Family Medicine Curriculum

So what exactly does a Family Medicine curriculum look like?

PGY-1: Inpatient service/floors ( 4 months), Cardiology (1), ICU (1), Surgery (2), Pediatrics Inpatient (2), Obstetrics(2), Emergency Medicine (1)

PGY-2: Inpatient service/floors (2 months), ER (1), Pediatrics inpatient(2), Gynecology(1), ENT/Opthalmology/Radiology/Urology ( 2months), Rural (1), *Elective (1), Orthopedics(1)

PGY-3: Inpatient service/floors (2 months), Orthopedics (1), Dermatology (1), Psychiatry (1), Community Medicine (1), Practice Management (1), Pulmonary Medicine (1), Gastroenterology (1), *Electives (2)

+ 2- 3 half-day continuity clinics every week throughout the 3 years of residency ( increasing in frequency as PGY level increases). You'll see everyone from pediatric patients to geriatric patients here over the years, simulating the real-world practice of primary care medicine in the office.

* Electives = Any Internal Medicine subspecialty ( Cardiology, Endocrinology, Infectious Disease, Geriatrics, Research, Hem/Onc, Nephrology, Rheumatology)

The differences with Internal Medicine Residency= Instead of the rotations in italics, IM programs will simply have more inpatient service months, i.e. no exposure to women's health/pediatrics/office surgical procedures + NO practice management because IM is more geared towards subspecialization and not setting up your own practice. Those who are more interested in Hospitalist work will find IM more relevant for this reason, but those who are more interested in outpatient clinic-based practice will find Family Medicine more enjoyable. Also, many IM programs do not have Orthopedics/Sports Medicine exposure, which are becoming very popular as many patients present in primary care with musculoskeletal problems that do not need an operation/Orthopedic consult.