September Greetings from UMass Family Medicine!
 
The cooler weather is upon us and here at UMass we are all very excited about the kick-off to application season on September 15 when ERAS opens for residency programs! 

I'm Michael Smith, Associate Director of Admissions for both the UMass Fitchburg and UMass Worcester Family Medicine Residencies. If this
is your first message from me, thank you for requesting information about our residencies and/or our Department's programs. I have been sending periodic updates about the diverse offerings of each of our UMass Family Medicine residencies in Worcester and Fitchburg.  
 
Like Three Residencies in One:  We like to say that our Worcester residency is like "three residencies in one" due to our innovative structure: three separate and unique health centers that each offer their own clinical learning opportunities and also have separate match numbers. Each year, four new interns match at each of our three centers (and applicants may interview at more than one center, too.)

As a residency applicant, you choose which of our centers best fits your goals: our rural Barre center, or our two urban centers in Worcester (Hahnemann and Family Health Center of Worcester.

This month, I am spotlighting Hahnemann Family Health Center. (And in case you missed any of my earlier email blasts about our other centers, you can find them here.) 

 Hahnemann: The Essentials:  Hahnemann is an academic urban residency site that functions like a large group practice. Residents work side by side with faculty role models in a state-of-the-art facility. Daily chart rounds, regularly scheduled conferences and informal curb-side consults add to the collegial learning environment. 

Our Hahnemann faculty are regularly recognized for their excellence in teaching and are highly regarded in the local community and beyond. Hahnemann provides full service reproductive options and family centered maternity care, and care for infants, children, adults, and elders in the hospital, community, in nursing homes and at home.

 

A Diverse Community:  Hahnemann serves an ethnically and socioeconomically diverse urban population. The majority of the patients cared for at the health center reside in Worcester and the surrounding towns. About half of our patients participate in the state Medicaid program or are covered under expanded state mandated coverage. Patients represent a large diversity of ethnicities and come from all walks of life. All patients also have access to a very reliable and proficient Translation Service as needed. 

Academic Mentoring:  Each resident is assigned an academic coach from among our talented faculty. Coaches help each resident set and meet individual goals through a process of mentoring throughout residency. Residents have the opportunity to choose such areas of concentration as women's health, underserved care, geriatrics, college health, faculty development or an individualized program developed with their coach.
 
 
 
Procedure Training: Our motto at Hahnemann is that "no procedure should ever go
un-residented!" You'll learn outpatient procedures including colposcopy, IUD insertion, Implanon insertion, endometrial biopsy, skin excision, punch biopsy, joint injection and cryosurgery. Women's health, including comprehensive reproductive health care, is a primary focus. Residents care for a wide variety of patients with a good mixture of adults and children in the practice.  

Writing Opportunities: One of our faculty members, Jeremy Golding, MD, serves as associate editor of "The Five Minute Clinical Consult," the internationally known textbook that is translated into several languages. Residents can author chapters and write on a wide variety of topics as first author with a faculty member as senior author. Hahnemann faculty have especially strong representation in chapters pertaining to women's health and reproductive medicine, oral health and cardiovascular disease.

  

A True Patient Centered Medical Home: We are in the process of transforming our practice into a Patient Centered Medical Home. The process involves re-organizing our entire staff to efficiently work as a team to meet our goals. Learn more about our Hahnemann PCMH work! 
 
Opportunities and Innovations: You'll collaborate with behavioral health providers and develop your skills as a teacher of medical students and junior residents. We value community service, too, and residents find ample opportunities for community outreach.

Hahnemann serves more than 15,000 local college students (including students at WPI, Clark and College of the Holy Cross), and residents can do longitudinal electives at local high school clinics or at Plumley. Just some of our recent innovations include a transition to Open Access scheduling, group visits for diabetes, a chronic pain protocol, new initiatives on the care of hypertension and cardiovascular disease and an oral health curriculum.
 
            
  
Don't hesitate to visit our Hahnemann webpage as well as our Worcester and Fitchburg residency pages! Thank you very much for your interest in UMass!

Until next time,                     

Michael P. Smith, MS
Associate Director of Admissions
UMass Worcester/Fitchburg Family Medicine Residencies
508-334-8023