Mid-Hudson Family Medicine Residency Program set to enhance training to better meet community needs

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Sophia Guida

Mid-Hudson Family Medicine Residency Program set to enhance training to better meet community needs

February 26, 2021

In July 2020, the Institute received a $2 million grant to develop innovative training tracks in our Mid-Hudson Family Medicine Residency Program. These tracks will be developed over the next four years, with the current year serving as a planning year.

Residents who train in the Mid-Hudson Valley communities will have the opportunity to receive specialized training in key areas of care needed in rural, suburban and underserved populations. These topics will include addiction medicine in the primary care setting; integrating primary care and behavioral health; trauma-informed care; gender-affirming care; pain management; and integrating telehealth. Residents will attend seminars and rotations in their track of choice and will also participate in “consult clinics,” where they see a panel of patients seeking care for these specific concerns.

“We are trying to create a system of really robust and competent care,” said Cynthia Kim, LCSW-R, the residency’s associate program director and director of behavioral science. “Instead of there being a difference between a ‘medical patient’ and a ‘psychiatric patient,’ the patient is a person who needs services, and we want to maintain that doctor-patient relationship rather than rely on unnecessary referrals.”

Telehealth was a key part of the initial planning year, which unfolded at the same time as the COVID-19 pandemic. Providers and support staff have been gathering data and developing best practices for caring for patients remotely, even after the pandemic. For some patients in Mid-Hudson Valley communities, getting to the health center can be an extra burden when they do not have reliable transportation or work unstable hours.

“We are reaching more patients than ever before,” said Kim.

Residents who participate in these training tracks will gain experience in these areas without having to do an additional costly fellowship, or can gain the preparation to become a junior faculty member in family medicine, if they choose.

Funding for the Primary Care Training and Enhancement program was provided by the federal Health Resources and Services Administration.