Primary Care Track
For medical residents who are interested in a career in primary care medicine, our program offers a Primary Care Track, which provides exciting and innovative opportunities for clinical experience and training in the ambulatory setting. Our mission is to train outstanding general internists who focus on primary care and will provide leadership as clinicians, educators, practice and quality innovators, and/or researchers.
For the first time, we have established a separate match number for this program. In addition, there will be a limited opportunity for residents who match in our traditional internal medicine training program to transfer to the Primary Care Track at the start of their junior year.
More info
Our Primary Care Track has an impressive history. Started as one of the first programs in the country in 1973, we now have more than 300 graduates. Over the past decade, we have graduated 120 primary care residents, who have become clinical, educational, and research leaders in the field.
Our newly designed program offers the following benefits:
• Additional ambulatory and continuity clinic time during residency training
• Priority access for electives focused on primary care medicine
(Ambulatory Electives)
• Participation in Primary Care Reform Elective
• Participation in Primary Care Seminar, Interest Groups, and Events
(Special Events and Support)
• Participation in quality improvement projects through the Stoneman Center
• Support to present at the national Society of General Internal Medicine meeting
(Special Events and Support)
• Participation in global health rotation in the BIDMC Botswana Program
(Global Health Program)
• Involvement in planning as our teaching practice is redesigned into a patient-centered medical home
• Involvement in planning for the establishment of leadership curriculum in residency training
• Enhanced mentorship and career counseling throughout residency training
• Practicing with and learning from an established group of highly regarded primary care clinician educators
(Division of General Medicine and Primary Care)
Primary Care Track residents have additional ambulatory time during their internship year and two continuity practices during their junior and senior years. Most work in Healthcare Associates, a multidisciplinary practice based in the modern Shapiro Clinical Center at BIDMC. A large variety of additional continuity sites are available as second clinics, including VA medical centers, community health centers, private practices, a student health service, and a geriatric service.
(Continuity Practice Sites)
Primary Care Track residents are exposed to a broad curriculum in hands-on clinical experiences, interactive didactic sessions, and unique rotations. A robust conference schedule, including topics in preventive medicine, women's health, mental and behavioral health, substance abuse, dermatology, orthopedics, geriatrics, evidence-based medicine, and practice design and quality improvement, augments learning from patient interactions. (
Ambulatory Curriculum) Primary Care Track residents have additional curriculum focused on skills including interviewing and communication techniques and office procedure training. The program offers a broad range of ambulatory elective opportunities in primary care sites and in medical and surgical subspecialties.
(Ambulatory Electives)
In the senior year, residents are encouraged to develop special areas of clinical expertise, such as women's health, geriatrics, or adolescent medicine. Alternatively, residents may choose to participate in research with faculty in general medicine or medical specialties. In addition, residents may choose to work on a project in health care delivery or on a specific aspect of curriculum development.
How to Apply
We have established a separate match number for this program and will recruit 4 interns each year. Applicants interested in the Primary Care Track should specify this program. Applicants who are interviewed will be invited to meet with our primary care faculty and participate in a half-day introduction to the program.
(FAQs)