Residents in our U-M Medical School Categorical Internal Medicine program can elect to participate in our Primary Care Track. Since this track is embedded within our traditional categorical training program, residents may elect to join this track in their first, second, or third year of residency training.
Residents participating in the primary care track have the opportunity to work closely with Dr. Kristin Collier to develop an individualized training program that meets their educational needs based on their future career goals.
Primary care providers deliver care to patients with a variety of needs. The needs span the spectrum from acute illnesses to chronic disease management and preventative care. There is an increasing recognition that primary care is most effectively delivered in the context of a Patient Centered Medical Home and in collaboration with a wide array of other health care practitioners. We feel that to train the next generation of outpatient general internists not only do we need to focus on the medical knowledge required to diagnose and treat a variety of medical conditions, but we need to provide training in systems improvement, lean thinking, evidence based medicine, interdisciplinary, and narrative medicine. Our goal is to train patient-centered, humanistic, and compassionate physicians who can serve as leaders locally and beyond.
- Develop the medical knowledge base needed to provide outstanding patient care in the ambulatory setting.
- Develop the communication skills needed to successfully interact well with our patients and other health care providers.
- Develop the essential skills needed to be leaders and collaborative members of a Patient Centered Medical Home, institutional initiatives, and their community.
- Learn the scientific literature behind the patient interventions performed, in order to deliver the most evidence based and cost conscious care possible.
- Develop skills in efficiency in order to maximize face-to-face time with our patients. These include skills working with the electronic medical record (EMR), pre-visit planning, and delegation of responsibilities.
- Build research skills with the help of national leaders in health services research.
- The majority of learning will be in an experiential fashion. The resident will see patients in a longitudinal fashion in their continuity clinic, where they are the primary care physician taking care of their panel of patients. This clinic will be staffed by experienced Internal Medicine attending physicians who are faculty at the University of Michigan and are recognized for their skills as outstanding educators.
- The residents will continue to have a strong inpatient training foundation as members of the traditional categorical residency program. As interns, they will have increased time in their continuity clinic during dedicated Primary Care Track blocks, in addition to two months of outpatient ambulatory experience in a variety of clinics. Second and third year will provide on average 10 months of outpatient experience.
- The track residents will complete ‘core’ rotations of the track by the end of their third year. The core rotations of the track include: Women’s Health, Sports Medicine, Outpatient Pain, Outpatient Endocrinology, Outpatient Nephrology, and Outpatient Rheumatology.
- All primary care track interns are matched with a research advisor through the Division of General Medicine who is a member of the Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation.
- The track residents have access to the General Medicine Clinical Conference held weekly at West Ann Arbor on Tuesday mornings from 8-9. These one hour conferences, designed for General Medicine attendings, cover a broad range of topics and include regular journal club type reviews. These conferences can be attended in person, streamed live, or watched later remotely.
- The resident will be expected to participate in the didactic experiences offered to all residents, including ambulatory and inpatient morning report, noon conference, and TLS didactic sessions during the ambulatory blocks.
- In the third year, the resident will have additional opportunity to work on electronic medical record (EMR) efficiency and have lectures on billing and coding.
- The resident will be involved in scholarship and complete a patient safety project and a research project as part of the categorical residency program.
- The track residents have access to the General Medicine Clinical Conference held weekly on Tuesday mornings from 8-9. These one hour conferences, designed for General Medicine attendings, cover a broad range of topics and include regular journal club type reviews. These conferences can be attended in person, streamed live, or watched later remotely.
- The resident will present at least once in the General Medicine Journal Club Rotation that occurs during the General Medicine Clinical conference on Tuesday mornings. They will receive feedback in a peer-review fashion after the session by three faculty.
- The resident will have experience with teaching through the resident-as-teacher curriculum.
- In the third year Primary Care Track block, the resident will have lectures on advocacy and the care of the LGBTQ patient as part of the curriculum on the Care of Populations.
- The resident will have regular meetings with Dr. Collier and the other members of the track. There will be peer-mentorship available within the track by residents in their continuity clinic.
The Primary Care Track offers specific interview days geared toward those with primary care interests. You can apply through ERAS for the Primary Care track. You will still match into the Categorical program (1293140C0); but will be assigned to the Primary Care Track. You are not committed to the primary care track just because you interview on a primary care date.
"I’m a PCP who trained at Michigan. I’m passionate about providing care over time and helping patients navigate health care and the health care system. I am honored to be able to open a door for residents into the world of primary care."
Associate Residency Program Director
