The procedures in the Family Practice curriculum were set up to enhance the knowledge and experience of Family Medicine residents performing in-office procedures. Family Medicine residents have the ability to access online training material and to train under dedicated faculty in procedure clinics 3 half days a week built into certain rotations. Residents will have exposure to a wide variety of procedures and will be able to transpose this experience to their future practices. These clinics are supervised by various faculty members. Procedural training is an integral part of your future practice of medicine. We have made it easy for our residents to get skills in many scopes of practice, some include:
- Colposcopy
- Frenulectomy
- Endometrial biopsy
- Vasectomy
- Casting
- Treadmill stress testing
- Circumcision
- Nexplanon
- IUD placement
- Skin lesion removal
- Joint injections
- Ultrasound
- Toenail removal
An additional month-long elective in procedural skills can be done 2nd or 3rd year under the direction of Dr. Ramakrishnan. Dr. Ramakrishnan is a family physician who originally was in practice as a general surgeon with experience in vascular and thoracic surgery. He has a significant amount of procedural experience.
Cadaver and Skills Lab
Residents have the opportunity to participate in additional procedural experience at the cadaver lab on our campus and at the Clinical Skills Education and Testing Center (CSETC). The CSETC offers an unparalleled medical education experience using simulation to enhance their skills in patient care. The cadaver lab is a full afternoon of didactic learning unique to family medicine residents to improve skills such as intubation, central lines, and chest tubes for example.
Colposcopy Clinic
The Family Medicine Center also houses a colposcopy clinic. Many faculty members attend in the colpo clinic, including Dr. Loemker as its director.
We have a dedicated nurse who schedules and assists all procedures. The colposcopy area is home to a weekly clinic for residents doing their gynecology rotation and can also be used during procedure clinic.