The center has special and warm relationships with a multitude of nearby service organizations and facilities, including the Pittsburgh Women's Center and Shelter, organizations serving the gay community, Alpha House Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation programs, Healthy Beginnings Plus, two school systems, and Chatham College, a nearby women's college where residents rotate to obtain experience in the medical care and social problems of young adults in college. These well-established relationships give you the diverse experiences essential to becoming a well-rounded physician, without the hassles and time investment involved in going outside the residency program.

In 1985, the Family Health Center pioneered a computerized medical record system. After 18 years of successful use it was retired in favor of a new automated chart system in May of 2003. Physicians enter encounter data directly into the automated medical record. Each exam room is equipped with a computer and monitor. All lab, x-ray, and progress notes from other doctors and hospitals in the system are available at the click of a mouse. Direct connections to the Health Science Library and drug interaction checkers assure access to critical information at the time of care. The Health Maintenance module provides patient-specific advice about needed preventive and disease management interventions. The Family Health Center was the first site in the country to use the Cerner PowerNote medical record for primary care.

Access to the Internet, a comprehensive medical library of compact disc databases and programs, and different modalities of learning – as well as the hospital computer system, hospital discharge summaries, consultation and other reports – are available at the Family Health Center.

Office precepting enables you to discuss each case with an experienced family physician while seeing the patient. Many of these faculty are themselves in private practice, thus ensuring exposure to a variety of practice styles. On-site consultations with our social worker, obstetrician, pediatrician, and psychiatrist are available upon request. Faculty in ob-gyn run regular clinics, allowing the referring resident to perform additional procedures with an experienced hand nearby. These faculty, along with family practice faculty, also teach colposcopy, flexible sigmoidoscopy, obstetric ultrasonography, and other important techniques.

A preceptor can provide you with an electronic note about your office visit. This provides you with yet another avenue for clinical advice and feedback that is absolutely essential to an excellent education in medicine.

The program offers regular ambulatory care seminars every Wednesday afternoon. The seminars tend to emphasize techniques of problem solving rather than the rote ingestion of facts. The occasional presence of third- and fourth-year medical students further enriches the academic atmosphere at the center.

Since residents have many responsibilities outside the office, the skilled and dedicated Family Health Center staff plays a major role in helping residents care for patients. Protocols and office systems developed by residents, faculty, and staff ensure appropriate care and provide you with models for your own future practice. The independent organization of the center and its fully-equipped laboratory and x-ray services allow you to learn all the skills you will need to run a thriving, efficient practice, whether urban, suburban, or rural.