A similar ambulatory rotation in neurology, gastroenterology, and pulmonary medicine is offered for one month of the third year. Each of these rotations has structured readings and written learning objectives which residents are expected to achieve by the end of the rotation. Several private practitioners in the area, many who are former Penn State residents, enjoy having primary care residents rotate through their busy office practices. Inpatient Medicine Residents will spend enough time on the inpatient services to develop the same expertise as their categorical colleagues in managing sick inpatients. Primary Care Track residents will devote some of their inpatient time to a tertiary care experience at The Milton S. Hershey Medical Center with its great diversity of unusual pathology and some will be spent in a primary care experience at York and Holy Spirit Hospitals, where the emphasis is on learning to practice outstanding, cost effective medicine on patients with more common diseases.
Residents receive constructive faculty feedback at the end of each rotation.
The Program Director is very accessible, frequently meeting informally with residents to discuss their concerns. In addition, a normal feedback session is held every six months to discuss each resident's progress. Each resident planning to enter practice will receive personal counseling and assistance in locating the practice opportunity best suited to their personal needs. Specific practical advice such as what to ask during an interview, how to write an effective CV, and how to evaluate the financial arrangements in a contract is available to residents.