DCHS FMR Curriculum

Family medicine physicians have some of the broadest skill sets in the world of medicine, and our curriculum is intended to create physicians fully ready to enter any kind of practice they desire. Our mission is to help our community thrive by fostering advocates for social justice and equity. Our didactic curriculum has been carefully designed in partnership with the University of Colorado Family Medicine Residency and enhanced with changes to the ACGME requirements for Family Medicine. This partnership will allow our residents to have a rich and intensive didactic experience, with the benefit of years of careful thought and resident input.

 

Training Opportunities

Our residents have many opportunities to engage with and learn from our communities during their training. Our longitudinal Population Health and Community Engagement (PHACE) curriculum provides residents with the opportunity to:

  • Identify health inequities and take steps towards mitigation.
  • Identify and address the social determinants of health that affect patients and populations.
  • Engage with community groups and public health entities to promote the wellness of individuals and communities served.
  • Advocate for policy changes to improve the health of the people served.

Taught through lectures, field trips, hands-on experiences, projects, and workshops; we partner with community-based organizations and public health professionals, policymakers, lobbyists, and a local elementary school. Throughout their training, residents’ knowledge and skills to care for the diverse populations of Denver and Aurora increase, as do their ability to apply these skills to serve different communities in their future practices.

The Population Health, Advocacy, and Community Engagement (PHACE) curriculum spans the three years of residency. Advocacy components of this curriculum build on one another over the three years and include the following.

  • R1: Advocacy 101– how to get involved in advocacy and policy mapping workshop
  • R1: Public narrative and storytelling in advocacy
  • R2: Legislative Testimony workshop and visit to the state Capitol
  • R2: Op-ed writing workshop
  • R3: Advocacy Skills Project – joining a stakeholder meeting and practicing written or oral advocacy skills for a current policy issue

Residency didactics also includes a Policy and Advocacy lecture series that occurs every-other-month. These lectures include recaps of the state legislative session and outside speakers from local advocacy organizations. Additional topic-specific health policy lectures are included in other rotations, including during the Advanced Primary Care Leadership rotation. These lectures cover payment reform, insurance coverage, primary care workforce, and other issues pertinent to family physicians.

 

Training Hospitals

Residents will spend most of their time at Montbello Clinic in Montbello, Denver, CO. When our residents rotate through hospitals our resident’s home hospital will be Denver Health Hospital, with some rotations at Children’s Hospital and the University of Colorado Hospital. Denver Health also runs a clinic at nearby ski resort, Winter Park, where residents will have the opportunity for hands on sports medicine training.

  • Denver Health Hospital: Colorado’s premier safety net hospital, Denver Health is a model for the nation in providing care to underserved populations. With Colorado's academic level one trauma center, Denver's 911 response system, nine community health centers, eleven school-based health centers, Denver Department of Public Health, Correctional Care, and the Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Center, the Denver Health system has more than one million patient contacts each year. Our Denver Health Family Medicine faculty members deliver babies at Denver Health and supervise an Adult Family Medicine service that runs six months each year. All full-time Denver Health physicians are faculty members within the University of Colorado School of Medicine. Our residents will complete the majority of their inpatient time at Denver Health with Family Medicine attendings, as well as time on inpatient pediatrics, emergency medicine, newborn nursery, obstetrics and gynecology, dermatology.
  • Children’s Hospital of Colorado: The Rocky Mountain Region's only hospital dedicated to the treatment of sick and injured children, Children’s Hospital Colorado is consistently ranked among the top ten children’s hospitals in the nation by US News and World Report. The hospital features private rooms for all inpatients, cutting edge intensive care, surgery and radiology facilities, a large conference and education center, and 24-hour dining facilities, all in a spacious and beautifully-designed building. Our residents complete several rotations at Children's Colorado, including Inpatient Pediatrics and Emergency Pediatrics rotations.
  • The University of Colorado Hospital: A vibrant health center with rich educational and research experiences; ranked within the top ten academic hospitals in the United States by the University Health System Consortium since 2012. University of Colorado Hospital is a privately administered, non-profit hospital that cares for a wide variety of patients.

    The facility is located on the Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora, the home of the University of Colorado School of Medicine and a variety of health professions programs including Dentistry, Nursing, Physical Therapy, and Physician Assistant.

    University of Colorado Hospital strives to provide state of the art patient-centered care in an institution dedicated to advancing the art and science of health care. Our residents will work with the University of Colorado Family Medicine Residency running a full spectrum family medicine service.

 

Our Programs

PGY1

Chautauquas: Alongside our University of Colorado Residents our residents will participate in three didactic focused months called “Chatauquas.” Each of these months will prepare residents for their upcoming rotations, introduce our longitudinal curricula, and create dedicated time for class bonding through:

  • Focused review of medical topics, hands-on procedural workshops, and high-tech simulations
  • Longitudinal learning and projects in:
    • Practice Transformation Fundamentals (PTF)
    • Population Health, Advocacy, and Community Engagement (PHACE)
    • Behavioral Health
    • Evidence Based Medicine
    • Physician Wellness
  • Class retreats, group projects, and most weekends off!

 

Major benefits of Chautauquas:

  • Residents build and refresh skills before rotations begin because each Chautauqua focuses on preparing residents for the rotations that follow.
  • Residents bond as a class and grow their identity as a family doctor.

 

PGY1 Rotations (roughly in chronological order)

  1. Chautauqua 1, which covers topics related to Internal Medicine, Surgery, and Emergency Medicine (first month of residency, usually June/July)
    • Internal Medicine at Denver Health
    • Surgery (with 1 week of vacation)
    • Emergency Medicine
  2. Chautauqua II which covers topics related to Obstetrics, Pediatrics, and Newborn care (October/November, with 1 week of vacation during the final week)
  3. Obstetrics I
  4. Outpatient Pediatrics
  5. Pediatric Emergency Medicine
  6. Newborn Care (with 1 week of vacation)
  7. Family Medicine Inpatient Service at University Hospital with our UH attendings
  8. Adult Family Medicine Service at Denver Health with our DH attendings
  9. Chautauqua III (May/June, with 1 week of vacation during the final week)

Interns do not do 24-hour call. Most inpatient rotations include approximately one week of night coverage. The Obstetrics I rotation includes two weeks of night shifts.

PGY2

Our PGY2 year features a variety of inpatient and outpatient rotations. The most unique feature of PGY2 is the Advanced Primary Care Leadership I rotation.

PGY2 Rotations:

  1. Electives (3 Months)
  2. Adult Family Medicine Service at Denver Health
  3. Gynecology
  4. Inpatient Pediatrics
  5. MICU
  6. MSK I: Sports Medicine
  7. Obstetrics II
  8. Advanced Primary Care Leadership I
  9. Outpatient Pediatrics II
  10. Vacation (4 weeks total to be taken during rotations where vacation is allowed)

PGY2 residents have the option for Q4d 24-hour call during their MICU rotation. Most inpatient rotations include approximately one week of night coverage. The Obstetrics II will include night shifts.

PGY3

Third year, we focus on how leadership and advocacy can result in population health advances. Residents complete a longitudinal community health project and carry out a class Quality Improvement project at Montbello Family Health Center. Gaining the skills to be leaders in advanced primary care practices during Advanced Primary Care Leadership II, Residents have time to engage with community partners during protected time during many rotations and engage with nonprofit organizations.

PGY3 Rotations:

  1. Adult Family Medicine Service at Denver Health with our DH attendings
  2. Cardiology
  3. Dermatology
  4. Electives (3-4 months)
  5. Geriatrics
  6. MSK II at Winter Park Ski Resort or UCHealth Sports Medicine clinics in Denver
  7. Advanced Primary Care Leadership II
  8. Rural Rotation sponsored by the Commission on Family Medicine (optional elective)
  9. Vacation (4 weeks total to be taken during rotations where vacation is allowed)

Advanced Primary Care Leadership:

All residents benefit from training in advanced primary care practices. Montbello Family Health Center is recognized as Level 3 Patient-Centered Medical Homes by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), and has some of the best quality scores and physician satisfaction across the Denver Health Institution. Our residents will work alongside the University of Colorado Family Medicine residents in the Advanced Primary Care Leadership curriculum.

We strongly foster innovation and leadership within community medicine. All residents participate in a formal curriculum around advanced primary care. This curriculum has been in place for more than a decade. In addition to their clinical experiences, residents take part in two month-long rotations where they dive into various practice transformation topics so that they graduate with a strong understanding of the healthcare system, how to innovate within it, and how to advocate for change in areas where the current system fails. We believe these experiences prepare our graduates to be leaders in their field.

Advance Primary Care Leadership 1 (APCL 1)

During this month-long block in the spring of second year, residents learn alongside classmates about the core components of advanced primary care models such as team-based care, care coordination, patient and family engagement, population management and health equity, quality improvement (QI), continuity and access, payment models and payment reform.

During APCL1, residents learn about the history of family medicine as a specialty and engage in experiential learning related to behavioral health skills and community medicine. The month-long curriculum is taught through a blend of lectures, projects, and visits to clinics with a variety of practice models. Residents also participate in continuity clinic throughout the month and choose a topic for their class QI project, to be implemented the following year.

Advanced Primary Care Leadership 2 (APCL 2)

During their third year, each resident completes another month-long rotation dedicated to advanced primary care. In addition to immersing themselves in their clinical practice, residents participate in a variety of meetings at their clinic, take leadership of their class QI project, participate in our home visit program, and complete the STFM Course “Leading Change.”