Additional features of our Family Medicine Residency Program include the following.
We provide family medicine residents with a personal laptop for use at home and work, and CME funds can be used for updating cell phones or tablets. The office and Forbes Hospital (and much of Allegheny Health Network) are connected via an integrated electronic health record (EPIC) for both outpatient and inpatient encounters. Additionally, residents, attendings and nursing communicate via secure texting and calling at the hospital (PerfectServe). For the office we use an online scheduling tool for the residents and faculty that can sync to your personal calendar (QGenda).
Residents learn an approach to obstetrics that is different from that typically practiced by obstetricians. Family-centered birthing is a high-touch, low-tech approach in which assumptions about practice are challenged by evidence-based medicine and the needs and desires of the laboring woman are supported when possible. Family medicine faculty members back up most deliveries and serve as role models. They and our obstetrician faculty support the residents as they work directly with their patients. You will learn to practice a safe and satisfying approach to the prenatal and birthing process that is consistent with the philosophy of family medicine.
At Forbes Family Medicine, we are constantly adapting and growing our skills to fully meet the needs of our patients in the community. As a result, we have started multiple specialty clinics at the Forbes Family Health Center for our residents to share this experience.
Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is becoming increasingly popular in Family Medicine. We have incorporated a curriculum to further advance this practice. Experience is gained working alongside physicians and ultrasound techs in the realms of: inpatient sonography, prenatal sonography (and L&D), cardiology/echocardiography suite, and Musculoskeletal (on sports medicine rotations). At the Forbes Family Medicine office we employ a Philips Lumify tablet-based ultrasound that is portable and can be used for sideline coverage as well.
Braddock Family Medicine is located in Braddock, Pennsylvania. Formerly a thriving steel town, Braddock suffered through economic downturn and drug epidemic. Over a third of local households remain below the poverty line. It is now in the midst of a revitalization driven by strong community organizations and local leaders. Our clinic is well situated to provide comprehensive primary care in this medically underserved area, while working with local organizations to provide additional social services. This clinic offers an opportunity to train residents in the complexities of underserved urban care.
Third year residents will have the opportunity to travel to either the Lalmba Clinic in Matoso and Ochuna, Kenya with Dr. Irwin or Aselsi Clinic in Chichicastenango, Guatemala with Dr. Cooper to learn about tropical diseases, management of chronic conditions in a resource limited setting, engage in public health programs, and to compare and contrast two health care systems.
All residents will participate in didactic lectures and curricular activities utilizing the American College of Lifestyle Medicine's (ACLM) learning management software, known as the Lifestyle Medicine Residency Curriculum (LMRC). If all defined program requirements are met, residents will have met the requirements to apply to take the American Board of Lifestyle Medicine (ABLM) Board Certification Exam by the end of their time in residency. The curriculum will run over a 24-month cycle. Interested residents will also have the opportunity to join our Lifestyle Medicine Interest Group.
Through our geriatric curriculum, residents participate in care for the elderly across multiple settings including an inpatient geriatric consult service, outpatient
office and nursing home. By combining clinical experience with a robust, academic curriculum using innovative learning strategies, residents build a solid foundation for practicing geriatric and palliative medicine. As part of their training, residents participate in a number of community events aimed at community-dwelling older adults to allow for a well rounded geriatric experience.
As a family physician, you will be an important and integral leader in the community you serve. Our program helps you step into this role by integrating community medicine into all rotations. You will have opportunities to observe and work with community agencies, schools, and sports medicine programs. In addition, our faculty are involved in a variety of community agencies and projects, and you are invited to team with them as they provide community service.
Because family medicine will involve you in a therapeutic capacity in the lives of your patients and their families, your interpersonal skills are of utmost importance. Moreover, it is likely that your patients will present you with a range of problems such as depression, stress-related illness and marital or sexual difficulties. To equip you to interact sensitively and to recognize, assess and initiate treatment for such patients, behavioral science training experiences are incorporated into all 3 years.
A full-time behavioral scientist is available to all residents for consultation, co-precepting, and demonstration of therapeutic techniques for use with patients. In addition, all exam rooms in the Family Medicine Center have video recording capabilities. You will have the opportunity to review your videos with the behavioral scientist or a faculty member whose remarks can serve to heighten your ability to self-monitor and modify your approach as necessary.
The program is sensitive to the unique stresses that new physicians sometimes encounter during their residency experience. To ease your transition into your new roles, the program begins resident support during the first-year orientation, when faculty confer with residents on risk assessment and stress reduction and address the fears and expectations of residents. The resident support group is open to all residents and gives you the opportunity to develop effective communication and interpersonal skills while dealing with the positive and negative aspects of your residency in a supportive atmosphere.
Objectives and evaluations are established to guide, assess, and document each resident's experiences in rotations and at the Family Medicine Center. At the end of each rotation, the supervising attending physician evaluates you on a range of essential knowledge, skills, and professional attributes. Family Medicine Center preceptors regularly audit charts, directly observe your patient care, and evaluate your specific clinical and practice management skills.
Each resident is regularly requested to evaluate the teaching, rotations and other learning experiences that comprise the program. Residents also participate in curriculum, patient education, research, and Family Medicine Center committees with faculty members and the residency director to plan and implement program modifications.
