Integrating Primary Care Appointments Into Resident Orientation

Trainee well-being is a major concern for institutions and programs, yet many residents report suboptimal access to or contact with primary care for themselves.

To address the health care needs of residents, we developed a mechanism whereby all incoming residents were offered an appointment with a primary care clinician (PCP) during institutional intern orientation.

In April 2019, all incoming residents (17 specialties) were invited to participate. A collaboration involving the GME office and family medicine and internal medicine departments enabled interested residents to attend PCP appointments that were held at predesignated times during orientation and did not conflict with other orientation or learning activities. Residents received appointment details, and insurance billing processes were followed. A survey was administered to all participating PCPs and incoming residents 2 weeks following their scheduled PCP appointment.

Of the 144 incoming residents, 118 (82%) participated. Among the 71 of 144 (49%) residents who responded to the survey, 94% indicated that they desired an appointment, with 90% attending the appointment as scheduled; 52% purposed their visit as an introduction for future appointments, while 15% requested prescription refills. All but one recommended that the initiative be offered again in the future. Seventy-two percent stated that participating in the PCP initiative definitely/probably led to improvements in self-care, and 76% indicated that participating definitely/probably made them more conscious of their health and well-being.

Integrating PCP appointments into orientation is feasible and was highly acceptable in a large academic medical center.