Family Medicine & Psychiatry - Curriculum

The five-year rotation schedule aims to integrate rotations in each specialty during each year, alternating between psychiatry and family medicine approximately every four to six months.

The fourth year is one full year of outpatient psychiatry. Schedule revisions and informal curriculum evaluations take place at the monthly program meetings. Additionally, residents are provided four weeks of vacation each year, divided proportionately between their assignments in each program.

The Family Medicine Continuity Clinic is a weekly experience (at least one half-day per week in Years 1-3, two half-days in Year 4, and three half-days in Year 5) at the UC Health Primary Care Center at Forest Park, supervised by a family medicine preceptor.

There is occasional supervision from the FMP training director (Dr. Wulsin) to assist in building and strengthening patient communication skills.

Below is a general outline of each year of the FMP program, but individual schedules are subject to changes.

Legend: TCH=The Christ Hospital; UH=University Hospital; CCHMC= Cincinnati Childrens Hospital Medical Center;  VA=Veteran's Administration Medical Center

Didactic Curriculum

The curriculum emphasizes a) the essential knowledge and skills of family medicine and psychiatry, and b) the skills necessary to integrate clinical practice in family medicine and psychiatric settings.

The goal is to train primary care clinicians with expertise in the management of mental disorders in primary care settings and to train psychiatrists who can manage the primary care needs of their patients. Residents follow the didactic curricula of the rotations to which they are assigned, e.g., psychiatry while on psychiatry rotations.

Family Medicine Didactics

Didactics occur for three Thursday afternoons each month. The second Thursday is each month is dedicated to continuity Geriatric experience (which occurs during the 4th and 5th years for FMP residents) at the Maple Knoll Village Retirement Community.

During this time, residents have a one hour lecture on a Geriatric topic followed by seeing their two assigned patients. In addition, while resident are on their inpatient Family Medicine months, they participate in daily Noontime lectures from the inpatient faculty, including OB lectures during the monthDuring off-service inpatient months the residents participate in the didactics of their specific rotation. For example, while on pediatric rotations at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center the residents participate in morning report, noon conferences and Grand Rounds with the pediatric residents. 

Psychiatry Didactics

PGY1 residents have lectures for five months in the first year, while PGY2 and PGY3 residents have didactic lectures throughout the year. Lectures typically take place on Tuesday or Thursday mornings depending on the month and year of training. Grand Rounds occur weekly on Wednesdays between September and June, followed by an informal question-and-answer session with the presenter for the residents. The remaining didactics occur on a longitudinal basis according to year of training and are aimed at introducing residents to psychopharmacology, psychotherapy and other topics relevant to the practice of psychiatry.

In addition, a yearly research curriculum has been integrated into the program to expose residents to the basics of experimental design, which can be very useful in the creation of resident's required scholarly project - which may consist of a Grand Rounds or formal publication. See the Research Oppotrunities section for addiotional information.