Primary Care Residency Program
Ambulatory Objectives
Residents will:
Skills and Behaviors
- Evaluate and manage patients with the range of problems encountered by primary care physicians
- Address health care maintenance issues for adult patients
- Perform primary care procedures, such as joint injection, skin biopsy, and dermatologic cryotherapy
- Demonstrate communication skills necessary for effective medical interviewing and patient counseling
- Orchestrate the longitudinal care of primary care patients, including follow-up, telephone medicine, and collaboration with consultants, nutritionists, social workers, and various community services
- Develop systems to convert their emerging information needs into well-formed clinical questions and to efficiently acquire, appraise, and apply medical information
- Exemplify the highest standards of ethics in patient, professional, and interpersonal interactions
Knowledge
- Understand the presentation, evaluation, and management strategies of diseases encountered by primary care physicians
- Understand the basic principles for interpreting diagnostic tests, including probability revision and cost-effectiveness
- Recognize the advantages and disadvantages of a range of practice types (solo, group, preferred practice organization, independent practice association, and health maintenance organization)
- Understand the principles of managed care and the effects of managed care on the economics of office practice
Attitudes
- Appreciate the rewards and responsibilities of assuming the primary care of a group of patients, including the importance of patient advocacy
- Consider their role as primary care physicians in the larger contexts of medicine in general, American society, and their family and social networks