For Health Professionals
Curriculum Overview
Residents rotate through an impressive array of clinical departments during their tenure at Christiana Care. These include the Emergency Department, family medicine inpatient and outpatient services, obstetrics/gynecology, pediatrics, surgerical subspecialties, emergency medical services, anesthesia, orthopaedics/sports medicine, radiology, women's health, trauma/surgical critical care, and medical, cardiac and pediatric intensive care units. Residents also become certified medical control physicians for the Delaware EMS system in their first year. Dedicated rotations at A.I. DuPont Hospital for Children include the emergency department, inpatient wards, PICU and subspecialty services like pediatric orthopaedics, anesthesia and radiology.
There are also several opportunities for electives that include an optional international rotation in Africa, administration, ultrasound, reproductive health, adolescent care, women's health, public health, as well as traditional electives such as cardiology, neurology, infectious disease. In addition, electives may be customized to individual interests and preferences. The goal is to build and maintain a solid foundation of knowledge and experiences that will facilitate and enhance the process of delivering healthcare regardless of the location of practice.
Continuity of care
Continuity of care is one of the fundamental principles upon which this program was built. Throughout the duration of the five-year program, residents will see patients in the Christiana Care Family Medicine Center at both the Foulk Road office and the Wilmington Hospital Annex office. Residents provide ongoing comprehensive health care to individuals and families who make more than 10,000 office visits each year and are from all walks of life. Other competencies include preventive health care, nursing home care, home visits, hospice care, geriatric medicine, pediatrics and inpatient care through the family medicine adult inpatient service and intensive-care unit at Wilmington Hospital. Each resident has one or two sessions a week where they will have dedicated clinic duties so that they are able to provide a consistent degree of continuity to their patients throughout the entire five-year duration of the program.
Conferences and teaching
The combined Emergency Medicine/Family Medicine Residency Program offers a balanced curriculum with equal time spent between both family and emergency medicine starting immediately in the first year. The program places a strong importance on academics, as well as on the extensive practical experience in the Emergency Department and the family medicine ambulatory care and inpatient service. Each department has weekly educational conferences that are mandatory, and residents are excused from clinical duties in order to attend unless covering specific inpatient responsibilities such as the ICU and family medicine inpatient service. There are also numerous didactics, evidence-based literature reviews, journal clubs, opportunities to use the on-site simulation lab and spend time in the cadaver lab at the University of Maryland. There are also ample board-review sessions and grand rounds featuring both local and visiting professors of national and international reputation.
The teaching and mentoring provided by the faculty, preceptors and attending physicians in both departments reflect the highly collegial and supportive atmosphere that exists. Enthusiastic faculty teach and encourage hands-on patient management, critical-thinking development and the application of evidence-based medicine in the context of patient-centered practice. Working closely with residents within the framework of an academic and clinical setting enables the faculty and staff to serve more of a supportive role that enables each resident the have a tremendous degree of autonomy. Such a phenomenon lends to personal and professional maturity while facilitating the staggered progression of clinical responsibilities and intellectual accountability. Our combined program integrates what would otherwise be six years of learning into an intensive five-year program but still affords enough flexibility so that education is not overtaken by clinical demands.
Residents have the opportunity to further broaden their knowledge and experience by attending local and national conferences, research and quality-improvement projects, and through contributions to prestigious medical publications and computer software. Every resident is given a generous annual stipend to help cover the costs of books, travel to conferences, technology, professional membership dues, boards and licensure exams. Additional funds are also available for those residents interested in research, grant writing and publication. All residents are encouraged to publish one professional paper during their residency and must complete at least one scholarly activity before graduating from the program.
