Residency Tracks

Cincinnati’s Med-Peds residency program had a strong tradition of training graduates to succeed in careers related to primary care, hospital medicine, and many subspecialties. In 2017, in response to our residents’ requests for more personalized training experiences, education, and mentorship tailored to their future careers, we launched two new residency track experiences, the Acute Care Track and the Primary Care Track. These track experiences are optional, and residents elect to participate towards the end of their 2nd year. Members of the tracks are still required to meet all the ACGME program requirements for training in Med-Peds, but have the opportunity to participate in additional experiences tailored to their future career. Both tracks offer specialized, quarterly educational dinners that all residents (whether part of the track or not!) are able to attend. Some examples of past quarterly dinners include how to find a job as a hospitalist, wound care for the primary care physician, basics of bedside ultrasound, basics of palliative care in the inpatient setting, and joint injections in the outpatient setting.

Acute Care Track

Recent surveys have shown that roughly one quarter of Med-Peds residency graduates pursue careers in Hospital Medicine or acute care related subspecialties (e.g critical care, infectious disease, cardiology, etc.). The skills that are needed for a physician to adequately meet the needs of hospitalized patients and serve the health care system are constantly changing. The goal of the Acute Care Track is to meet the evolving needs of those who wish to pursue careers caring for hospitalized patients.

Goals of the track include:

• Clinical – Provide clinical experiences that simulate practice in university-based or community hospitals, that are not otherwise offered during residency, including:
  • Direct patient care experiences in various settings (including in community hospitals)
  • Surgical consultation and co-management for adult and pediatric patients
  • Procedures for hospitalized patients
  • Telephone/triage medicine
• Systems-based practice and quality improvement – Provide exposure to processes and initiatives that hospital-based physicians must lead or participate in as part of their positions
• Quality improvement – Provide residents with an opportunity to participate in hospital-based quality improvement initiatives
• Scholarship – Provide residents with opportunities to complete their scholarly requirements for residency on hospital-based projects. Here's an example of a scholarly project from two of our first graduates of the track!
• Mentorship – Regular meetings with acute care physicians (hospitalists) to provide career guidance and planning, with a focus on the individual needs of the residents for track experience planning.

Primary Care Track

We are thrilled to offer a primary care track as part of our Med-Peds resident experience. Any resident, regardless of intent to enter primary care as a career is welcome to participate! We have 6 clinic-based faculty involved in the track, and residents also have access to our numerous area wide Med-Peds trained physicians in the community. The goal of the Primary Care Track is to deepen and expand residents’ skills for primary care practice.

Goals of the track include:

• Clinical - Augment our already robust continuity clinic and ambulatory training experiences by providing additional clinical opportunities, that are not otherwise offered during residency, including:
  • Second continuity clinic at one of our many varied ambulatory sites in the greater Cincinnati area during their 4^th year
  • Centering Group Visits
  • Tailored ambulatory electives
  • Experiences in transition medicine
  • Precepting and educating medical students within clinic
• Educational Workshops - A sample of the amazing quarterly primary care workshops we have offered our residents include joint exams and injections, dermatologic procedures, and outpatient billing.
• Quality Improvement - Residents interested in deepening their QI experience can choose a leadership role in our already established clinic QI efforts. Our residents and clinic faculty are very involved in QI with a focus on population health management and EMR optimization. Current projects are focused on childhood lead screening, hypertension control, diabetes control, and immunization rates.
• Scholarship - Provide residents with opportunities to complete their scholarly requirements for residency on clinic-based projects. Former track members have completed projects assessing resident engagement in population health, exploring the role of telemedicine in clinic, and developing joint injection workshops.
• Mentorship - Regular meetings with Med-Peds primary care physicians to provide career guidance and planning, with a focus on the individual needs of the residents for track experience planning.