First Year Curriculum

The first year provides incoming residents with a solid introduction to the breadth and diversity of family medicine. A series of inpatient rotations at UPMC St. Margaret (adult inpatient medicine, surgery, and emergency medicine) are blended with outpatient experiences in community medicine, school and university health, and ambulatory surgery. Inpatient rotations involve a floor team composed of a senior resident, two first-year residents, attending faculty, and often medical students. Residents collaborate and round with pharmacists which enriches their pharmacotherapy education and provides evidence-based and safe care for patients. Rotations in obstetrics and pediatrics are located at Magee-Women’s Hospital and Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. Residents also spend one or two half-day sessions per week at one of our Family Health Centers.

Each first-year resident also has the option to spend two weeks with elective time. Options include urban underserved medicine, behavioral health, sports medicine, global health, clinical informatics, pharmacotherapy, or rural medicine. The resident has the opportunity to work with local community physicians in the clinics and in the hospital.

First Year Rotations
  • Obstetrics (1 month)
  • Newborn Medicine (2 weeks)
  • Adolescent Medicine (2 weeks)
  • Intensive Care Unit (ICU) (1 month)
  • Inpatient Red Teaching Service (1 month)
  • Inpatient Geriatric  Service (1 month)
  • Inpatient Family Health Center Service (1 month)
  • Pediatrics Emergency Medicine​ (1 month)
  • Outpatient Family Medicine and School Health (longitudinally and 1 month in-depth)
  • Inpatient Surgery (1 month)
  • Outpatient Surgery (1 month)
  • Adult Emergency Medicine (three 2 week blocks)
  • Night Float (two 2 week blocks)
  • Selective (two week elective experience)
Longitudinal Experiences
Other First Year Experiences
  • BLS and ACLS certification
  • First-Year Retreat
  • First Year class workshops