Director

Janice Yackoski, MD — [click-for-email]

Associate Track Director

Rachel Snyder, MD — [click-for-email]

Interested in Primary Care or the ambulatory subspecialties? This track is for you! The program was developed in 2006 to serve the needs of residents planning to join ambulatory care practices after graduation. We provide residents with both the rigorous, hospital-based training of the internal medicine residency and an intensive primary care training experience based on the principles of continuity, mentorship, coaching, and small-group learning. The Primary Care Track offers residents all of the resources of a traditional urban internal medicine program with a focus on the core skills necessary to function as a practicing outpatient physician after residency.

Description

The goal of the Primary Care Track is to provide residents interested in primary care, or closely related specialties based in outpatient medicine, with an intensive primary care experience throughout their residency. The structure of the program provides a longitudinal primary care training experience with additional unique ambulatory experiences that prepare residents well for careers in outpatient medicine. The

components of this training program include:

• An innovative 4+4 block schedule, in which the second and third year primary care residents have 4 weeks of ambulatory clinic (compared to 2 weeks in the categorical program).
  • Upper years therefore spend 50% of their time in the ambulatory setting.
  • Interns are on a 6+2 schedule and follow the same schedule as the other categorical residents.
• A variety of experiences during the 4-week ambulatory block, including:
  • Primary continuity clinic sessions
  • A second continuity clinic at a community medicine site
  • Longitudinal experience in medication-assisted therapy for substance-use disorder
  • More dedicated time in outpatient focused specialties and electives
  • Unique electives designed to build skills in primary care, including: palliative care, rehabilitation medicine, community health centers, healthcare finance, and psychiatry, LGBTQ medicine, HIV Primary care
  • The other ambulatory block experiences that their categorical colleagues do, including Community Engagement, QI, and Ambulatory Academic Half-Day
• Intensive mentoring and career advice by general internal medicine faculty
• Year-round small group longitudinal conference series facilitated by general internal medicine faculty

General Internal Medicine Outpatient Practice

All residents in the Primary Care Track follow their own patient cohort in the Temple Internal Medicine Associates (TIMA) outpatient practice. Residents are expected to function as partners in a group practice with their co-residents and faculty supervisors. They are responsible for coordinating care along with our support staff, following up on results of laboratory and other studies they order, and answering messages from their primary care patients.

Mentoring

The Primary Care Track director, Dr. Janice Yackoski, meets regularly with all residents in the program to discuss outpatient clinical skills, post-residency career planning, and research interests. Residents are paired with Primary Care Track faculty to get one-on-one clinical skills coaching throughout their training, achieved through direct observation and personalized feedback. Our academic half-day curriculum contains a career development component including a CV workshop and comprehensive job application information specific to primary care.   

Track-Specific Conferences

Each ambulatory block, residents have an additional half-day of didactics that focus on advanced topics in primary care. Threads include evidence-based primary care, skills-building workshops (office-based procedures such as joint injections), career development, journal clubs, and racism in medicine through book clubs and article discussions. There are a variety of teachers to enhance resident learning including track leadership, expert guest speakers, and residents via a flipped classroom teaching model.

Community Medicine Experience

Each resident in the Primary Care Track will be assigned a second outpatient clinic site in addition to their continuity practice at TIMA. The attending preceptors are practicing general internists in the community invited to participate because of their interest in teaching and mentoring. This experience provides another opportunity to learn clinical general medicine, explore clinical interests, interact with a mentor, and gain exposure to other practice models. Examples of second sites include Esperanza Health Center, Private Practices, Puentes de Salud, Philadelphia Fight, and the Mazzoni Center. We can usually accommodate resident requests for specific sites based on areas of interest.

Applying to The Track

The Primary Care Track has a separate NRMP Match number, 1646140M0. You may rank both the Primary Care Track alone or together with the Categorical program. If you rank both the Track and the Categorical programs, it is still possible to match at Temple even if you are not selected for the Primary Care Track.

We plan to have Primary Care-specific interview days during this upcoming interview season. However, if you are unable to make one of these interview days, you are still able to apply to the track. Please let us know when you are contacted for the interview, so we can best pair you with a faculty interviewer. Additionally, all applicants invited to interview will receive an invitation to an evening Zoom Q&A for the Primary Care Track at the end of the interview season.

Although we encourage it, participation in the track does not require you to be certain that primary care is your career path. We recognize that career plans can change during residency and offer complete support for whatever career path participating residents ultimately choose. 

Meet Our Primary Care Track Residents

Name: Nestor J. Rodriguez-Morales, PGY-3
Hometown: San Juan, Puerto Rico
College: University of Puerto Rico Rio Piedras Campus
Medical School: University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine
Why did you choose the Primary Care Track?: 
I have always seen myself practicing in the outpatient setting. This is why I joined the Primary Care Track, and it was one of the best decisions I have made in residency. The PC track has given me more exposure to outpatient problems and practices and has greatly prepared me for my future in an outpatient career. 

Name: Automm Pratt, PGY-2
Hometown: Chadds Ford, PA
College: Ithaca College 
Medical School: Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine
Why did you choose the Primary Care Track?: 
With the PC track I have more clinic time which was important to me so I can feel confident about my own outpatient clinic after residency. I'm so grateful for my fellow PC track residents! While many people in IM prefer the hospital, it's great having support from those who are likeminded about what they want from their future.