The Primary Care Training Enhancement (PCTE) Initiative

Offering five specialty tracks to enhance residency training

The Mid-Hudson Family Medicine Residency Program pursues its mission to train family physicians to provide care in underserved communities by offering five specialty tracks with a variety of student learning opportunities that enhance our residency program. Our Primary Care Training Enhancement

(PCTE) Initiative builds on the Institute’s strengths and resources to develop specialized skill sets in key areas of needs in the communities we serve. We offer specialty tracks in Addiction Medicine, Behavioral Medicine, Junior Faculty Development, LGBTQIA+ Affirming Medicine, and Musculoskeletal Medicine.

The PCTE Initiative Overview:

• Residents receive orientation to tracks and track selection by the end of PGY1
• Enrollment and initiation of track curriculum starting with PGY2
• Each track involves a combination of the following
  • Consult clinic sessions
  • Precepting access/clinical supervision by a faculty track mentor
  • Monthly meetings and faculty development
  • Annual conference participation at the local, regional, or national level
  • Longitudinal scholarly activity/capstone project with dissemination prior to graduation
  • Certificate of completion upon graduation to support expanded delineation of privileges

Addiction Medicine Specialty Track 

Family medicine physicians are taught full spectrum addiction, HIV and Hepatitis C care. They not only become competent practitioners, but more importantly develop into leaders in this area of care. In this three-year program, you will be trained to become effective providers and advocates in the variety of treatments that are available for treating substance use, HIV and Hepatitis C.

• Integration of Medications for Opiate Use Disorder (MOUD) with care for chronic illness due to related HIV and/or Hepatitis C infection
• Selection and use of medications for alcohol use disorder along with management of alcohol withdrawal in both inpatient and ambulatory settings
• Use of Motivational Interviewing along with collaboration with the mental health team at the Institute and community rehabilitation/harm reduction organizations
• Consult clinic sessions with direct supervision to develop assessment skills, differential diagnosis, and treatment planning and implementation with gradual folding of specialty care into the general patient panel
• Participation in annual regional or national conferences and both internal and external didactics
• Participation in monthly case-based QI meetings with the IFH addiction medicine team
• Dedicated precepting access for routine and complex cases
• Participation in related CQI or other scholarly activity project, and faculty development

Behavioral Medicine

Primary care physicians in the Behavioral Medicine track are prepared to be leaders in bio-psycho- social care, with in-depth knowledge and experience integrating this in the primary care setting.

Participants in this three-year track will gain skills to assess, diagnose and develop effective treatment plans for behavioral health patients through direct patient care experience with behavioral science faculty and our psychiatric providers.

• Weekly behavioral medicine seminar
• Weekly access to participation in consult clinic sessions
• Weekly dedicated psychiatric precepting support
• Participation in development and implementation of monthly didactic content for lecture series
• Access to attend specialty conferences and behavioral medicine trainings, as well as supporting literature and materials.
• Participation in behavioral medicine rounds with the medicine team
• Dedicated clinical supervision
• Participation in related CQI or other scholarly activity project

Junior Faculty Development

Family physicians in this track will be trained to be competent in bridging direct clinical care and teaching practice. Enhanced preparatory training is provided to primary care providers seeking to serve as faculty in training programs like ours.

• Participation in weekly core faculty meetings
• Participation in development and implementation of bimonthly faculty development sessions
• Participation in monthly PEC and organization-wide educational committee meetings, curriculum development, and implementation activities
• Participation in CCC planning and implementation activities
• Participation in the annual ACGME educational conference and STFM annual conference
• Ongoing QI/scholarly activity

LGBTQIA+ Affirming Medicine 

Family medicine residents are taught LGBTQIA+ affirming care and cutting edge treatments aimed at addressing the health issues affecting this diverse patient population. In this three-year track you will build skills through supervised clinical practice and continuing education.

• WPATH Foundations course & Advanced Medical Course
• Weekly participation in gender wellness clinic sessions with direct supervision and dedicated precepting support
• Monthly participation in gender-affirming care consult sessions
• Monthly participation and representation of residency in LGBTQ+ Health Task Force meetings
• Participation in related CQI or other scholarly activity project

Musculoskeletal Medicine

Family physicians in our residency program are trained to provide assessments and treatment through clinical participation in our osteopathic manipulative medicine clinic. In this three-year track, you will develop skills through structured, supervised clinical practice and continuing education, including treating pain without the use of opioids.

• Weekly osteopathic didactic sessions and priority rotation through weekly OMM clinic sessions with direct supervision and dedicated precepting support
• Priority participation in sports medicine including:
  • Pre-sports exams & sideline medicine
  • Joint injection/aspiration
  • Fracture management, casting/splinting

• Orthopedic experiences in the older adult and general population in:
  • Assessment of gait
  • Injury prevention in the athlete and work place
  • Rehab planning

The PCTE Initiative receives funding through a grant from the Health and Human Services Administration (HRSA).