The PGY-1 (year one) experience includes 2 months on one of 3 general internal medicine services, 2 months on obstetrics with primary responsibility for labor and delivery/triage, and 2 months on inpatient pediatrics at Children’s Hospital of Atlanta at Scottish Rite with a prominent group of pediatric hospitalists.
Year 1 also includes a month of inpatient cardiology (5-6 calls per month), surgery (trauma/ICU), emergency room (typically 15 12-hour shifts), pulmonary ICU (5-6 calls per month) and family medicine inpatient service. Behavioral medicine rotation takes place in December at a family medicine center.
In PGY-2, all call is in-house family medicine call. Residents are responsible for management of the inpatient service, all admission and ER visits for family medicine patients, OB triage and deliveries and phone calls for several family medicine practices. Call is taken every month except ER and FPC months. All second-year residents manage the care of 2 assigned nursing home patients.
Year 2 curriculum includes:
- Family medicine clinic: 1 month
- Family medicine inpatient service: 2 months
- Neurology: 1 month
- Sports medicine: 1 month
- Outpatient gynecology in 2 private GYN offices
- Outpatient pediatrics with a private pediatrician
- Gastroenterology in a busy outpatient clinic
- Outpatient cardiology
- Orthopedics
- Emergency room
During the third year, the emphasis shifts to the outpatient experience. Residents typically have 4 clinics weekly with a clinic patient load from 6 to 10 per half day. Third-year call is home call supervising second-year residents on the second year in the hospital and in-hospital call. Call is divided among the 6 third-year residents. Third-year residents add an extra nursing home patient for a total of three. In-hospital call is 1-2 times per month.
PGY-3 curriculum:
- Family medicine center (clinic): 1 month
- Family medicine inpatient service: 2 months as supervising resident
- Urology: 2 weeks in a busy practice with partners who love to teach
- Radiology: 2 weeks in a large, multispecialty group
- Dermatology: 1 month in 2-3 private practices
- Otolaryngology: 2 months in an outpatient ENT practice
- Ophthalmology: 2 months
- Geriatrics: 1 month
- Behavioral medicine: 1 month with the focus on tutorial and clinical
- Electives: 4 months that can in some cases be split into 2-week blocks