provide a rotational framework that ensures a high level of competency in all areas of Internal Medicine, but still allows for an individualized educational plan for each of our residents through application of educational pathways, procedural track and diverse elective experiences.
- Assure varied clinical experiences in the outpatient and inpatient environments, where resident learning is a priority and faculty are supported and equipped to help residents achieve their potential.
- Deliver an innovative curriculum with emphasis on active, simulated, and experiential learning environments that positions our residents with the skills, knowledge and compassion necessary to provide equitable care to our patients in Kansas City, across the State of Kansas and in this Midwest region.
- Provide the mentorship and scaffolding necessary to develop a cohort of physician educators and physician scientists who embody the tripartite mission of our department and institution.
- Utilize well-being consults, peer debriefing and coaching to ensure that our resident physicians are able to recognize the benefits of proactive psychological support for themselves and their peers to optimize physician performance and to best serve our patients.
- Cultivate an environment within our residency program that fosters respect and kindness towards others and offers support and encouragement in all situations.
- We assume best intent.
- We believe that each team member is intelligent, capable, caring and motivated to do their best & continually improve.
- We strive for excellence and not perfection.
- We seek and provide continuous feedback in order to learn and grow.
- We approach scheduling in a fashion that recognizes the importance of work life integration.
- We accept failure as this allows us to try new things.
- We emphasize: Creativity. Continuous improvement. Innovation. Growth.
- We offer positivity to our work environment.