Curriculum

Postgraduate Year 1 (Categorical)

• On the inpatient service, the first year resident physician functions as the patient's primary physician.
• Interns work under the supervision of a senior resident and an attending physician on the general internal medicine, cardiology, critical care, and hematology/oncology inpatient services.
• The average patient load per resident (PGY1) is:
  • Six to eight patients on the general internal medicine services
  • Eight to ten patients on cardiology
  • Three to five patients on the critical care service
  • Six to ten patients on the hematology/oncology service
  • Six to ten patients on the GI services
  • The resident is on-call every fourth to sixth night admitting until 8:00 p.m.
• Meal allowances are provided on a monthly basis credited to the residents PSU ID badge.
• Each PGY1 spends 0-1 month on an ambulatory block and 1/2-1 month in the emergency room.
• PGY1 categorical residents are assigned to a continuity clinic, seeing patients on the average of 1/2 day per week.

 A dedicated night float system is in place for all cross-coverage issues, eliminating the traditional overnight call responsibilities.

 Postgraduate Year 1 (Preliminary)

• The preliminary year is available for physicians entering disciplines such as anesthesia, dermatology, neurology, ophthalmology, radiology.
• Preliminary PGY1 residents do not have a continuity clinic but experience 

PGY 2

• The second year resident spends one or two months as a supervisory resident on the general internal medicine inpatient services, and one month each in this capacity on the cardiology, hematology/oncology and critical care inpatient services.
• Attending supervision is provided by faculty attending physicians on the general internal medicine service and by fellows and faculty attending physicians on the cardiology, critical care and hematology/oncology services.
• The second year resident spends approximately 2-4 weeks on night call duty as one of two senior house officers in charge of admissions for general internal medicine and its subspecialties.  The overnight senior residents also provide medicine consults for patients on other services.
• Meal allowances are provided on a monthly basis credited to the residents PSU ID badge
• Outpatient responsibilities continue to evolve as the senior resident is now expected to see patients with graduating levels of efficiency.  Senior residents have 1 or 2 half-day clinics per week as permitted by inpatient responsibilities. 

PGY 3

•  The third year resident spends three to four months as senior resident and team leader on the general internal medicine inpatient services at Penn State Hershey Medical Center and the Veterans Administration Medical Center.  They are given more responsibility and flexibility in patient care and management than during previous years.
• As team leader, the resident engages in teaching junior team members, including first year residents, medical students (clinical clerks), and acting interns (fourth-year medical students). 
• The third year resident spends approximately 2-4 weeks on night call duty functioning as the senior house officer in charge of admissions and medicine consults.
• Meal allowances are provided on a monthly basis credited to the residents PSU ID badge
• A community internal medicine rotation based out of an out-patient private practice in Lancaster, PA had proved hugely successful since its inception in 1993. This rotation affords residents the opportunity to function as a member of a busy general internal medicine practice. Residents spend the majority of their time in the office evaluating and managing acute "walk-in" patients under the supervision of experienced internists. This rotation also provides the upper level resident with an appreciation for the business aspects of operating a busy private practice in internal medicine.
• The senior resident will have the opportunity to rotate through Lancaster General Hospital (LGH), a large community-based hospital.  The resident will function as a hospitalist for the internal medicine inpatient service.  Attending supervision is provided, but the resident is expected to essentially function as the attending of record for their patients.

The Primary Care Internal Medicine Residency Track is a program that combines the academic rigor and strong subspecialty experience of a university teaching hospital with the enhanced ambulatory and primary care experience afforded by our affiliation with a community teaching hospital and private practice groups.  The major objective of this program is to respond to the increased need for well-trained general internists to serve in practice as well as academic positions.  The PGY I year is identical to the categorical residents.  The decision to enter the primary care track occurs in the spring of your intern year.  This affords several advantages in outpatient medicine.  The primary care track residents are prioritized for ambulatory medicine months including a month in general internal medicine in Lancaster, ambulatory senior as well as several ambulatory subspecialty months.  As a PGY III, there is an elective in health evaluation sciences to allow for education in epidemiology and prevalence of diseases in our area.  Residents are also paired up with a primary care physician to serve as a mentor.  The resident will also attend ½ day clinic with their mentor in their clinic during non-ward months.  This will give additional exposure to continuity care and outpatient medicine. 

Primary Care Track Curriculum - Postgraduate Year 2 

Primary Care Track Curriculum - Postgraduate Year 3