Medical Student Placements
The Institute provides high-quality, patient-centered health care for diverse populations on a family practice model, and rotations at all sites provide valuable experience in family medicine, working with accomplished practitioners, innovative practices, and advanced technology. The family practice model of care is based on a holistic approach to health that integrates psychological, social, economic, and environmental determinants of health with biomedical factors. We view comprehensive women’s health care, including a full scope of reproductive care, as an integral part of family medicine. Many of our doctors have additional specializations in fields such as HIV and geriatrics. The Institute welcomes medical students interested in gaining first-hand experience providing primary care in medically underserved communities.
The Comprehensive Family Medicine Elective
This elective is designed for the medical student to gain more experience in family medicine, in both the outpatient and inpatient setting. The student will spend two weeks on our family medicine inpatient unit at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan, where the Institute for Family Health manages a 20-bed family medicine service. The other two weeks are spent at the Institute for Family Health’s clinical FQHC sites in New York City, mainly split between the Family Health Center of Harlem and the Institute for Family Health at 17th Street. We serve a diverse population, offering reproductive care services, integrative medicine services, HIV care, and prenatal care. Medical students are asked to participate on the inpatient team in presenting patients, managing common pathology, and interacting with specialists, families, and colleagues. On the outpatient side, there is opportunity to see patients independently, as well as observe outpatient procedures including biopsies, IUD placements and joint injections. Students are expected to present patients to their preceptors, both in the outpatient and inpatient contexts. Students will be precepted by the faculty of the Mount Sinai Downtown Residency in Urban Family Medicine and the Institute for Family Health’s Harlem Residency in Family Medicine. The elective is designed for medical students to demonstrate some level of competency in family medicine principles, as well as gain an understanding of the culture and resources of the two family medicine residency programs they will work with.
Students interested in this elective should email the downstate medical student placements coordinator, Eric Wildstein, eric.wildstein@mssm.edu, to request information.
Family Medicine in Action Elective
At the heart of Family Medicine is the desire to provide comprehensive, coordinated, and culturally-competent care and to advocate for the health of the unique communities we serve. At the Institute for Family Health, we are proud to serve a broad array of patients, spanning many cultures, ages, and socioeconomic groups, including those who are uninsured and unhoused. During this elective, you will have the opportunity to rotate through a variety of our different outpatient sites and be exposed to the breadth and depth of family medicine. This can include types of care traditionally seen as specialty care (such as HIV medicine, addiction medicine, sports medicine, integrative medicine and reproductive care) as well as alternative care sites such as CASES and Care Found Here. In addition, you will learn about population and community health as another method of advocating for patients, which will include working on a brief quality improvement or advocacy project. This elective is designed for four weeks to maximize continuity with preceptors and allow for the completion of a short project.
Students interested in this elective should email the Institute for Family Health medical student placements coordinator, Eric Wildstein, eric.wildstein@mssm.edu, to request information.
Mid-Hudson Family Practice Residency Program
Third and fourth year medical students rotate at various clinical sites including the Kingston Hospital, the Ellenville Hospital, and the Institute’s Family Health Centers in Kingston, New Paltz, Ellenville, Hyde Park, and Port Ewen. Third year rotations in Family Medicine and fourth year electives in Family Medicine and Inpatient Medicine are available. Please email the Mid-Hudson Family Medicine Residency Coordinator ymendez@institute.org to request information.