Two Novel Urban Health Primary Care Residency Tracks That Focus On Community-Level Structural Vulnerabilities.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Although residency programs are well situated for developing a physician workforce with knowledge, skills, and attitudes that incorporate the strengths and reflect the priorities of community organizations, few curricula explicitly do so.

Aim

To develop urban health primary care tracks for internal medicine and combined internal medicine-pediatrics residents.

Setting

Academic hospital, community health center, and community-based organizations.

Participants

Internal medicine and combined internal medicine-pediatrics residents.

Program description

The program integrates community-based experiences with a focus on stakeholder engagement into its curriculum. A significant portion of the training (28 weeks out of 3 years for internal medicine and 34 weeks out of 4 years for medicine-pediatrics) occurs outside the hospital and continuity clinic to support residents' understanding of structural vulnerabilities.

Program evaluation

Sixteen internal medicine and 14 medicine-pediatrics residents have graduated from our programs. Fifty-six percent of internal medicine graduates and 79% of medicine-pediatrics graduates are seeking primary care careers, and eight overall (27%) have been placed in community organizations. Seven (23%) hold leadership positions.

Discussion

We implemented two novel residency tracks that successfully placed graduates in community-based primary care settings. Integrating primary care training with experiences in community organizations can create primary care leaders and may foster collective efficacy among medical centers and community organizations.

SUBMITTER: Oldfield BJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6258596 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature