Generalist Track: Electives
Ambulatory Elective Rotations
Ambulatory training in subspecialty areas is available to generalist track residents as it is for all residents including training in cardiology, pulmonary, infectious diseases, nephrology, endocrinology, gastroenterology, hepatology, heme/oncology, geriatrics, HIV and rheumatology. A rotation in community primary care is also offered to all residents at UPMC. In addition special electives have been developed for the generalist track residents. These electives are available for all track residents in their second and third year of the residency:
Advanced Physical Diagnosis/Master Educator—Developed for Generalist Track residents, this seminar series now is available to all UPMC residents and teaches education techniques in advanced physical diagnosis.
Alternative and Complementary Medicine—Offered at Shadyside Center for Complementary Medicine, this rotation includes exposure to acupuncture.
Cross-Cultural Experience—This takes place in Chinle, Arizona, at the Indian Health Service.
Dermatology for the Internist—This is available only to residents in the Generalist Track.
Musculoskeletal Month—This was developed exclusively for the Generalist Track and includes caring for patients in orthopedics, physical medicine, and rehabilitation and sports medicine rotations.
Ophthalmology for the Internist—This rotation allows residents to care for outpatient nonoperative disorders of the eye.
Private Practice—This is an elective with the Kaiser Permanente Health Maintenance Organization in Boulder, Colorado.
Psychiatry for the Internist—Residents care for ambulatory psychiatric patients under the supervision of faculty psychiatrists.
Rural Medicine—Residents have the opportunity to work at an office practice in a rural setting of Fayette County, Pennsylvania.
Women’s Health—Residents rotate with general medicine faculty who have special expertise in women’s health. Emphasis is placed on the acquisition of skills in gynecology.
Hospitalist Special Elective Rotations
All residents at UPMC rotate through inpatient ward experiences during their 3 years of training. In addition to these experiences generalist track residents are offered special electives in hospitalist medicine:
Critical Care Outreach—With over 2,000 interventions each year, UPMC is a leader in rapid response teams. During this rotation, residents work with critical care faculty and learn to rapidly assess and manage patients with deteriorating conditions.
Hospital Medicine—The hospital medicine rotation is a 1-month rotation spent under the direct supervision of a hospitalist attending physician. Residents learn to function independently in an environment that reproduces the responsibilities of hospitalists. The rotation schedule is a typical hospital medicine schedule that allows residents to develop the skills required in today’s shift work environment, such as handoffs and time management. Residents work with physician extenders and are required to learn elements of billing and coding. Daily didactics are offered on topics that are not usually covered in general medicine ward rotations.
Medicine Consults—The medicine consult rotation provides residents with the skills required to offer effective medicine consultation and perioperative management. The rotation exposes residents to concepts of comanagement with surgical and nonmedical services. The curriculum includes important evidence-based guidelines and landmark articles.
Palliative Care—Palliative care education is an essential part of the training of future hospitalists. Under the guidance of experienced palliative care attendings, residents acquire the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to provide compassionate, technically proficient, culturally appropriate care to patients with life- threatening illnesses and their family members. Residents become part of a multidisciplinary palliative care team.
Additional Elective Experiences
Adolescent Medicine—Residents care for adolescent patients under the supervision of general medicine faculty with expertise in this field.
Health Care for the Homeless—This experience takes place at the Birmingham Clinic, which is staffed by general internal medicine faculty.
Practice Management Training—Residents have access to training in practice management topics including making career decisions, finding and evaluating practice opportunities, negotiating a fair employment agreement, building a successful practice, and starting and running a practice.
Procedures Clinic—This exposes residents to common procedures in the ambulatory practice of generalists.
Quality Improvement Project—Residents are assisted in the performance of a root cause analysis and quality improvement project.
Sports Medicine—Residents work with sports medicine faculty to assess and treat sports-related pain and functional impairment.
Walk-In and Urgent Office Care—Residents join general medicine faculty in their walk-in and urgent care clinic.