Our Curriculum
Your Residency - Your Way
Your health center is the place where you will grow and learn from experienced faculty role models/teachers of the highest caliber. You will spend increasing amounts of time caring for your own patients at your health center of choice over the three years of your residency. Typically, residents will spend 1-2 half days per week at the health center during the first year of residency; 2-3 half days per week during the second year; and 4-5 half days per week during the third year.
The health center faculty and staff have tremendous knowledge of the community and patients within the health center practices. They will get to know you very well and will provide the support and expertise you need as you develop into an experienced clinician. Our health center practices are continually evolving with a new emphasis on the chronic care model, open access, and family centered care that is integrated with a biopsychosocial approach to care.
The Building Blocks of the Curriculum
Behavioral Science is integrated throughout the curriculum. Excellent training in communication skills and behavioral diagnostic and counseling skills is a crucial piece of your training here. We employ a variety of teaching strategies throughout the three years of residency to make sure residents are well prepared for the behavioral science challenges of practice.
Medicine is largely taught on our Family Medicine Inpatient Service with a rigorous evidence-based academic approach, along with a practical Family Medicine philosophy. Our newly developed team of Family Medicine Hospitalists provides high-level inpatient teaching for our residents. Family Medicine faculty teaching is supplemented by a terrific group of Internal Medicine sub-specialty consultants, medical school faculty members who give lectures on core topics, provide consultation for our patients, and teach in our critical care block.
Care of children is taught in a variety of settings, in university and community hospitals for urgent and emergent care, wards, nursery, NICU, specialty clinics and private offices. Longitudinal pediatric care is emphasized in the health centers with a focus on well-child care, urgent care, and developmental and behavioral issues common to the care of children. We collaborate with the University of Massachusetts Pediatrics Residency and Department faculty to give our residents a high quality experience.
Family Centered Maternity Care is a major strength of our program. More than thirty Family Medicine residency faculty and community family physicians provide maternity care, and serve as teachers, and role models for our residents. We teach and model a patient-centered style of maternity care. Residents who wish to include maternity care in their future practice will be confident in the skills they acquire here.