Because trainees are placed in a wide variety of ambulatory care settings, the division ensures that all trainees have access to standard learning experiences regardless of their clinical home base. GAP developed and continuously updates formal primary care curricula in more than 45 topics to accompany clinical experiences. The curricula are available online via a dedicated pediatric education Web site. These curricula are used primarily by UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh trainees, but specific curricula also are available to other institutions. Education products serve as continuing medical education for faculty in the division as well community pediatricians who supervise residents for their continuity clinic experience.
Primary Care Track (PALS)
UPMC Children’s initially received a $1.9 million, 5-year grant from HRSA to develop a primary care track in the residency program to prepare pediatricians to provide effective, compassionate, culturally sensitive care to children from underserved urban and rural settings. The program recruits two residents every year. 75% of PALS graduates practice primary care in a medically underserved area.
Primary Care Interest Group
This resident-led group is composed of 10–15 individuals every year who are interested in pursuing a career in primary care. The group meets four to six times per year at a faculty member’s home for dinner to promote collegiality, mentorship, career guidance and to allow discussion of primary care topics. The group has developed a primary care mentor resource for residents with questions about a career in primary care.
Medical Student Teaching
GAP faculty members serve in leadership roles and actively participate in teaching medical students. In the preclinical years, faculty members educate students in courses such as Medical Interviewing and Advanced Physical Examination. In the clinical years, our division co-leads the Combined Ambulatory Medicine and Pediatrics Clerkship, an 8-week exposure to outpatient medicine. In this course, GAP faculty members have developed and lead didactic sessions for third- and fourth-year medical students.
Additionally, faculty members precept students in busy clinical settings that include acute, preventive, newborn care, and special populations (Salud Para Niños, breastfeeding dyads, and children with complex care medical or behavioral conditions).