Framework
The mission of the Residency Training Program in the Department of Family and Geriatric Medicine at the University of Louisville is to excel in the training of family physicians who will be able to serve the health care needs of patients in the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
The conceptual framework of the University of Louisville Family Practice Residency Training Program is built upon the goal of assisting the medical school graduate in the transition from being a student to becoming an effective, licensed and board certified practicing family physician. While the medical student is technically trained, practical experience has occurred with limited autonomy. The program pursues to expand upon the fund of knowledge attained in medical school by providing opportunities, instruction and supervision to the resident in the practical implementation of learned information in the provision of quality care to their panel of patients during the three years of residency training.
Each resident is provided with and expected to provide comprehensive health care to their own specific panel of patients. The resident learns how to be a “team player”; learning to work within the framework of the program and specific health care agencies to ensure quality medical care for their patients.
The program seeks to encourage the resident to continually explore medical information, through didactic and clinical experiences and to apply that information in the management and care of their patients. The program's goals are to produce family physicians proficient in providing family oriented primary care, compassionately and humanistically regardless of the age or gender of the patient and irrespective of the organ system involved. The program strives to provide educational experiences that will add to the resident's knowledge base but will also encourage positive attitudes about the chosen specialty of Family Medicine and allow the resident to become role models, leaders and educators for generations that will follow.
The resident is expected to understand normal human growth and development and the part these components play in understanding the diagnosis, treatment and pathology of diseases and disease prevention. The resident will experience health care delivery in the acute care setting as well as the nursing home setting and will be expected to develop diagnostic skills, technical expertise for procedures, and a basic understanding of socioeconomics and its effect upon the practice of medicine and to develop the ability to access community resources. Opportunities are provided for the resident to develop and nurture leadership and management skills as well as the ability to perform research. The ultimate objective is to successfully prepare the resident not just to pass the American Board of Family Practice certifying exam, but to prepare the resident to undertake the practice of medicine either as an independent physician or as a member of a group. Ideally to undertake the practice of Family Medicine morally and ethically.
The program strives to prepare the resident to function in an evolving health care system and encourages the resident to participate in the addition to the body of medical knowledge through scholarly work.
The program employs the methods of block rotations, longitudinal experiences (ambulatory training, nursing home experiences, obstetrics), core conferences and role modeling, (i.e. faculty mentors) to attain the goals and objectives of the program. Each resident is evaluated quarterly during their residency, at these meeting a compilation of monthly evaluations, faculty perceptions and experiences with the resident, and the results of the resident's individual performance on the in-training exam are discussed and measured with appropriate actions ensuing.
