Resident Profiles - Slava Epelman, MD, PhD, PGY-3

Slava Epelman, MD, PhD

Medical School: University of Calgary Faculty of Medicine
Outside Interest: Sports, Travel and Martial Arts

Why The Cleveland Clinic? Simply put: it is the unparalleled opportunities that present themselves in this program. Each person needs to decide what is important to them in a residency program. I had several criteria in mind when I was deciding and The Cleveland Clinic excelled in them all.

To begin with, I wanted a program that had outstanding clinical training. The Cleveland Clinic has world class faculty that are dedicated to teaching, whether in formal lectures or at the bedside. As an intern, the staff encourages you to make the important clinical decisions early in your training so that you build the necessary confidence in your abilities. Our patient population is unique to only a few centers in country – very rare and interesting cases that could be not be solved elsewhere mixed well with the more numerous standard clinical presentations, which together create a large breadth of experiences.

Another important aspect is the ability to conduct research. One reason why residents in this program have such as impressive list of publications is that they are afforded the time to conduct their research. I believe this is an important difference between our program and other top-tiered programs around the country. The staff that I have interacted with have been eager to help me with my research interests and are actively involved in getting my research project off the ground. The Cleveland Clinic has an excellent infrastructure to conduct research – a bonus that becomes apparent to a busy resident conducting research.

Lastly, it was the overall strength of the program that was very appealing. Our Internal Medicine specialties are respected throughout the country – as evidenced by the US News & World Report (#1 in Cardiology, #2 in Gastroenterology, #4 Rheumatology, #6 Nephrology, #8 Endocrinology, #10 Pulmonary). Applicants who graduate from our program are very competitive when it comes time for fellowship applications, and that is due to a combination of the excellent clinical training, impressive resident-level research and training at a world-class institution.

I had never been to Cleveland prior to my interview. After I moved, I was pleasantly surprised with all the city affords to its residents. World-renowned philharmonic orchestra and museums, three major sport teams, a vibrant night-life, numerous city parks and very affordable housing make living in Cleveland an interesting experience.