Ambulatory Objectives

Residents will:

• Evaluate and manage patients with the range of problems encountered by primary care physicians
• Address health care maintenance issues for adult patients
• Cultivate the robust set of physical examination skills essential to the practice of outpatient internal medicine
• Perform primary care procedures, such as joint injection, skin biopsy, and dermatologic cryotherapy
• Demonstrate communication skills necessary for effective medical interviewing and patient counseling
• Orchestrate the longitudinal care of primary care patients, including follow-up, telephone medicine, and collaboration with consultants, nutritionists, social workers, and various community services
• Develop systems to convert their emerging information needs into well-formed clinical questions and to efficiently acquire, appraise, and apply medical information
• Exemplify the highest standards of ethics in patient, professional, and interpersonal interactions
• Efficiently provide patient-centered care as part of an interprofessional team within a practice microsystem
  
• Accurately document and code for care provided in an electronic medical record

Residents will:

• Understand the presentation, evaluation, and management strategies of chronic diseases and acute illnesses encountered by primary care physicians
  
• Understand the basic principles for interpreting diagnostic tests, including probability revision and cost-effectiveness
• Understand the health care system in the United States and Connecticut (and proposed reforms) and its impact on the provision of primary care
• Appreciate core values of the Patient Centered Medical Home care model
  Attitudes
  

Residents will:

• Appreciate the rewards and responsibilities of assuming the primary care of a group of patients, including the importance of patient advocacy
• Consider their role as primary care physicians in the larger contexts of medicine in general, society, and their family and social networks