Skip to main content

Family Medicine Enhanced Care for the Underserved Track

UPMC Shadyside Family Medicine Residency Program has long been an excellent clinical training program for it’s ability to prepare the graduates for a smooth transition into a variety of health care settings. During the years that the residency has been in place, our physicians have been providing outpatient care to a wide range of patients primarily within our own Family Health Center. The health center is situated across the street from the hospital, but within a short drive to a variety of inner city neighborhoods of Pittsburgh. It has long been considered a place for compassionate, comprehensive care for some of Pittsburgh’s disenfranchised population.

In 2010 an additional training site was established to provide an intensified experience for a small number of residents who self-identified as being particularly interested in learning skills to manage the most medically underserved populations. One resident per year is chosen for the "Underserved Track." This allows them to spend part of their outpatient clinical time within the Matilda Theiss Health Center a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) nearby in the historic Hill District of Pittsburgh. While providing continuity care at that location, they receive supervision by members of the Department of Family Medicine of the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Medicine, but still maintain close affiliation with the residency program. The remaining clinical hours will occur at the Family Health Center.

The underserved track residents will be more intensively involved in community problem-solving, uninsured resources development, and multidisciplinary care models. The participants will be encouraged to expand in-office procedural skills. Longitudinal obstetrical care will be a focus of the experience. While our current program design addresses the urban underserved populations, it is our expectation that the skills for rural practice will not be dissimilar. It is desired to have those residents graduate with an additional set of skills to handle the unique complications of our nation's underserved. This preparation will assist with transitioning to Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSA), National Health Service Corps (NHSC), or affiliation with a FQHC.

In recognition of the impending shortage of well-trained primary care providers within the United States, Health Resources and Services Organization (HRSA), as a branch of the Department of Health and Human Services, initiated funding designed to enhance the primary care workforce. Under the recommendations of Healthy People 2020, providers with the skills and desires to facilitate care for the medically underserved are emphasized. Initial funding to develop our specialized training was obtained by the University of Pittsburgh’s Department of Family Medicine.

We at UPMC Shadyside Family Medicine Residency are excited by the opportunity to provide this longitudinal clinical module. The former graduates of this training are using their skills in a variety of settings. If you are interested, please be sure to let us know prior to your interview/site visit, so we may accommodate your desire to visit this additional location