Madison Residency Curriculum

First Year

On entering the residency, each first-year resident is partnered with another from their clinic for many inpatient rotations and the Community Health rotation. This partnership helps residents manage multiple responsibilities and provides vital peer support.

First-year rotations include:

• Family medicine inpatient services at St. Mary’s Hospital and UW Hospital
• MICU at St. Mary’s
• Pediatric inpatient care at St. Mary’s and American Family Children’s Hospital
• Pediatric and family medicine night cross-cover at St. Mary’s
• Obstetrics at St. Mary’s
• Rural surgery preceptorship
• Emergency medicine at both community hospitals and St. Mary’s
• Community Health rotation
• Family medicine obstetrics and newborn care at Meriter Hospital

Residents also attend weekly seminars focused on family medicine and ambulatory care. In the first year, they begin building continuity practices at one of our four family medicine clinics, averaging two half-days per week. Each clinic uses a team approach to ensure continuity of care, shared awareness of complex patients, and after-hours support.

Second- and Third-Years

In the second and third years, residents spend fewer blocks on inpatient rotations and have more chances to teach and supervise. They typically see patients in the family medicine clinic two half-days per week while on inpatient rotations and four half-days during outpatient or elective blocks. Subspecialty rotations are generally five half-days per week, combined with clinic and conference time.

Required experiences include dermatology, ENT, gynecology, nutrition,, orthopedics and related care, pediatricss, sports medicine, and a rural rotation (3–4 weeks) at sites across Wisconsin. Residents also complete longitudinal rotations in community health and management of health systems. Night call is shared among second- and third-year residents through four After Hours Care weeks each year.

Electives and Individualized Training

Residents have at least 24 weeks of elective time to tailor their education. Options range from allergy, geriatrics, neurology, and urgent care to addiction medicine, integrative health, global health, medical informatics, research, and more. Many residents design their own electives or pursue longitudinal experiences aligned with personal goals.

Additional Learning and Support

Educational opportunities include weekly primary care conferences, family medicine seminars, clustered didactics, teaching rounds, and a longitudinal EKG series. Our strong behavioral science curriculum ensures all faculty integrate attention to emotional needs and the biopsychosocial model into teaching and patient care.

Community and Global Health

Residents engage in a longitudinal community health curriculum, learning to build partnerships with local agencies and develop projects tailored to their clinic’s population. Goals include understanding local health needs, integrating social resources into care, and seeing the impact of policy on patients. Many also pursue our Global Health Pathway, which offers structured experiences both locally and abroad.

Pathways and Resident Well-Being

Educational Pathways let residents explore areas of special interest through individualized yet structured curricula. We also prioritize well-being with events like the mid-winter “Fizzle” dinner, chief resident rounds, annual retreats, and wellness-focused group activities. Faculty and staff remain open and available to support residents’ quality of life and training experience.