Overview

At the University of Kentucky, our educational curriculum is intentionally designed to hone clinical reasoning, prepare for board exams, and provide a foundation of practical skills that will aid in future career and clinical endeavors. We seek to engage residents with diverse content and learning formats. Our didactic curriculum is in alignment with the ABIM Certification Examination Blueprint to ensure that all residents are adequately prepared to pass boards after graduation. In addition, our interactive curriculum is focused on clinical reasoning conferences, simulation-based experiences, POCUS workshops, billing and coding, and much more. See below for more details about our individual learning opportunities.

Morning Report

Morning report occurs every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday from 7:30-8 a.m. All residents gather together to practice clinical decision making, diagnostic schemas, complex differentials and diagnostic dilemmas. Each resident will have multiple opportunities to present cases throughout their residency with a chief resident who facilitates the conference and our very engaged faculty who come to share their pearls.

Noon Conference

Noon conference occurs at UK every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday from 12:10 p.m. to 1 p.m. This noon conference series is primarily focused on medical knowledge and board preparation but also offers sessions on personal and professional development.  Conference styles vary to offer both traditional didactic content and interactive sessions such as “Flip the Script”, Case-Based Conferences, Jeopardy, and workshops on billing and coding.

Academic Half Day

Academic half day occurs twice a month for residents on their ambulatory clinic rotation. Residents participate in three hours of protected time for learning that includes knowledge, skill and procedural training. These small-group interactive sessions are led by chiefs, core faculty and subspecialty content experts.

Asynchronous Learning

Through program provided memberships including ACP and MKSAP, we seek to add supplementary educational opportunities to augment our board prep curriculum. These learning materials may include podcasts, readings, question banks, online modules, etc. as optional additional education resources. 

Simulation Curriculum

All residents participate in simulation-based training. Sessions are scheduled during the academic half day and consist of clinical scenarios with de-compensating patients or a code blue. Our goal is to use simulations to prepare residents to handle real life situations when rotating on the wards and ICU.

Ultrasound Curriculum

Second year residents may opt in to an additional point-of-care ultrasound training curriculum. With a dedicated 10 month curriculum residents review key literature in advance of hands on sessions. Sessions are led by an  expert core faculty and experienced fellows utilizing standardized patients for at the bedside guidance in image acquisition and analysis. Given the increase utilization of POCUS in clinical care and procedures, we seek to equip residents with these useful skills to utilize in their future practice.

Board Review Series

The board review series occurs at the end of the academic year. Led by esteemed clinical faculty, these are two-hour sessions focused on reviewing the highest-yield material in all major subject areas represented on ABIM.