Longitudinal Training

At Virtua Family Medicine Residency we are proud of our longitudinal focus and have included examples of some of our unique core experiences:

Community Service: Our community medicine experience is comprised of three separate elements: a one month R2 Community and Adolescent Medicine Rotation, a community oriented primary care project, and a community service component of resident’s choice.

Practice Management: One of our residency goals is to teach residents to run family practice offices. This training is done by the longitudinal experience of practice management as well as a one month block rotation of training in your PGY 2 year.

Home Visits: Second and third year residents are expected to care for a selected number of homebound patients under faculty direction. Residents learn to work closely with ancillary providers in the community to provide their patients with optimal care.

Simulated Learning: Our residency has incorporated the use of Simulated Learning into the curriculum. During orientation, residents learn the basic and critical care procedures they will need to excel in the hospital setting. Throughout the academic year, residents also learn and practice ambulatory procedures that they will use post-residency, such as joint injections.

Research: Thanks to one of our faculty members, Dr. Robert Post, who completed a faculty development in research, our program has incorporated research into our longitudinal residency experience. Dr. Post has been published in many peer-reviewed journals, and has brought research to a whole new level at the Virtua Family Medicine Residency, and all residents participate at some level. Current projects include: Health Literacy, correlation of Precept Assist (one of our most valuable teaching tools) with in-training exam scores, infant nutrition, analysis of diabetes education websites for our Spanish-speaking population, as well as a host of others.

Behavioral Medicine Training: From the first day of residency, our residents are trained extensively in Behavioral Health, and this continues throughout residency training. We are extremely lucky to have a full-time Clinical Psychology Behaviorist, Dr. Stuart Kurlansik, PhD, who heads up the development of this longitudinal curriculum. From interview skills to diagnosis and treatment of basic and more complex mental health issues, our residents are exposed and taught Cognitive Behavioral Therapy techniques they will use throughout their career.