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Ambulatory Medicine

Ambulatory Medicine

Primary care outpatient medicine is experienced in two ways: a weekly continuity clinic and block ambulatory rotations during each of the three years of training. A formal curriculum is delivered through weekly pre-clinic conferences that precede each continuity clinic session, as well as through experiences and didactics scheduled during block rotations. This curriculum is excellent preparation for the practice of general Internal Medicine. Preventive care and ambulatory diagnosis and treatment are emphasized. All clinics are supervised by Saint Raphael faculty.

Ambulatory rotations include:

Primary care clinic – You will have a half-day continuity clinic throughout all three years of training. A pre-clinic conference is held prior to each session and pertinent articles and questions are distributed. The resident-to-attending ratio is generally 2 or 3:1, and all patients are discussed with an attending. Residents become responsible for a specific group of patients, and care for those patients all three years. Residents also work as part of a clinic team, designed to function as an independent practice.

Ambulatory block rotations – There is one ambulatory block during PGY 1, two in PGY 2 and three in PGY3. They cover a wide variety of experiences, felt to encompass the variety encountered in a primary care practice. Included are:

Community ambulatory rotation – PGY 2 residents spend a month at the office of a general community internist, learning skills needed to perform medicine in the private practice setting. This experience provides an opportunity for residents to learn office practice management, interact with insurers and managed care personnel, and observe varied approaches to care. This networking often leads to practice opportunities in the area.

Specialty ambulatory experiences – Built into the ambulatory block rotations are opportunities to experience other areas of medicine. Residents rotate through the private practice offices of specialty physicians to learn the “pearls” of diagnosing specific conditions, how to medically manage problems and acute emergencies, and when to refer patients. These specialties include dermatology, ENT, gynecology, neurology, occupational medicine, ophthalmology, orthopedics, podiatry, psychiatry, physical medicine and rehabilitation, and urology.

Residents also spend time treating adolescent medicine patients at the University of New Haven Student Health Center and offering care at New Haven’s STD clinic.

The director of ambulatory education reviews the weekly pre-clinic conference curriculum with residents.

 

Page last updated on Nov. 10, 2009