About CIR

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About CIR

50 Years of Advocacy for Resident Physicians

CIR MemberThe Committee of Interns and Residents is the largest housestaff union in the country, representing more than 13,000 residents in California, Florida, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. CIR contracts improve housestaff salaries and working conditions as well as enhance the quality of patient care. CIR was founded in 1957.


In May, 1997, CIR affiliated with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which now has 2 million members and over 1 million healthcare workers all over the country. Our affiliation with SEIU has increased our strength wherever CIR represents housestaff.

CIR was originally founded by interns and residents in New York City’s public hospitals. In 1958, CIR achieved the first collective bargaining agreement for housestaff anywhere in the U.S. By the mid-1960s, CIR had established the only housestaff-administered benefit plan. By 1969-70, members in the private, or voluntary, sector started organizing and joining CIR.

CIR MemberIn a landmark achievement in 1975, CIR won contractual limits for on-call schedules of one night in three. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, CIR successfully negotiated innovative maternity leave clauses, won provisions for pay for housestaff covering for absent colleagues, and in 1989 helped shape New York State’s regulations that set maximum work hour limits for housestaff. Since then, CIR members have negotiated hours limitations and program security clauses in Miami, Los Angeles and Boston. These important advances have become models for improving residency programs across the country.

President's Report: A New Residency Year Means New Opportunities

For those of you who are going through the ritual of orientation and making the transition from medical student to resident, welcome! For those of you continuing on with another PGY and another year of clinical experience, welcome back! Every year, June is the month for major changes for resident physicians across the country, and that’s true for the union that is run by residents and for residents – CIR.

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Links to Related Organizations and Resources

Links to third-party sites on issues and organizations of interest to physicians, general medical resources and legal information on residents' right to organize.

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CIR Executive Committee

May 2010 - May 2011
President
Farbod Raiszadeh, MD, PhD
Cardiology Fellow
Montefiore Medical Center
New York, NY

Executive Vice President 
Hillary Tompkins, MD
Gastroenterology Fellow
Boston Medical Center
Boston, MA

Secretary-Treasurer 
John Ingle, MD
Otolaryngology
University of New Mexico
Health Sciences Center
Albuquerque, NM

Regional Vice President:
Southern California 
Michael Core, MD 
Family Practice 
County of Los Angeles - Harbor
Los Angeles, CA

Regional Vice President:
Northern California 
Nick Nelson, MD
 Internal Medicine  
Alameda County Medical Center
Highland Hospital
Oakland, CA

Regional Vice Presidents:
New Mexico
Alisha Parada, MD 
Internal Medicine 
University of New Mexico
Health Sciences Center
Albuquerque, NM

Regional Vice President: Florida
Kelly Liker, MD 
Pediatrics
Jackson Memorial Hospital
Miami, Florida

Regional Vice President:
Massachusetts
Jay Bhatt, DO, MPH
Internal Medicine
Cambridge Health Alliance
Cambridge, MA

Regional Vice President:
New Jersey/DC 
Tony R. Tarchichi, MD
Internal Medicine-Pediatrics
UMDNJ - University Hospital
Newark, NJ

Regional Vice Presidents:
New York
Bijay Acharya, MD
Internal Medicine
Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center
Bronx, NY

Gregory Dodell, MD
Internal Medicine
St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital
New York, NY

Thaddeus K. Lynn, MD
Family Medicine
Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center
Bronx, NY

Sepideh Sedgh, DO
Internal Medicine
Maimonides Medical Center
Brooklyn, NY

Ian Wittman, MD
Emergency Medicine
Bellevue Hospital Center
New York, NY