Didactics

The Memorial Family Medicine curriculum is based on American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) Core Educational Guidelines for Family Medicine Residents and meets current Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) program requirements. These documents are available in full through the Residency Coordinator's office or at the above organizations' web sites

(www.aafp.org/online/en/home/aboutus/specialty/rpsolutions/eduguide.html and www.acgme.org/acWebsite/home/home.asp, respectively).

All residents and faculty have input into the curriculum, which will provide the skills and training needed for family physicians of the future.

Resident education takes place in a number of different ways, including four-week block rotations, continuity experiences and conferences/workshops. Block rotations take place in a variety of settings and are taught by residency faculty and volunteer attendings. Each rotation provides a concentrated and focused experience in one or more facets of family medicine.
Longitudinal Experiences
In addition to the focused block rotations certain educational components are provided in a longitudinal fashion. The most important of these is the Family Medicine Center time. In addition to their regularly scheduled patient-care days, PGY I residents spend one full month in their continuity practice during their Ambulatory Family Medicine rotation. Other continuity experiences include Balint Group, Geriatrics, Junior Precepting, Practice Management, the Research Seminar, Sports Medicine, and various conferences and workshops.

Balint Group
Balint Group is scheduled for residents on a monthly basis, and residents are encouraged to attend whenever possible. These groups are facilitated by the faculty including a psychologist and one of the physicians. The focus is on the interpersonal and emotional components involved in the practice of medicine including communications and relationships with patients and their families, other residents, faculty and staff.

Geriatrics
The primary purpose of the Geriatrics rotation is to give our residents the tools and skills to care for elderly patients. During the second year we have a required rotation where residents get experience in evaluating senior patients, care for patients at a Medicare Skilled Unit, experience wound care treatment and experience home health care. The longitudinal experience includes doing home visits during all three years of residency. We expect our residents to be able to care for their patients in the home. During the second and third years, each resident visits patients at an excellent nursing home with a full time geriatric family physician. Also, during each block we have scheduled conferences on geriatric issues.

Junior Precepting
We believe that all family physicians are teachers (teaching students, fellow residents, and patients), and help residents acquire those skills. As part of that process, each third-year resident spends a half-day each block in our family medicine center where he or she acts as a “junior preceptor.” In this role the senior resident provides feedback and guidance on patient care to junior residents, under the supervision of a faculty attending.

Practice Management
Practice Management is designed to provide residents with the information they need regarding the business of health care. Residents will complete their training with a working knowledge of coding and documentation, billing and collections, managed care, risk management, professional liability insurance, forecasting, financial planning and other areas of practice management that will be important to their success, regardless of the setting. The curriculum will include a minimum of 100 hours of training with the greatest amount of this time reserved for the second and third years of training. Residents will acquire knowledge using several modalities, including self-study, speakers, workshops and hands-on learning. Residents will also complete assigned modules of the AMA Introduction to Practice Management online training program throughout the three-year program.

Research Seminar
The Research Seminar is for first-year residents. This series of one-hour noontime meetings occurs twice each block, starting in August and ending in April. The seminar is broken into three modules:
   1. Basic concepts in statistics, measurement and research design (40 percent of the time),
   2. Principles of evidence-based medicine (30 percent of the time),
   3. Development of a viable research proposal (30 percent of the time).

Working in teams of 2-3, each resident is required to produce a research proposal that will meet Institutional Review Board (IRB) standards and quality for IRB approval. Although execution of the proposal is not required, the resident does have the option of implementing the study during the remaining years of their residency. A research elective block rotation is available in the second and third years to provide sheltered time for gathering, analyzing, and interpreting data.
The other educational component of resident scholarly development is practice in the evaluation of the medical literature. This is the main focus of the series of one-hour Journal Club discussions, which occur at noontime, once each block throughout the year.

Sports Medicine
During this rotation, residents work with primary care sports medicine physicians, orthopedic surgeons, physical therapists, and athletic trainers reinforcing principles of musculoskeletal medicine as well as evaluating and managing medical problems specific to competitive athletes, active people, and people considering exercise. The rotation builds on previous experiences in radiographic interpretation, fracture management, and joint injections. Residents gain experience performing pre-participation physicals and providing medical coverage during athletic events. Residents will also provide medical care in a collegiate training room. Residents interested in gaining extra experience in sports medicine may serve as assistant team physicians for local teams. This rotation takes place at Physicians at Sugar Creek, Houston Baptist University, as well as in the offices of our volunteer private community orthopedic surgeons.

Conferences
Conferences are scheduled throughout the year on topics relevant to Family Medicine. Residents are involved in selecting both topics and speakers. Conferences occur several days a week and include didactics, case presentations and group discussions. Procedural workshops are scheduled throughout the year. Residents evaluate conferences for content, appropriateness and presentation.