Clinics
Our resident's continuity clinic is held at Wheeling Health Right. Wheeling Health Right serves the "working poor" population. Residents have approximately eight patient visits per 1/2 day session. They are responsible for a panel of patients over the three years of residency. When a patient from Health Right is admitted the resident is notified and participates in the patient's hospital care as well. This ensures comprehensive continuous medical care. The preceptor is available at all times in the clinic for questions and to review cases. There is a full time nurse psychologist on staff to help with biopsychosocial issues in this patient population. The resident learns to interact with Nurse Practitioners also in this setting.
Cost effectiveness is an integral aspect of this learning environment. The clinic has its own pharmacy where medications are given at a minimal fee. At times medical diagnostic resources are limited. The residents must learn to utilize services efficiently. These are skills that are valuable in the clinical setting.
Residents are encouraged to act as consultants to each other based on their level of training and special interests. Residents are taught how to efficiently utilize consulting services when needed. The residents also participate in ambulatory clinics when they are on IM subspecialty services, pediatrics and obstetrics and gynecology.
Call
Residents and Interns participate in the in-house call schedule. The frequency of call and the responsibilities are the same for primary care and traditional residents. We feel this is an integral part of the training. Call is organized with progressive responsibility and decreasing frequency as the resident progresses. Interns can expect a 1 in 5 call schedule. Seniors a 1 in 6 schedule with several months of no call in the 3rd year of training, which may vary, based on the total number residents in the program. Senior residents are given more responsibility for patient management as well as teaching for junior residents, interns and medical students.
