Resident clinic:

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 following up on tests they order, answering messages from clinic patients and coordinating care for the patients with the help of support staff.

Primary Care Didactics

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 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.

Residents also participate in twice-weekly ambulatory didactics with categorical residents.

Addiction medicine:

All Primary Care Track residents have a longitudinal experience in medication-assisted therapy for substance-use disorders, from their intern year through PGY-3 year. Residents will gain familiarity and comfort with buprenorphine therapy for Opioid Use Disorder, and medication options for managing Alcohol Use Disorder.

Upper Year Experiences (PGY-2 and PGY-3)

Second sites:

Each upper year resident is assigned a second outpatient clinic site in the community, where they spend a half-day each week during outpatient blocks. Practicing at the second site enables our residents to gain experience working in a different clinic setting, and with different practice models. Examples of second sites that our residents have rotated at include Esperanza Health Center, private practices, Oak Street Health, Puentes de Salud, the Mazzoni Center, and AbsoluteCare.

Electives:

Residents will rotate through a variety of two-week electives during their outpatient blocks, to ensure they have a well-rounded ambulatory education. Current elective opportunities include dermatology, sports medicine, rheumatology, endocrinology, infectious disease, and sleep medicine, among others.

Subspecialty clinic:

In the PGY-2 and PGY-3 years, residents have the option of selecting a subspecialty clinic, where they spend a half day each outpatient block. Residents may opt into a subspecialty because they are interested in pursuing fellowship, or to gain additional exposure to a specific clinic area. Available clinics include sports medicine, endocrinology, sleep medicine, and GI.

Clinical coaching:

During the PGY-1 and PGY-2 year, residents have multiple 1-on-1 coaching sessions with GIM faculty who will observe them during clinic.  This helps residents identify specific areas for growth, build clinical skills, and learn new strategies for efficiency in clinic.

Mentorship and career development:

The Primary Care Track director, Dr. Perry Patton, meets regularly with all residents in the program to discuss outpatient clinical skills, post-residency career planning, and research interests. Our academic half-day curriculum contains a career development component including a CV workshop and comprehensive job application information specific to primary care.   

Social events:

Joining the Temple Primary Care Track means joining a tight knit group of residents interested in a future in ambulatory medicine! We come together to have fun and celebrate at events throughout the year, capped off by a graduation dinner in June.

Meet Some of Our Current Residents:

Lydia Mazze (PGY-3)
Hometown: Rockville, MD
Medical school: University of Maryland School of Medicine
Hobbies: walking/running along the Schuylkill River
Why Temple Primary Care?: Temple Primary Care has given me the ability to receive rigorous training on complex in- and out-patient medical care while also growing clinic skills and focusing on outpatient medicine! Our little PCT is also a fun community that makes time for potlucks, dinners, and fun activities together!

Veronica West (PGY-3)
Hometown: Pittsburgh
Medical School: Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine
Hobbies: running (training for the Philly Marathon!), biking, scuba diving, reading, traveling
Why Temple Primary Care?: I chose the Primary Care track to gain deeper experience and confidence in the outpatient setting. Whether I ultimately practice in general primary care or pursue a subspecialty with a strong outpatient focus, I am confident this training will prepare me to provide high-quality, patient-centered care.
What's your favorite thing to do in Philly? Explore the food scene, bike and run along the Schuylkill River Trail, and go to various events around the city with my friends!

Tori Abdalla (PGY-2)
Hometown: Hollywood, FL
Medical School: Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine
Hobbies: Making new recipes, walking my dog, and all things crafting!
Why Temple Primary Care?: A combination of creating long-term relationships, the opportunity to treat both acute and chronic conditions, and being able to practice preventative medicine is what drew me to the Primary Care Track! I love being a patient’s home-base and helping them navigate the medical system to get the best care possible.
What’s your favorite thing to do in Philly?: Going for a walk! From strolling down Kelly Drive, to discovering different neighborhoods, to hiking in Wissahickon Park, there is always something new to see and a different landscape to explore!

Colm Somers (PGY-2)
Hometown: Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Medical School: Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland
Hobbies: Thrifting, travelling, running
Why Temple?: Because of its commitment to accessible care for underserved communities
Why Primary Care?: The continuity of care with patients!

Colin Deutsch (PGY-1)
Hometown: Newark, DE
Medical School:  Temple University Lewis Katz School of Medicine
Hobbies: Rooting for the Eagles, Go Birds! Cooking and dabbling in upholstery.
Why Temple Primary Care?: Strengthen my outpatient and advocacy skills and have longitudinal partnerships with patients in the North Philadelphia community. 
What’s your favorite thing to do in Philly?:  Eat! Go to Milk Jawn, going to street festivals.

Jonah Lewis (PGY-1)
Hometown: Scituate, MA
Medical School: University of Virginia
Hobbies: Weightlifting, TV, dining out, baking, all of the NYT daily word games
Why Temple Primary Care?: I wanted to train in a program that could teach me to how to excel at primary care in diverse settings and with a breadth of knowledge. Temple impressed me in that it seemed to be a rigorous academic program that still had a deep training in interest in community medicine from LGBT health to opioid and other substance use disorders.
What’s your favorite thing to do in Philly?: I am still pretty new to Philly but so far I have really enjoyed the Art Museum and walking around the Fairmount neighborhood!

Post-Graduation plans for recent Primary Care track classes:

Class of 2026

Primary Care

Endocrinology fellowship at Duke

Sleep medicine fellowship at Temple/Primary care

Class of 2025

Endocrinology fellowship at Rutgers RWJ

Infectious Disease fellowship at Temple

Infectious Disease fellowship at Mount Sinai

Class of 2024

Chief year, followed by Academic Primary Care Faculty

Class of 2023

Chief year, followed by cardiology fellowship at University of Pittsburgh

Hospitalist, followed by community primary care

Nephrology fellowship at Mount Sinai

Class of 2022

ID fellowship at Temple, followed by HIV primary care

Palliative Care fellowship at UCLA

Hospitalist year, followed by community primary care

Class of 2021

Academic Primary Care Faculty

Chief year, then Infectious Disease at BIDMC

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 will 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 optional evening Zoom Q&A for the Primary Care Track at the end of the interview season.

Although we strongly 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.