Curriculum

Rotation Schedule
The following is a typical rotation schedule for participants in the Family Medicine Residency Program at Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Ariz.:

Electives
You will have four months of elective rotations during your training to gain in-depth experience in one or more areas of special interest. Mayo Clinic and other area facilities offer a wide variety of elective opportunities, including:

Training Sites
Most inpatient work is performed at the Mayo Clinic Hospital in North Phoenix . Rotations also take place at Maricopa Medical Center , Scottsdale Healthcare Shea and Phoenix Children's Hospital.

• Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale - MAP
• Mayo Thunderbird Family Medicine Center - MAP
• Maricopa Medical Center - MAP
• Phoenix Children's Hospital - MAP
• Scottsdale Healthcare Shea - MAP

Didactic Training
Clinical conferences, seminars, small discussion groups, journal clubs and one-on-one instruction are integral parts of the residency. Information about behavioral medicine is integrated throughout all three years. Conferences cover primary care topics such as preventive medicine, health maintenance, counseling techniques and ethical dilemmas faced by physicians in training. Required conferences, covering a core curriculum in family medicine, are held every other Thursday afternoon for a half-day. Over 240 topics that are core to family medicine are covered on a regular rotation that repeats every three years. Procedural workshops occur on a quarterly basis.

An evening conference that focuses on the process of analyzing and critiquing journal articles that are pertinent to the practice of family medicine meets every other month at a faculty member's home. For each session, two residents choose an article and with the aid of a consultant design and present a CAT (Critically Appraised Topic). The hour starts off with a presentation of the search strategy, followed by a didactic presentation of the topic. The meeting ends with a small group discussion. A content expert with in-depth knowledge of the topic being reviewed attends each meeting and participates in the discussion.

Research Training
Residents are encouraged to participate in a research project with the consulting staff during a family medicine residency. Projects focusing on the continuous improvement of clinical medicine are emphasized. Third year residents are required to participate in a year-long group project aimed at improving the care of patients with a specific condition or disease entity using the principles of evidence-based medicine.

Moonlighting
Moonlighting may be permitted for licensed residents and fellows beyond the PGY-1 level. Moonlighting activities must not interfere with educational activities and may only be scheduled during the times you are assigned to consultative or outpatient rotations and must be approved by the program director.

Rotations to Other Mayo Sites
It is possible to do elective rotations at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville or Mayo Clinic in Rochester during your Family Medicine Residency. Mayo Clinic funds the additional costs of your travel, housing, car rental and licensure fees for approved rotations.

Call Frequency
Residents are usually on call every fourth night while on inpatient services. Rounds are made seven days per week with a consultant and other residents on the service. Residents have at least one 24-hour period per week with no clinical responsibilities, averaged over the rotation. The amount of in-house call varies, depending on the year of training. Third year residents have only two months of required in-house call.

Evaluation
To ensure that residents acquire adequate knowledge and develop technical skills, performance is monitored carefully during the course of the program. Residents are evaluated formally by supervising faculty member after each clinical rotation. A robust system for the assessment of competence is in place that provides regular ongoing feedback for outpatient and inpatient core competencies. A detailed competency-based procedures curriculum is also employed. In addition, residents regularly evaluate the faculty to ensure that educational needs are being met.