The Family Practice Center chief rotation has been organized to allow residents to gain additional teaching experience in the field of outpatient family medicine. One month is required in the second year and two months are required in the third year. In addition to their normal continuity clinics, residents take care of all the walk-in and acute traffic. Specific clinic responsibilities, including the colposcopy and LEEP clinic, the vasectomy clinic and the HIV clinic, are placed on the Family Practice Center chief, and they learn the competencies associated with these clinics.

Didactic sessions are included that enhance the rotation and knowledge of family practice. These include practice management sessions, billing sessions, computer systems, prescribing and pharmacy services, outpatient pediatric, family practice topic tutorials with Dr. Cree. Our residents also meet with Dr. Force on this rotation to discuss and initiate their second and third year research project. This may be a specific idea of the resident or may be a family practice information network investigational project.

In the third year residents are encouraged to perform practice management surveys of a private practice that will include assessment of the accounts receivable, patient demographics, staffing, budget overhead assessment, computer and appointment systems and other practice management features. This evaluation is then presented to our office manager, Greg Harding, to assist residents in gaining skills of assessing practices that they are looking at for the future.