The Procedure & Consultation Rotation started in 2007 in response to the desire from internal medicine residents to have increased exposure to those procedures mandated by the ACGME, and more importantly, those thought to be important in the armamentarium of a practicing internist. Additionally, the skill of being an effective internal medicine consultant is an increasingly important part of the hospitalist's role and constitutes an important learning aspect of this rotation during the first year of internal medicine residency.

The Abbott Northwestern Clinical Simulation Center was started by the residency program in response to the national trend for an increasing role of using high-fidelity patient simulation to foster experiential procedure and exam training in a safe environment. Although simulation technology is relatively new to the field of medicine, the technology has previously been well established in other professions. Flight simulators for pilots and astronauts, military training exercises, management training for business executives, and technical operations for nuclear power plants are all examples of simulation technology currently in use by other professionals. The clinical simulation center allows Abbott Northwestern Hospital's faculty and trainees to apply state-of-the-art simulators to learning the practice of invasive procedures in a risk-free environment with the ultimate goal being benefit to our patients.