About the Program

Clinical Training

• Outpatient Continuity Practice – Residents will begin their outpatient training at Highland Family Medicine, the main residency clinic, during their PGY-1 year. They will spend 1-2 half-days per week in clinic seeing patients from a small continuity panel. Before the end of the PGY-1 year, residents will relocate to the rural community and establish their continuity practices at Tri-County Family Medicine (TCFM). Outpatient experience increases as residents progress through training, reaching 4-5 half-days per week on most rotations by the end of the PGY-3 year, including administrative time to address important patient care tasks.

• Tri-County Family Medicine (TCFM) is an FQHC-lookalike organization with 6 health centers throughout the rural counties south of Rochester. They have provided comprehensive care for these communities for over 50 years. One of the founding members of Tri-County Family Medicine was Paul Frame, MD. Dr. Frame practiced rurally here for 35 years before retiring in 2009 from clinical practice. He had a career-long interest in evidence-based preventive medicine and the implementation of preventive services in practice. He published one of the first evidence-based critical reviews of clinical preventive services in 1975 and was an integral member of the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) from 1992-2004.
  
  To welcome the new rural residency training program, TCFM and the University of Rochester Medical Center are partnering to construct a brand-new residency clinic in 2026.
  
  

  The new residency clinic will have 16 exam rooms including 2 dedicated procedure rooms for procedures such as ultrasound, colposcopy and other gynecologic procedures, dermatologic procedures, and musculoskeletal procedures. Adjustable exam tables can also be used for osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT). A centrally located common work room for physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, and medical assistants will facilitate team-based care. Care managers have on-site offices. An on-site pharmacy will provide both convenience for patients and the ability to have real-time pharmacy consultation for clinical questions. Residents will have their own personal workspace alongside the faculty physician offices.
• Adult Inpatient Medicine – Residents have a total of 6 months of inpatient medicine, 2 weeks of night float, and one month of ICU. Two months of inpatient medicine occur at Highland Hospital during the PGY-1 year. One month occurs on the family medicine continuity service with a team of family medicine residents under the supervision of family medicine faculty who practice inpatient hospital medicine. The second month occurs on a team of family medicine residents under the supervision of hospitalist attending physicians to demonstrate an alternate approach to inpatient care. In the PGY-2 and PGY-3 years, residents will provide inpatient care under the guidance of hospitalist physicians at our two rural hospitals – Noyes Hospital in Dansville and St. James Hospital in Hornell. They will work for 4 weeks in the ICU at Noyes Hospital and cover the night float service at Noyes Hospital for 2 weeks.
• Obstetrics – With about 2500 deliveries per year, Highland Hospital is the busiest maternity unit in the Rochester area. PGY-1 residents routinely get 40-50 deliveries in their 2-month OB rotation, and have the opportunity to train with family physicians, obstetricians, and nurse midwives. Family Medicine surgical OB fellows also add to the educational experience. During their 2nd and 3rd years, residents will return for 1-month rotations at Highland to maintain their high-volume exposure. These upper-level resident experiences will include supervisory experience, management of more serious complications of pregnancy and labor, and additional ultrasound training. Residents interested in practicing maternity care after residency routinely get over 100 deliveries. Continuity prenatal care experience and continuity patient deliveries begin late in the R-1 year after residents establish in the rural community. Noyes Hospital performs about 400 deliveries per year. Residents will work with both family medicine and obstetrics attendings to cover the majority of these deliveries, including both vaginal deliveries and first assistant roles in the OR for Cesarean deliveries.
• Pediatrics – 3 months of high-volume hospital-based experiences in Rochester during the PGY-1 year, which include 4 weeks of pediatric emergency medicine, 6 weeks of inpatient pediatrics, and 2 weeks of NICU. In the PGY-2 and PGY-3 years, residents do busy outpatient ambulatory pediatrics experiences in the rural community. Through our partnership with the Oak Orchard Community Health Center, residents will gain significant experience with well child visits, acute illness, management of chronic conditions, and behavioral health.