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Optional Tracks

The training and experience at North Colorado Family Medicine will prepare you to practice almost anywhere, but we recognize that each physician has their own particular interests that they would like to pursue further. For that reason, we have implemented several optional tracks that provide additional resources and opportunities to pursue a given area of focus. The tracks are available to residents in each of our five Programs. In addition to the tracks listed below, we are working on an additional Leadership track to help prepare residents for future careers as faculty and other leadership roles.

For residents interested in learning and including surgical obstetrics in their future practice, the Advanced Maternity Care (AMC) track starts during the second year of residency and follows is longitudinal during the second and third years.

AMC residents participate in all the surgical cases on Monfort Family Birth Center (MFBC) when they are assigned to coverage on MFBC.  AMC Track residents take 2 to 3 cesarean-section home calls during the months when they are not on service.  AMC residents are expected to provide post-operative patient care (i.e., round) on all their surgical patients. AMC residents also complete an advanced maternity care month during the third year (instead of one of the electives) where there will be added opportunity to get involved in surgeries, OB ultrasound, and high-risk OB management. 

AMC residents are expected to regularly attend and participate in Advanced Maternity Care monthly meetings including completing the reading assignments prior to the meeting.  AMC residents will present at 1 of our monthly meetings in their second and third year of residency.  In addition, residents teach in 1 ALSO or BLSO course prior to graduation.

By the end of residency, AMC residents typically have logged more than 110 cesareans with half of them as the primary surgeon.

The purpose of the Global Health Track is to foster increased understanding and involvement in domestic and international cross-cultural health care. There are monthly evening meetings that are open to anyone that include a variety of guest speakers, workshops, articles and “book club” discussions about various global health topics. For those residents completing this track, they must be the speaker at least once at a monthly meeting. Six independent study modules from the Institute of International Medicine must be completed. Active contribution to local cross-cultural service-learning projects, and completion of a 4-week, cross-cultural service-learning immersion experience either domestically or internationally are highlights of the track. Residents must commit to the Global Health Track by the beginning of their second year at North Colorado Family Medicine.

For residents that may want to pursue a career as a hospitalist, the hospitalist track offers additional focused training in adult hospital medicine.  This is accomplished by rotating for two four week blocks with the hospitalist group (family medicine and internal medicine attendings) during the third year as well as additional focused training in various hospital medicine topics and skills. Longitudinal aspects include weekly attendance at a hospitalist didactic, completing hospital related ABFM educational items, membership on various hospital committees, paid membership in the Society of Hospital Medicine, attending a hospitalist CME during the third year, as well as journal club articles and the capstone project are hospital focused.  NCFM graduates are well qualified to work as adult hospitalists or as a full spectrum (adult, pediatrics, OB) hospitalist. 

The Sports Medicine Track is available to residents with an interest in Primary Care Sports Medicine as a part of their future practice. Whether they desire to pursue a fellowship or simply hope to further their knowledge in Sports Medicine during residency, there are many opportunities at North Colorado Family Medicine. Through rotations, longitudinal experiences, academic pursuits, and coverage of athletic events and teams including high school, recreational, and Division I teams, this path gives the resident the opportunity to gain a greater competency in caring for athletes and musculoskeletal issues.

During the intern year, the interested residents meet with Sports Medicine faculty. Together they begin mapping out a curriculum that aligns their individual goals and objectives.

In addition to the orthopedic rotations done by all residents at North Colorado Family Medicine, residents on this path complete a Sports Medicine elective during their second and/or third year of residency (oftentimes at potential fellowship matches). With the addition of musculoskeletal ultrasound, the resident has the option of taking part in the Musculoskeletal Ultrasound rotation during one of their elective months during their third year.

There is a multitude of opportunity for athletic coverage in the Greeley, Colorado area. Residents get experience working with University of Northern Colorado Division I athletes in the training room and on the sidelines. The resident also may be matched with a local high school to serve as the team doctor. In addition to the local school sporting events, there are numerous other mass events in the Greeley area that the residents will have the opportunity to staff and coordinate, including roller derby bouts, senior events, the Greeley Triathlon, Colorado Special Olympics events and others.

Residents involved in this track are strongly encouraged to pursue their academic interests in Sports Medicine as well. They will be encouraged to remain active in American Medical Society for Sports Medicine and/or American College of Sports Medicine, and faculty will assist in seeking out conferences, presentations, and research opportunities as they fit with the resident’s specific interests. Each resident is provided an annual CME stipend and 5 days that can be utilized towards conference attendance and organizational membership.

Living, Leading & Medicine: the NCFM leadership project

Living, Leading & Medicine is a new, innovative leadership track aimed at enhancing the everyday leadership skills of NCFM’s resident physicians.  

It is our hope that this project will:

  • Introduce the most useful topics in leadership – tools that are immediately applicable to residents’ life & training

  • Offer a setting that enables residents to reflect on & interact over a variety of essential leadership topics & tools

  • Deliver sessions that are focused & substantial – yet fit into residents’ packed schedules & lives

Curriculum & topics

Living, Leading & Medicine focuses on leadership at 3 different levels: Leading Inward, Leading Outward and Leading Upward.  Every year, we dedicate one meeting to each of these essential levels of leadership – for a total of 9 topics over 3 years of residency.

Leading Inward pertains to developing your personal, individual leadership skills and knowledge.  These sessions are anchored on the fundamental leadership principle that how you lead is based on who you are.  The more you understand yourself – your goals, strengths, and blind spots – the more effectively you can lead.  

Leading Outward addresses your key relationships and networks.  These sessions serve to provide the tools to navigate the pitfalls that beset leaders and enable you to engage the people around you to get important work done.

Leading Upward has to do with your impact on the world around you.  This ranges from career planning to ethics in physician leadership & industry knowledge.