Faculty Bibliography

NEEDS AND OBJECTIVES: Our annual residency retreat brainstorms innovations to meet needs. In 2010 needs were: to introduce foundation concepts and enable primary care (PC) residents to feel/be competent in clinic earlier; to spiral learning of core concepts, skills and attitudes from the start; and to have residents and faculty connect from the outset.We aim to equip PC clinicians to deliver bio-psychosocial, comprehensive, best evidence-based systems savvy care and to become change agents, leaders, and scholars. To meet these aims we designed a learner centered, team oriented, skills-based Essentials for PC Clinicians (EPIC) curriculum utilizing an initial, rigorous 4 week block with spiral reinforcement through 3 years. The innovation is a comprehensive, reproducible, effective method to ensure residents' progress on paths of clinical, humanistic, and intellectual excellence consistent with the generalist paradigm. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: EPIC is part of the NYU Internal Medicine PC Residency. Residents attend public hospital and community continuity clinics. 8 interns take the EPIC block and 24 residents spiral through the curriculum. DESCRIPTION: EPIC begins with a 4 week intern block dedicated to core topics in PC; is reinforced in precepting and subsequent blocks; and has a weekly EPIC conference where these topics are deepened and extended. EPIC Block: The overarching themes throughout the 4 weeks focus on understanding and practice of core skills: workshops/precepting on time management, efficient use of EHR, obtaining best practices, consultation, how one learns best, practice in the medical home and engaging community resources. Week 1 focuses on diabetes, and introduces the pillars: psychosocial medicine, evidence-based practice, and systems-based policy awareness and skill. The second week focuses on hypertension. The last 2 weeks introduce 7 common, high-risk high gain conditions from smoking to hepatitis B. Teaching methods combine group learning and reflective written exercises!