Welcome, Applicant!
I am excited to introduce you to our new transitional year program at St. Clair Health, in neighborly Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Our strongest asset is that we highly value work culture and individual well-being.
We are not your typical community hospital. On the one hand, we have attributes of a larger program, such as disproportionately large emergency medicine, cardiovascular, oncology, and psychiatry services. On the other hand, we retain the best qualities of a community hospital, where the focus can be on compassionate patient care and learner-centered education.
Because our central mission is to provide you, as a PGY-1 intern, with the best clinical foundation possible, we exceed the ACGME requirements for fundamental clinical skills (FCS). Your FCS training may include three Internal Medicine inpatient rotations, an outpatient Family Medicine rotation, a hybrid inpatient-outpatient clinical experience, rotations in Cardiology, Critical Care, General Surgery and Emergency Medicine, and a Night Float experience.
We also aim to provide each of you with a guided elective experience, tailored to meet your specific needs, depending on your subsequent subspecialty training program.
We particularly welcome undifferentiated candidates, with whom we partner even before the academic year has begun, to design a clinical experience based on your needs and interests, in order to optimize your success.
Our Professional Growth and Satisfaction Plan (PGSP) is a unique coaching program we created to support you in your first year, while fueling your inner passion for Medicine. You may benefit from this support in planning your Step 3 examination and your two required scholarly activity projects.
Your training will also include a supplementary and innovative curriculum, entitled Introduction to Health Systems Science (IHSS). This program covers topics such as healthcare delivery system, healthcare economics, safety and quality improvement, quality versus value, healthcare law and ethics, clinical informatics, population health, and the structural and social determinants of health. We think that this knowledge will empower you with a sense of agency as you develop your medical career.
Bring your questions to the interview!
Sincerely,
Maxim D. Hammer, MD, MBA
Chief of Neurology
Transitional Year Program Director
St. Clair Health