Residency Program Curriculum

A Curriculum Built for Progressive Independence

The Carolina Pines curriculum is designed to move residents from supervised foundational practice to confident, increasingly independent care.

Training combines continuity family medicine, inpatient and acute care, maternity care, pediatrics, geriatrics, behavioral health, community medicine, procedures, point-of-care ultrasound, simulation, Health Systems Science, quality and safety, and individualized learning.

Responsibility grows throughout residency - not only in patient care, but also in clinical judgment, teaching, leadership, and preparation for independent practice.

PGY-1
BUILD THE FOUNDATION

Reliable clinical habits

Safety and escalation

Acute-care decisions

Longitudinal patient relationships

PGY-2
EXPAND SCOPE + AGENCY

Greater complexity

Increasing ownership

Teach junior learners

Systems improvement

PGY-3
LEAD + PREPARE FOR PRACTICE

Senior responsibility

Care integration

Leadership and teaching

Independent-practice readiness

Protected Time. Active Learning.

Residents receive four hours of protected educational time each week, structured across Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Every incoming class completes June Orientation and the July Clinical Launch Bootcamp, while continuing residents remain in the shared rolling curriculum. After July, first year residents join that shared curriculum at the current point, with expectations set for their level, and faculty adjust accordingly. Rising second years complete leadership and resident-as-teacher preparation, and third years take part in teaching, integration and transition activities.

The curriculum combines focused clinical teaching, case-based decision-making, simulation and procedural skills, Health Systems Science, quality improvement and patient safety, sustainable performance, and board-style clinical reasoning.

The goal is not simply to cover information. Residents practice how to recognize problems, make decisions, communicate effectively, escalate care appropriately, and apply evidence in real clinical situations.

MONDAY
Primer

Set the standard: why it matters, key guideline/standard/workflow, target skill.

WEDNESDAY
Case/Tactical Decision Game

Practice judgment: decision points, escalation thresholds, faculty debrief.

FRIDAY
Integrated Block

Core teaching, applied cases, skills/simulation, HSS/QI/safety, sustainable performance, board-style review.

Practice Before it Counts

Simulation gives residents a safe environment to practice high-stakes clinical care, procedures, communication, and teamwork before those skills are needed in real patient care.

Residents work through realistic clinical scenarios and then debrief with faculty to examine clinical reasoning, communication, teamwork, and opportunities for improvement.

Simulation may include acute deterioration, resuscitation, obstetric emergencies, inpatient emergencies, transitions of care, and procedural skills.

Procedure Clinic + POCUS

Learn by Doing

Procedural competence comes from repetition, coaching, and feedback.

In addition to procedures encountered throughout clinic, inpatient medicine, emergency care, maternity care, and other rotations, Carolina Pines residents have access to a dedicated procedure clinic designed to create consistent opportunities for hands-on training with direct faculty supervision.

Training emphasizes patient selection, informed consent, procedural technique, documentation, complication recognition and management, aftercare, and knowing when referral is appropriate.

Residents develop skills through demonstration, supervised practice, simulation, direct feedback, and graduated responsibility.

Procedures You Can Expect to Perform

Point-of-Care Ultrasound as a Clinical Tool

Point-of-care ultrasound is incorporated into residency training as a practical extension of the history and physical examination.

Residents develop POCUS skills through dedicated education, supervised clinical use, simulation, and integration into patient care. Training emphasizes choosing the appropriate examination, image acquisition, interpretation, clinical integration, and understanding the limitations of bedside ultrasound.

The goal is for residents to become comfortable using POCUS when it can improve clinical decision-making and patient care.

Maternity Care + Obstetrics

Train Where Maternity Care Is Still Part of Family Medicine

Maternity care is an important part of broad-scope family medicine training at Carolina Pines.

Residents train on an active Labor and Delivery service averaging approximately 53 deliveries per month alongside family medicine and obstetric colleagues. Training includes prenatal care, labor assessment and management, delivery, postpartum care, newborn care, fetal assessment, and obstetric emergencies.

Residents receive dedicated obstetric training early in residency, with women's health and maternity care reinforced throughout the curriculum.

Carolina Pines also offers a Level II special care nursery, high-risk pregnancy services, multidisciplinary maternity care, tele-Maternal Fetal Medicine access, and simulation for obstetric emergencies.