Curriculum

The content of family medicine training is specified by the Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education and the American Board of Family Medicine. Each specialty rotation is designed to maintain flexibility and to meet accreditation and board requirements. The curriculum is reviewed continuously to meet the present and future needs of our residents. The primary objective is to aid you in personal growth while acquiring the knowledge and skills necessary for obtaining a high level of professional competence.

Procedural skills have become increasingly important in the ambulatory setting. For this reason, our program has focused on providing residents with opportunities to learn a variety of office procedures including colposcopy, casting, and splinting, joint injection, lesion removal, and other minor surgical procedures.

The foundation of the resident’s education is the patient care provided in the Family Medicine Clinic and on the Family Medicine Inpatient Team. Residents develop and maintain a continuing physician-patient relationship. Residents see patients in the Family Medicine Center 1 to 2 half days per week as first years, 2 to 4 half days per week as second years and 4 half days per week as third years.

During the Family Medicine Team rotation, residents and hospitalist provide care for the in-patient service. During this time, residents also serve as consultants for patients hospitalized by other physicians.

As part of the educational experience, residents have an opportunity to select a total of 24 weeks of elective time during the three years of training. Elective time is flexible to accommodate the different career paths and interests of individual residents. Elective blocks vary in length from 2 weeks to 4 weeks. Residents also have 12 weeks of subspecialty rotations in a large variety of specialties.

Residents have an opportunity to design a rotation not routinely offered, such as an international rotation, or a clinical rotation not normally provided in our curriculum. The hallmark of our residency is learning to be the physician managing patients in every setting from ambulatory office to nursing home and from family practice to hospital to ICU.