Primary Care residents take advantage of the enormous educational resources found within the University of Pennsylvania Health System. Primary Care residents have two continuity practices: one at the PCPC and a second, community-based site. Many of the supervising physicians have won teaching awards and all are highly regarded as teachers and clinicians. Our residents assume a weekly practice at this community site during their second and third years.
Some examples of the clinical sites include
Health Districts #3 and #4 – These are city-run health centers that serve as “safety net” clinics for the city’s uninsured and under insured populations. Several of our general internal medicine faculty have appointments and see patients regularly and precept primary care residents in these clinics. These clinics provide an opportunity for primary care residents to practice in busy, but resource-poor, clinical settings.
Ralston House - A non-profit organization whose sole focus is the quality of life of older adults. This organization strives to provide people 55+ with the services and support they need to live in their own homes and communities as they age.
Puentes De Salud – This clinic serves primarily Spanish-speaking patients in South and Southwest Philadelphia. Founded by Penn physicians, including a former primary care resident, Puentes De Salud provides primary, obstetrical, and pediatric care.
Indian Health Service – Primary Care Residents have the opportunity to spend a month with the Indian Health Service and are mentored by former Penn graduates at all sites! Sites are Whiteriver, Arizona on the Apache Nations, as well as Navajo Nation sites, including Shiprock, NM and Chinle, AZ.
Helen O. Dickens Center for Women – Primary Care Residents work with Penn’s OB-GYN faculty and residents to provide personalized care to women of all ages. The Center offers a full-range of services and programs to provide excellent, compassionate care, with an emphasis on both physical and psychosocial well-being. Residents gain valuable experience well-woman care, common gynecological disorders, and family planning and birth control.
THRIVE Addiction Medicine Clinic - Our addiction clinic is resident led and housed within our primary care clinic. We provide comprehensive primary care and medications for opioid use disorder including buprenorphine and vivitrol. All of our residents rotate through our addiction clinic 4 times a year and each year 2 residents choose to be clinic chiefs and have the clinic as their second clinic site. This clinic serves a huge need to our Philadelphia community and our residents have expressed that it truly feels like you’re changing someone’s life when we work with them in this setting!
Personalized Elective Experiences - We are able to work with our residents closely to design unique clinical second sites as well as elective experiences based on their clinical and professional interests. Many of our residents take advantage of this and are able to create personalized experiences tailored to their specific learning goals.