Our program boasts a robust curriculum with experiences in inpatient, ambulatory, obstetric, emergency, behavioral health, and pediatric medicine and community/population health. We have a busy hospital service, working closely with specialists to care for hospitalized patients. We offer pediatric inpatient training in one of the nation’s premier pediatric hospitals, with specialists from the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit readily available.
Our family medicine continuity clinics provide ample training in outpatient medicine with pediatric, geriatric and obstetrical patients. Geriatric continuity care is supplemented through routine home visits and nursing home visits. Sixteen weeks of elective time allow residents to customize their training needs. Conferences and didactic presentations supplement the clinical curriculum.
Residents have the opportunity to enhance procedural skills through focused experiences in the ICU, inpatient family medicine service, emergency department and obstetrical and gynecology clinics, as well as in rotations in dermatology, radiology, endoscopy, wound care, podiatry, general surgery, pediatrics, sports medicine, and orthopedics. We also perform multiple office procedures in our family medicine clinic.
Safeguards are built in to encourage open and responsive communication among residents and faculty. Monthly meetings address resident issues, resident/faculty issues, and patient care issues. Advisors and mentors are always available to address issues as they arise.
CHRISTUS Health values hands-on as well as didactic education. Our residents participate in daily dedicated teaching time totaling more than 300 hours per year. We use different modalities during our lecture time to cover a wide variety of topics, including, but not limited to:
Our residents are trained in comprehensive inpatient and outpatient procedural skills with the opportunity to gain additional training if so desired.
Outpatient Procedures
Outpatient procedures are performed during dedicated procedure clinics and during specialty rotations.
Gynecologic: Pap smears, Colposcopy w/ cervical biopsy and endocervical curettage, Endometrial biopsy, Nexplanon removal, IUD, and Nexplanon insertion
Musculoskeletal: Joint injection & aspiration (corticosteroids and hyaluronic acid) with and without ultrasound guidance, Casting & splinting
Dermatologic: Skin biopsies, Toenail removal, Ganglion cyst drainage, I&D of abscesses, Laceration repair, Removal/destruction of skin lesions
Other: Flexible laryngoscopy, newborn circumcision, osteopathic manual manipulation
Inpatient Procedures
Obstetrical Procedures
During residency training, one of the most overwhelming experiences can be the first time (or second or third!) you are involved in an emergent situation. We realize that our residents are more equipped to handle these high-stakes situations when they have practiced the procedural skills, communication, teamwork, and decision-making capacity necessary to run a code while in a less intense environment.
Our simulation labs allow our residents to participate in team-based learning activities focusing on the emergent care of pediatric, adult, and obstetrical patients. Our curriculum includes about eight half days of SIM lab training, but residents can always schedule more time with our models if they desire.
