At St. Clair Health, our physician mentors have expertise in all aspects of general and subspecialty internal medicine, providing residents with abundant and meaningful educational and patient care experiences.

We pledge an uncompromised commitment to clinical medicine and exceptional resident training.

3+1 Block schedule

The St Clair Health Internal Medicine Residency utilizes a 3+ 1 block schedule to optimize the educational experience in the ambulatory clinic, inpatient wards, intensive care unit and electives. Our residents complete 1 week in our resident as PCP clinic followed by 3 weeks of each rotation in a repeating cycle over 13 blocks. By limiting interruptions in each respective rotation and short intervals between longitudinal continuity clinics, we aim to create a rich, dynamic educational experience.  From a well-being perspective, residents have a standing weekend free from clinical duties every 4^th week.

Continuity Clinic

In our “Resident as PCP” continuity clinic, supervised residents manage their own panel of patients over the course of their three years.  The 3+1 block schedule design prioritizes residents’ clinic time and helps promote healthy, lifelong well-being to combat burnout in primary care.

The clinic model is designed to give learners an experiential blueprint for running a practice and empower them to pursue careers in outpatient medicine after practicing the skills essential for ambulatory care. During the continuity clinic block, there will also be opportunities to participate in community outreach, including the Bethel Park Farmers’ Market Blood Pressure Booth.

A Day in the Life Curriculum: Residents will shadow a medical assistant, nurse on the floor, social worker, and phlebotomist. This helps instill interprofessional respect and provide practical education about system-based practices.

Specialty Care:  Residents will have scheduled experience in telemedicine, hospice and palliative care, addiction medicine, geriatrics and pain management.

Educational Activities: The St. Clair Health Internal Medicine Residency program is committed to innovative educational initiatives and conferences, utilizing a diverse array of delivery methods beyond the traditional noon conferences. Our objective is to ensure that Residents have ample, protected opportunities for regular education.

Our educational curriculum includes subspecialty noon conferences, grand rounds, multidisciplinary morbidity, mortality and improvement conference, morning report, journal club, simulation station, faculty led board review, well-being, clinician educator conference and healthcare diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging conference. We utilize a combination of didactics, workshops, whiteboard mini lectures and simulation to optimize education for residents of all different learning styles. This integral foundation bolsters Resident competency, fosters self-reflection and stimulates a passion for lifelong learning.

Patient Outreach: During the continuity clinic block, there will also be opportunities to participate in community outreach, including the Bethel Park Farmer’s Market Blood Pressure Booth. The Bethel Park Farmers’ Market participates in Dr. Ciuksza’s 501(c)3 nonprofit, Food Assistance Match (FAM) to double food assistance dollars. Residents will perform blood pressure checks for interested participants at the Farmer’s Market with supervising faculty from the St. Clair Internal Medicine Primary Care Practice.  This will serve as an opportunity to meet patients where they are in their community and facilitate access to care.