Yonkers, NY | Westchester County
For Mark W. Kozicky, MD, training future physicians is also an investment in the health of our community.
Alongside his work as a nephrologist and internal medicine physician with St. John’s Medical Group, Dr. Kozicky leads the Internal Medicine Residency Program. In that role, he prepares young physicians for careers rooted in strong clinical care, collaboration, and connection to the communities they serve.
Training Physicians to Serve the Community
From its beginnings, the Internal Medicine Residency Program was designed with the surrounding community in mind.
Dr. Kozicky explains that one of the goals was to develop physicians who might establish their careers locally and continue caring for patients beyond their residency years.
“Our biggest initial expectation was that many of the residents that came would look to stay in the area, establish practice, perhaps join the hospital group and maintain as internists or as primary care physicians.”
That goal aligns closely with the mission of St. John’s Medical Group: investing in physicians who can help strengthen access to high-quality, relationship-driven care throughout Yonkers and the surrounding Westchester County area.
Even when graduates continue their training or build careers elsewhere, residency provides an opportunity to shape how they approach patients and practice medicine for years to come.
Learning Through Collaboration
Residency involves much more than building medical knowledge. Young physicians must learn how to make clinical decisions, communicate with patients and families, and work effectively with colleagues across specialties.
Dr. Kozicky describes strong support for resident education across St. John’s Riverside Hospital, including physicians, nursing teams, administration, and other departments involved in patient care.
Collaboration between the Internal Medicine and Emergency Medicine Residency Programs is another important part of that training. Residents work together during clinical rotations, including time in the ICU and Emergency Department, giving them exposure to different approaches to patient care.
“There’s a lot of collaboration… Although the mindset sometimes may be different, there’s a benefit to seeing how someone else’s perspective on a clinical case may differ.”
For Dr. Kozicky, learning how to communicate and collaborate across specialties is essential preparation for a career in medicine, where caring for one patient often involves multiple physicians across different disciplines.
Dr. Miriam Kulkarni, Program Director of the Emergency Medicine Residency Program, also describes the close relationship between the two programs as a strength of the training environment, with residents and faculty regularly learning from and supporting one another.
Building a Community Among Physicians
Dr. Kozicky also sees success in the relationships residents build during their time at St. John’s.
Former residents often remain in contact with one another years after graduation, reflecting a sense of connection that extends beyond their formal training.
“There is that sense of camaraderie, of a community that they’ve developed amongst themselves because of the time they spent here at St. John’s. I think that will really stand out as something meaningful for the rest of their clinical lives.”
That culture is especially important during residency, when physicians are developing the confidence and judgment required to eventually practice independently.
It also reflects a broader philosophy shared across St. John’s Medical Group: strong medicine is built not only on clinical expertise, but also on relationships with patients, colleagues, and the community.
Keeping the Human Element at the Center
As medicine evolves, Dr. Kozicky is also preparing residents to navigate new tools such as artificial intelligence and digital health technology.
He sees those technologies as resources physicians will increasingly need to understand and use appropriately. But he emphasizes that they cannot replace the relationship between a physician and a patient.
“The one thing you cannot replace, which really dictates a patient’s sense of satisfaction with their care, is the human element.”
For Dr. Kozicky, technology is most valuable when it supports rather than replaces that connection. He points to the potential for tools like AI to give physicians more time for “sitting at the patient’s bedside, hearing them, talking to them, giving them updates.”
That balance captures an important part of the residency program’s larger mission: preparing physicians who are clinically capable and ready to adapt to the future of medicine, while remaining invested in the people they care for.
Through medical education, Dr. Kozicky and St. John’s Medical Group are helping develop physicians who can carry those values forward, strengthening both the future of medicine and the communities they will serve.
Mark W. Kozicky, MD, is a board-certified nephrologist and internal medicine physician with St. John’s Medical Group and Program Director of the Internal Medicine Residency Program at St. John’s Riverside Hospital. He sees patients at the Boyce Thompson Pavilion in Yonkers.
Watch the full Riverside Reflections interview to hear more from Dr. Kozicky and Dr. Miriam Kulkarni about residency education, collaboration, and preparing the next generation of physicians.