Curriculum

Educational Goals

Our Family Medicine Residency Program seeks to train astute clinicians who understand the impact of psychosocial factors on patients and their diseases. The delivery of personal, continuing, and comprehensive health care to patients of all ages and experiences requires that family physicians maintain their compassion, and their motivation to pursue their career goals.

Supporting each individual’s wellness through the rigors of residency is a priority for our program. We achieve this through a combination of resident driven wellness activities, formal wellness didactics and workshops, faculty advisor relationships, and much more.

The Albany Family Residency program is committed to improving the health of the community it serves through department-wide programming, including partnerships with community organizations that also serve local, under-resourced populations. We have distinct didactics related to social determinants of health and health equity.

Curriculum Overview

PGY-1
The first post-graduate year is a transition from the largely theoretical knowledge of medical school to the practical decision-making of the bedside. During this year, the emphasis is on hospital medicine, with residents spending seven months on inpatient rotations and five months on outpatient care. For continuity of care, residents begin to establish the panel of outpatients they will follow for three years.

PGY-2
During the second year, residents build on their decision-making skills related to in-hospital care as they grow their skills in the ambulatory setting. As they spend increased time in the Family Medicine Center and in surgical and medical subspecialty outpatient rotations, they become generalists using an integrated biopsychosocial model, developing a deeper understanding of the patient in the context of the family unit and the community. There are two selective months to pursue individual educational goals.

PGY-3
During the third year, the major emphasis is on defining the scope of family medicine for each individual resident. There are four selective months during this year, offering each resident maximum flexibility in attaining their educational goals. The focus continues to shift to developing lifelong learning skills; career counseling, practice planning, and advising sessions help in these areas of growth. Senior residents are expected to teach the junior residents and medical students through case discussions, chart audits, and supervising first-year residents on inpatient rotations.