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Residency - Home Page
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BWH Residency Program in Primary Care and Population Health at
Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates and the
Department of Population Medicine of the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute
The BWH Residency Program in Primary Care and Population Health offers distinctive training to develop superb generalist physicians who can provide outstanding clinical care, as well as leadership in health systems and policy and in the improvement of the health of populations.
Primary care faces major challenges. To meet these challenges, tomorrow’s physician leaders require both outstanding clinical training and the skills to contribute to improvements in population health. Acquiring an understanding of health systems and health policy, the evidence base of practice, clinical preventive services, and the role of public health systems will help tomorrow’s physicians improve care at multiple levels and address pressing issues in quality, access, cost, and disparities in health care.
The goals of this residency program are:
1) To provide comprehensive inpatient and outpatient clinical training of the highest quality for general internists;
2) To develop a broad understanding of the determinants of population health and its relation to medical practice and the analytical and management skills required to improve care, lead health systems, and develop sound health policy;
3) To enhance leadership and management skills through mentorship, seminars and other curricula, and progressively increasing responsibility for those components of the program of particular relevance to the residents’ interests and developing goals.
Our Partnering Institutions: This program is based on a unique and innovative 20-year collaboration among four institutions:
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Brigham and Women’s Hospital’s Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital’s Department of Medicine
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Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates (HVMA) Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates, a non-profit multispecialty group practice nationally recognized for excellence in patient care, quality improvement, and the use of cutting-edge technology in care management. As a major teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School, Harvard Vanguard has a long-standing mission in clinical education and scholarship focused on improving clinical practice and outcomes.
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The Department of Population Medicine (DPM) - formerly the Department of Ambulatory Care and Prevention - an affiliate of Harvard Medical School. The DPM conducts teaching and research in ambulatory care, preventive medicine and population health, and is the nation’s only department affiliated with a medical school which is jointly sponsored by a health plan (Harvard Pilgrim Health Care) through the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute. DPM’s mission is to improve the health of individuals through teaching and research focusing on populations and systems affecting their care. DPM faculty collaborate with investigators and organizations domestically and globally on research evaluating health care policy, improving health care delivery, and prevention. DPM faculty teach students, residents, and fellows the skills that bridge the gap between individual patient care, public health, and health of populations.
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Harvard Pilgrim Health Care (HPHC) Harvard Pilgrim Health Care is a not-for-profit health plan nationally recognized as a leader in health care quality and noted for innovation in chronic disease management and its diverse delivery models. The Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute (HPHCI) is committed to research in quality improvement, patient outcomes, and clinical practices, and has active collaborations with investigators at Harvard's Medical School and School of Public Health, as well as HMS-affiliated hospitals.
Each of our partnering organizations brings its expertise in clinical care, academic medicine, population health, and health systems and policy to our program, providing residents boundless opportunities for clinical education in general medicine and primary care, and for broader training in all the elements of population health.
Program Structure and Curriculum:
The BWH Residency Program in Primary Care and Population Health has several features in its structure and curricula that make it distinctive:
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Size: We are a small program within the larger Brigham Internal Medicine Residency family. There are 12 residents in our program, 4 residents in each year. Our small size affords opportunities for intensive small-group learning and great flexibility and responsiveness to resident initiatives in our program-specific curriculum.
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Cohort Structure: Residents in PGY-1, PGY-2, and PGY-3 are scheduled to participate in outpatient-based blocks simultaneously to allow for intensive, interactive small-group learning. This structure is explicitly used to foster professional growth and the development of leadership skills.
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Our Preceptor Model: Each of our residents is paired with one preceptor with whom he or she works throughout the three years of residency. This is a defining (and popular!) feature of our program.
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Broad Educational Mission: Our program provides both outstanding clinical training in the care of individual patients and the skills and knowledge to contribute to improving the health of populations.
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Leadership Development: As residents progress through the program they take on greater responsibility for program leadership, working with the Program Director and faculty in developing and implementing curriculum, electives, and project opportunities. Residents in PGY-3 take on many of the responsibilities traditionally assumed by chief residents.
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Collaboration: Our residents work and learn with their peers and faculty in the DGM and categorical programs at the Brigham. Their schedules are designed to allow participation in the broad array of educational activities offered by the Department of Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. In addition, residents have access to faculty and the educational activities of the Department of Population Medicine and HVMA.
Clinical Training:
Inpatient rotations occur at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH), Faulkner Hospital (FH), and West Roxbury/Veterans Affairs Medical Center (WRVAMC). Ambulatory training in primary care is based at Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates (HVMA). Subspecialty training occurs primarily at HVMA and BWH, with electives at other institutions devised to meet residents’ individualized learning agenda.
Each resident manages his or her own primary care practice, partnered with a superb clinician-educator at one of HVMA’s health centers in the metropolitan Boston area. This one-on-one relationship between each resident and his or her clinical preceptor is a unique feature of this residency. Residents practice side-by-side with their preceptors during the entire three years of their residency, gaining valuable insight into longitudinal care and practice management. Sessions with BWH and HVMA subspecialists are integrated into the outpatient rotations so that all graduates are exposed to the full spectrum of outpatient management and learn advanced techniques in the care of complex patients. Throughout residency, the diverse patient population within HVMA provides residents with a full range of clinical training opportunities in a highly developed practice setting.
Ambulatory Blocks:
During ambulatory blocks, residents practice at their clinics 3-4 times per week and attend longitudinal seminars and faculty-led didactic sessions three mornings per week. The remaining time is spent at subspecialty clinics, electives, or in independent project work.
Longitudinal Seminar Curriculum: A core element of this training program is a series of small-group seminars during outpatient blocks that develop the residents’ competencies in primary care internal medicine, while augmenting their academic and leadership abilities to make improvements in population health. These core seminars are:
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Clinical Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine: Led by William Taylor, MD. (6 months/year, all years)
A longitudinal seminar in which residents become highly skilled in interpreting the medical literature and applying evidence to clinical practice. With faculty guidance, residents choose topics, develop relevant teaching approaches, and lead each session.
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Psychosocial Medicine and Communication Skills (aka “Patient/Doctor”): Led by Kathy Rexrode, MD and Jim Sabin, MD. (6 months/year, all years)
A longitudinal discussion about residents’ experiences as physicians taking care of patients. Content arises from patients and situations that the residents encounter in their clinical practices.
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Sign Out Rounds: Led by Howard Lewine, MD. (6 months/year, all years)
A weekly review of residents’ clinical cases. Designed to be a forum for exploring patient management issues that are not addressed elsewhere in the formal curriculum.
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Research Methods: Led by William Taylor, MD, and faculty from the Department of Population Medicine. (6 months/year, all years)
A series of interactive seminars on research methods in primary care and population health designed to enhance residents’ understanding of the conduct of research and to aid in the preparation of each resident’s final project.
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Population Health: Systems and Policy: Led by Gordon Moore, MD. (6 months, all years)
This interactive case-based series examines the structure of health systems in the U.S. and, by comparison with other countries, possible models for reform, as well as the financing of medical services in the U.S., and healthcare quality measurement and improvement.
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Didactics on Topics in Ambulatory Medicine: Given by invited faculty from BWH, DACP, HVMA and other institutions.
The curriculum also includes short seminar series as follows:
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Leadership and Management Skills: Led by Teresa Silverman, MS. (1 month, junior year)
This seminar series uses the resident’s role as leader of an inpatient team as the model to establish a foundation of practical and influential leadership and management approaches. The series is designed to enhance residents’ performance as leaders and team members, in preparation for practice and leadership in today’s and tomorrow’s primary care and population health environments.
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Care of the Elderly Patient: Led by Muriel Gillick, MD (1 month, intern year).
This series provides an introduction to primary care for older adults, incorporating didactic sessions, experience at an extended care facility, and precepted home visits with the residents’ patients.
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Care at the End of Life: Led by Gail Gazelle, MD. (1 month, junior year).
This series provides an introduction to the unique aspects of care at the end of life, with didactics and experiences at a hospice.
The Resident as Teacher: Much of the content in the curriculum is resident-initiated, with residents very involved in decision-making. Residents are mentored in their teaching skills, and progressively take on responsibility for the teaching of individual components of the curriculum under the supervision of the faculty. Peer education across all three years greatly enriches the curriculum by focusing on residents’ learning needs, and by developing residents’ abilities as educators and as leaders. The residents’ schedules are designed to also allow participation with fellow residents and faculty in the broad array of educational activities offered by the Department of Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, as well as in seminars and other educational activities of the Department of Population Medicine.
Typical outpatient schedules for each year are:
PGY-1: 10 weeks outpatient; includes primary care practice, subspecialty care, and longitudinal seminars in clinical epidemiology, the patient-doctor relationship, population health, research methods, and a rotation in geriatrics.
PGY-2: 6 months outpatient; includes primary care practice, subspecialty care, and seminars in clinical epidemiology, the patient-doctor relationship, population health, research methods, and rotations in palliative care and leadership and management skills. Each resident acquires knowledge and skills in seminars and in independent sessions with mentorship to develop an individual project that will culminate in a presentation at the end of PGY-3.
PGY-3: 6 months outpatient; includes primary care practice, subspecialty care, seminars in clinical epidemiology, the patient-doctor relationship, population health, and research methods. Each resident has significant flexibility in scheduling to pursue individual goals. These include the development of particular areas of clinical expertise based on choice of subspecialty and other electives, and mentored research or a management project with a health plan or organizational leader, and/or international work. Mentorship and dedicated time for each resident’s project increase as each resident brings his or her project to fruition at the conclusion of the program.
Mentorship: Beginning in the first year of the program, each resident has both a BWH mentor and a faculty mentor from DPM to help the resident with career planning, project selection, and the development of skills in research and population health. The program director pairs each incoming resident with a faculty preceptor in DPM based on the resident’s professional interests.
The program director and other faculty throughout DPM and BWH are actively involved in mentoring each resident. The program director meets with each resident each ambulatory block, and faculty mentors are available throughout the year. In addition, our unique one-on-one precepting model provides residents consistent feedback, mentoring, and role modeling throughout their entire residency. Residents are also encouraged to seek out mentoring relationships with faculty members throughout DPM, BWH and HMS.
Research and Elective Opportunities: All residents have dedicated time for a longitudinal project chosen by the resident with faculty input and guidance. Residents often chose topics that focus on the care of defined populations. Residents take primary responsibility for choosing their topic, and are closely mentored by faculty drawn from the Department of Population Medicine, Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. These activities can help define career interests, and can facilitate entry into positions of academic, organizational and clinical leadership.
During either their junior or senior years, residents may spend up to one month away on an elective, either in the U.S. or abroad. These electives are scheduled during selected times in ambulatory blocks, upon approval by the program director. All residents may also pursue other elective opportunities during ambulatory block time allocated to subspecialty or individual project work.
Summary: The BWH Program in Primary Care and Population Health is designed to be comprehensive and flexible to offer distinctive training for future leaders in general internal medicine Through its innovative design, educational curriculum and unique organizational affiliations, it provides opportunities for residents to explore their interests and develop competencies in the multiple domains of primary care and population health, including clinical practice, teaching, research, and organizational leadership. Graduates of this program are prepared to make contributions as superb clinicians, as academic physicians and researchers, and as leaders able to improve systems of care for populations.
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