Family Medicine Residency - Erie

Program Director: Timothy D. Pelkowski, MD
Accreditation: ACGME
Program Length: 3 years (PGY1-PGY3)
Residents per year: 6

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Why Choose Erie?
Benefits and Salaries
Physician Wellness
Curriculum
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About the program

The Family Medicine Residency Program at Saint Vincent Hospital offers residents the option of both an urban and rural practice in which to complete their residencies. The urban setting at Saint Vincent Family Medicine Center is located on the campus of Saint Vincent Hospital and provides a valuable opportunity for residents to gain a full understanding of a private office practice. Saint Vincent Family Medicine Center has 20 examination rooms, a well-equipped laboratory with a full-time technologist, an electronic medical record system, a large conference room and library. On average, residents and faculty see 100 patients each day at the Center, involving everything from routine well-child care to examinations and treatment of the elderly. Faculty member preceptors assure a superior blend of practice and conceptual teaching for residents.

The Elk Valley Medical Center in Girard provides a rural setting for residents. This practice is located approximately 15 miles from center city Erie. This state-of-the-art office employs three board-certified physicians who are committed to excellent resident education. Elk Valley boasts a full -time lab, a procedure room, conference area and resident library. There are 23 exam rooms, each with computer screens for easy access to electronic medical records. As is the case at The Family Medicine Center, residents provide a wide variety of medical care. This practice sees a slightly higher volume of patients seeking obstetrical care, providing increased opportunities to experience prenatal patients and procedures. In both settings, the dedicated clinical faculty works elbow-to-elbow with residents, assuring the highest quality experience and
education.

Saint Vincent is a 400-bed tertiary hospital with wide-ranging clinical inpatient learning opportunities. The hospital provides international health rotations, Osteopathic Recognition, plentiful medical student teaching opportunities and a Sports Medicine track.

Scholarship

The residency program places a strong emphasis on evidence based medicine. Residents and faculty have access to numerous online clinical resources to ensure access to the most up to date material in the medical literature. Many of these references are integrated into our electronic medical record. 

Our longitudinal lecture series introduces the elements of critical appraisal and statistical analysis which are put into practice during our monthly journal club.

Public speaking and presentation skills are integrated into service months with weekly evidence based reviews of current inpatient cases in the format of a weekly morning report.

Additionally, residents will arrange and deliver at least one formal clinical presentation. Residents are additionally supported if they choose to deliver didactic training in areas of interest they choose to research and develop under the guidance of faculty.

Further scholarly opportunities include, but are not limited to

• a variety of presentations at local, regional and national conferences including frequent involvement with the Family Medicine Education Consortium, Pennsylvania Academy of Family Physicians, and the Pennsylvania Medical Society
• curricular projects
• quality improvement projects
• individual research
• sports medicine research projects with one of our four CAQSM certified faculty
  

Community outreach and advocacy

As primary care physicians we pride ourselves on outreach and community health impact. Our program offers many opportunities to get involved and make a difference!

• We are the sole primary care provider for Perseus House, a youth residential care system in our community.
• The Stop The Bleed® educational campaign from the American College of Surgeons has made waves worldwide. Our program certifies residents as designated instructors, allowing us to spread this education to the community.
• In conjunction with our Sports Medicine fellowship program, we provide pre-participation physicals and sideline coverage for many of the high school and college athletic programs in Erie County
• Further volunteer opportunities include; regular school based tobacco cessation education utilizing the American Academy of Family Physicians “Tar Wars” program; interaction with the Dr. Barclay’s Camp for Children with Diabetes at Camp Fitch; and the Multicultural Health Evaluation Delivery System (MEHDS) which provides care to local refugees. 
• Interaction with the Erie County Medical Society and Pennsylvania Medical Society are available for those with interest in advocacy as well as the regular community outreach programs available through those organizations.

About Graduate Medical Education

The Family Medicine Residency - Erie program is part of the Graduate Medical Education (GME) opportunities offered by the AHN Medical Education Consortium. Learn more about Graduate Medical Education.

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