As with all residency programs, IM programs vary but, overall, the majority of your time is spent on the wards taking care of patients with a combination of GI, pulmonary, renal, cardiac and infectious disease problems. My program also has a lot of neuro. There's also time spent with heme/onc and endocrine patients. You'll also have a number of months in the ICU and CCU (although in some programs, these are not separate rotations; instead, your ward team will have some patients on the "regular wards" and others in the ICU and/or CCU. Call varies from every 3rd-5th night (again, program/rotation dependent). Some programs have night float (I personally think this is our saving grace). On average, you have 1-2 half-day outpatient clinic periods per week. There are also "ambulatory" type rotations (1-2months/year) where you spend time doing all out-patient work, often in subspecialty clinics where you wouldn't ordinarily spend much time (say urology, STD clinics, ...). And, yes, you get elective time!
It's true that there is always some residency spot open somewhere. However, if you care where you match, then be prepared for some competition. Obviously, you need more than a heart-beat to match at good IM programs, despite the off-hand comment of the above poster. I think the lifestyle during residency depends upon the program you pick and once in the real-world, it depends where you work (Practices that utilize hospitalists have less call/hospital responsibility. Kaiser hospitals protect you pretty well from tons of call nights).
Although I don't have the numbers in front of me, you can count on making significantly more money if you subspecialize. IM docs make, on average, somewhere between $100-150,000. The higher end range is greater for hospitalists. Subspecialists make between $200-500,000 depending upon the specialty and the type of practice you set-up.
Hope that helps.
