Residents and faculty, some in pajamas, gathered on the steps of a red wooden lodge

Valley Family Medicine · Program

Didactics

Seminars, noon conferences, and Theme Day.

Every Thursday afternoon, one residency class is excused from clinical care and attends one of our academic half-days (“Theme Day”), where a related cluster of clinical topics is discussed in a case-based format. The time allotted to each topic reflects the fraction of time that topic fills a typical family physician’s practice, and the focus of the day is strongly on outpatient presentations and management.

On our inpatient services, community attendings, faculty, and residents give regular seminars intended to cover common issues in labor management, adult inpatient medicine, and inpatient pediatrics. These seminars are conducted in different meeting rooms throughout the hospital most days of the week. They are attended by residents on those services.

At the residency program, occasional noon seminars cover outpatient pediatrics and behavioral health. Monthly noon-time meetings include resident and resident-faculty meetings, to help promote open communication within the program. All available residents are encouraged to attend. However, most lunch hours are open for meals, a bit of time outside, or short errands (patient care permitting).

Academic half-day

Sample Theme Day schedule

Each academic half-day is presented by a “teaching team” of three to four faculty members, with strong audience participation and discussion. An Academic Half-Day Schedule for one month might look like this:

Thursday of month	Resident class	Theme	Content
First	PGY-1	Well care for adults	The adult physical, Gyn exam, Evidence-based screening
Second	PGY-1 and PGY-2	Well care for kids	Well child exam, Preventive counselling, Normal development
Third	PGY-3	Neuromuscular disease	Stroke, Headache, Myopathies, Neuropathies
Fourth	PGY-2	Dyspnea and cough	Asthma, COPD, Cough and cold meds, Inhalers