Curriculum and Clinics

Traditional Curriculum with flexibility

Our curriculum encompasses the traditional ACGME requirements and allows residents the flexibility to create a personalized educational experience.

Each resident will meet with his or her advisor during the intern year to discuss overall goals and desires for the residency and beyond. Residents may choose to follow a traditional curriculum consisting of 13 four-week block rotations with a variety of electives available during the second and third year. If a resident has an interest in a particular area of family medicine, such as obstetrics or sports medicine, the “curriculum track” templates offer an elective guide for residents to follow. Click on the links below to download more information on each track.

Curriculum Tracks

1st Year Curriculum

Obstetrics (two blocks)

  • Open Door Health OB Clinic—provide prenatal care at urban clinic with 300 deliveries/year where residents are involved in every delivery
  • Follow private OB patients of both OBs and Family Medicine physicians with 1600 – 1800 deliveries/year
  • 40 deliveries required during intern year
  • Forceps, vacuum, 3rd & 4th degree repairs are taught
  • C-section curriculum is available for interested residents – maximum 3 residents/year

Medicine (two blocks)

  • Busy inpatient medicine experience
  • Each FM team includes one FM resident, one FM intern and one staffing physician (usually all family medicine)
  • Member of the code team
  • Average of 8 – 10 patients
  • Team performs all procedures needed on patients

Pediatrics (two blocks)

  • Inpatient and outpatient services
  • Two to three days per week in private pediatrician’s office
  • Admit all pediatric patients for community pediatricians & family physicians
  • Circumcisions and lumbar punctures are performed by the Peds Intern

Musculoskeletal I (one block)

  • Experience outpatient sports medicine, orthopedics and physical therapy
  • Practice injections, casting/splinting and sports medicine radiology evaluation
  • Large physician group with high volume and variety of cases

Cardiology (one block) -- *this Core rotation is completed during the 1st or 2nd year

  • Exposure to outpatient and inpatient consults
  • Develop an understanding of diagnostic testing (treadmill ECGs, echocardiograms, nuclear medicine stress testing)
  • Work directly with cardiologists
  • An integral part of the curriculum is practicing EKG interpretation with the cardiologists

Pulmonology (one block) -- *this Core rotation is completed during 1st or 2nd year

  • Perform pulmonary consults on hospitalized patients
  • Work directly with pulmonology / critical care staff
  • Exposure to outpatient pulmonology clinic

Emergency Medicine (one block)

  • Level II trauma center
  • Many opportunities for procedures and to help manage trauma patients
  • 52,000 patient visits per year

Intensive Care Unit (one block)

  • New South Tower includes expanded intensive care unit and critical care unit
  • Opportunity for multiple procedures including intubations, ventilator management, central lines, arterial lines, ultrasound guided thoracenteses and paracenteses
  • Member of code team
  • Carry an average of three to five patients

FQHC/Night Float/Community Medicine Week

  • One week of “Community Medicine,” spending time with various interdisciplinary departments (Department Child Services, Hospice, Case Management, etc.)
  • Five weeks of night float throughout the year, providing full-spectrum family medicine care with an upper-level supervising. Night float interns admit all pediatric and FMRC patients and deliver all Open Door OB patients
  • Two weeks of a dedicated FQHC experience at Open Door Health Clinic

General Surgery (one block)

  • Work individually with general surgeon
  • First assist in the operating room
  • Variety of pathology

FMRC Continuity Clinic

  • One half-day per week, July through January
  • Two half-days per week, January through June
  • By end of first year, six to eight patients per half day
  • Exceed 150 patient visits, required by the ACGME
  • Perform all procedures on your continuity patients (skin procedures, women’s health, etc.)

2nd Year Curriculum

Medicine (two blocks)

  • Supervise one to two interns
  • Perform admissions with intern and coordinate team-based care
  • Assist the FM intern with managing Medical Alerts (codes)

Surgical Subspecialties (one block)

Resident chooses two of the following specialties for two weeks each:

  • Ophthalmology
  • Ears/Nose/Throat
  • Podiatry
  • Urology

Obstetrics (one block)

  • Supervise one to two interns on L&D floor and at the Open Door Health OB Clinic
  • Participate in deliveries with local FM and OB doctors

Dermatology (one block)

  • Outpatient with private dermatologist
  • Multiple procedures including excision biopsy, punch biopsy and shave biopsy

Procedures (one block)

  • Block dedicated to focused workshops on all of the procedures routinely done by FM docs (colposcopy, endometrial biopsy, joint injections, skin procedures, etc.)
  • Taught at the FMRC by the directors

Pediatrics (one block)

  • Inpatient and outpatient rotation
  • Two days per week in private pediatrician’s office
  • Supervise one to two interns
  • Staff all pediatric procedures

Musculoskeletal II (one block)

  • Outpatient rotation with emphasis on evaluation and management of musculoskeletal complaints from perspective of sports medicine/rheumatology/occupational medicine

Emergency Medicine (one block)

  • Broad exposure to emergency medicine in the BMH ED
  • Opportunities for several procedures
  • Work 1:1 with ED providers

Ambulatory Medicine (one block)

  • Dedicated outpatient clinic block at the FMRC to work on documentation, efficiency and outpatient clinical skills
  • Act as a member of the Safely Home Team that helps reduce hospital readmissions
  • Weekly meetings with advisor to learn coding and review charts

Medicine Selective (one block)

  • Inpatient/outpatient core medicine rotation in concentrated field such as cardiology, pulmonology, gastroenterology, neurology, endocrinology, infectious disease, nephrology, allergy or rheumatology

Elective (two blocks)

  • 20+ electives from which to choose, including custom-made elective to fit individual interests
  • Opportunity to take a global health elective

Clinic

  • Two half-days per week
  • Eight to ten patients per clinic
  • Residents must see a combined 1500 patients in PGY-2 and PGY-3 year

3rd Year Curriculum

Obstetrics (one block)

  • Supervise one to two interns on L&D floor and at the Open Door Health OB Clinic
  • Participate in deliveries with local FM and OB doctors

Gynecology (one block)

  • Work with gynecologists in office and inpatient settings
  • Opportunity for variety of procedures including colposcopy, endometrial biopsy and cryotherapy

Pediatrics (one block)

  • Inpatient/outpatient rotation
  • Two days per week in private pediatrician’s office
  • Supervise one to two interns
  • Staff all pediatric procedures

Emergency Medicine (one block)

  • Level II trauma center
  • Many opportunities for procedures and to run trauma rooms
  • 52,000 patient visits per year

Ambulatory Medicine (one block)

  • Dedicated outpatient clinic block at the Family Medicine Residency Center to work on documentation, efficiency and outpatient clinical skills
  • Act as a member of the Safely Home Team that helps reduce hospital readmissions

NICU (one block)

  • Spend time in Level 3 NICU with neonatologists managing preterm infants, respiratory distress of newborn, sepsis in newborn and many other conditions

Geriatrics (one block)

  • Outpatient geriatrics
  • Nursing home visits with local family medicine physicians with a focus in geriatrics
  • Geriatric psychiatry component

Medicine Selective (one block)

  • One block medicine selective including, but not limited to: cardiology, pulmonology, gastroenterology, neurology, endocrinology, infectious disease, nephrology and rheumatology

Electives (five blocks)

  • Five block electives of the resident’s choice including but not limited to: global health medicine, neonatology, OB, high-risk OB, fracture care and splinting, radiology, comparative practice management, etc.
  • Opportunity to create your own elective

Clinic

  • Three half-days per week
  • 10 to 12 patients per clinic
  • Residents must see a combined 1500 patients in their PGY-2 and PGY-3 years

Human Behavior and Mental Health

  • This is a three-year longitudinal curriculum