Critical Care Medicine - ICU/CCU          Return

Emergency Medicine                 Return
Residents receive 3 weeks of emergency medicine training in each of the first and second years.  The emergency medicine rotation is under the direction of a Board-Certified  emergency medicine physician.  Residents are paired with emergency department staff physicians so they benefit from both one-on-one teaching and high-volume, hands-on experience.  Residents learn to perform common emergency room procedures such as suturing, splinting and casting, joint aspiration, intubation and slit-lamp examination.

Geriatrics                                    Return
Care of the elderly patient is taught longitudinally through care of ambulatory, home-bound, hospitalized and nursing home patients and during a two-week Geriatrics rotation.  Residents develop the knowledge, attitudes and skills required for the appropriate care of older people.  Residents not only learn to perform geriatric assessments but also to diagnose and treat common geriatric syndromes and diseases.  With the variety of clinical experiences, residents are exposed to ethical issues, palliative care and health care financing.  Residents learn to function as part of a health care team and to assess the emotional and mental health as well as the family support systems of geriatric patients.

Surgery                                       Return
Residents spend one month on surgery in each of the first and second years.  Working one-on-one with general surgeons, family physicians and surgical sub-specialists, residents learn to be capable first assistants, to perform minor office surgery and to master pre- and post-operative evaluation.  The initial work-up of patients with common conditions such as hemorrhoids, hernia or malignancy of the breast or bowel, are taught.  Residents on call can follow the attending surgeon on surgical emergencies presenting through the emergency room.  However, this is predominately an outpatient rotation with emphasis on outpatient procedural skills, many of which are performed in our own GLFHC Procedures clinic which is staffed by family physician faculty.

Urology                                      Return
Residents work directly with private urologists in their offices and in the hospital.  Residents learn to diagnose, manage, and, when appropriate, refer a variety of pediatric and adult urologic conditions.  In addition, residents learn to evaluate, initiate therapy and refer patients with impotence or infertility.

Orthopedics/Sports Medicine     Return
The resident learns to evaluate and manage orthopedic conditions commonly encountered by family physicians.  Mastery of the musculoskeletal exam, pediatric orthopedics, procedures such as splinting, casting and joint aspiration, and interpretation of X-rays to diagnose fracture or dislocation are among the skills stressed.  In addition, we cover sports medicine, particularly in regard to training regimens to prevent and recuperate from injury.  Residents have the opportunity to participate at the orthopedic clinic at the base of the Sugarbush Ski mountain in Vermont (see Sugarbush).

ENT and Ophthalmology             Return
On the ENT rotation, residents learn to perform a complete ENT exam and become familiar with the diagnosis and management of common problems including epistaxis, foreign body removal, acute and chronic infections, benign and malignant neoplasms, and hearing loss.  On ophthalmology, residents learn to diagnose and treat commonly encountered eye conditions and become familiar with the management of cataracts, glaucoma and retinopathy.

Practice Management                 Return
The Practice Management curriculum allows residents significant flexibility to develop skills applicable to the type of practice that they are choosing to pursue after residency.  Career development/job search, practice improvement skills, malpractice and risk management, office practice management, and personal finance are also covered.   Residents have longitudinal sessions scheduled across their three years which are mainly self-directed.  The hours in these sessions are supplemented by some Practice Management group time early in their internship, as well as bi-monthly conferences they attend, and the reading/research/project work they do on their own time

Language Instruction & Annual Trip to the Dominican Republic                   Return
As many of our patients speak Spanish, an intensive, two-week language course is provided to residents as part of their initial orientation with ongoing instruction 3 times each month throughout the first year.  Because most of the health center staff are bilingual, interpretive services are always readily available.  While it is neither expected nor required that new residents speak Spanish, we are confident that they will develop Spanish communication skills by the end of their first year. In addition, there is an annual trip to the Dominican Republic which functions as an opportunity to see and experience the country of origin of half our patient population, as well as to have a break in the middle of winter in a tropical setting.  The residents use vacation time to attend, and half of the expenses are covered by the residency, while the balance is paid by the resident (many choose to use their CME to cover the balance). 

Specialty Clinics                   Return
In order to promote better care to our patients and hands-on experience for the residents, we have incorporated more and more in-house specialty clinics so that the residents have the opportunity to take care of the patients while a precepting physician supervises.  Presently, we have the following specialty clinics, which all residents are scheduled to participate in during their three years:  Colposcopy, Procedures, Gynecology, Dermatology, General Surgery, Pediatric Acute Care,  Pediatric Cardiology, Growth and Nutrition, Rheumatology, Diabetic Foot Care Clinic, wound care, “Mass Cares” Clinic, and the Disabled Children’s Clinic.

Sugarbush                   Return 
During the Sports Medicine or Orthopedic rotations, all residents will get at least one and often two opportunities to go to the medical clinic at the foot of the Sugarbush Ski Resort in Vermont where they will have a tremendous opportunity to work with orthopedists in caring for injured skiers.  This experience has proven to be one of our best (ie, most concentrated) learning experiences…and the skiing in the “down” time is great, too!