The Family Medicine Center (FMC) serves as the model office for the LSU Health Shreveport Family Medicine Residency Program. It occupies over 11,000 square feet within the Academic Medical Center and has an annual patient volume of 12,000 visits and is the residents' home base during their training. Throughout their training, residents see their personal patients in a setting that simulates a private office practice as closely as possible. First-year residents see patients on average about one half-day a week, second-year resident’s two half-days a week, and third-year resident’s three half-days a week. Supervision and assistance in patient care is provided by family medicine faculty members and through the support of well-trained and highly motivated nursing and office staff.
Patients of the Center who require hospitalization are admitted to the Family Medicine service at Ochsner LSU Health Shreveport. An upper-level Family Medicine resident, a first-year resident, and often a senior medical student make up the ward team, with supervision on daily attending rounds by a full-time Family Medicine faculty member. Patients are also admitted to the Family Medicine service from the Comprehensive Care Clinic, the Primary Care Clinic, and Family Medicine faculty. Experience in obstetrics and deliveries are managed by residents with faculty backup.
The FMC occupies the second floor of "A" Building at the Kings Highway entrance to the medical center. A conference room contains computers for resident use and a library of reference books to aid in diagnosis and management. A steadily growing library of patient education material is available to supplement physicians' oral discussions. Weekly didactic sessions are held in the conference room, also located in the FMC; didactic sessions include a Journal Club which focuses on continuing medical education and critical reading of the medical literature.
Medical records are maintained electronically with EPIC. It is designed to facilitate care that is comprehensive, preventive, and family-oriented. Staff consultants are available for nutritional patient education and a case manager is available to assist with home health and completion of medication assistance paperwork. Integrated and lab and radiology is already available.
Each resident follows obstetric patients in the FMC (a minimum of 10 is required), delivering them at Ochsner LSU Health Shreveport and performing the newborn care. Additional training may be elected in Caesarean section delivery, by which the resident becomes competent to perform this procedure in practice.
Community medicine is learned during orientation month and by frequent consultation with the department's full-time medical social worker. Residents make several home visits during orientation and are encouraged to continue visiting occasional patients who are bedridden or whose home situation is thought to affect their illness.
Attending duties are performed by board-certified family physicians who are full-time faculty members. Consultations are readily available from consultants in the medical center and in private practice; however, there are no mandatory consultation requirements.
In addition its role in providing medical care to our patients, the family medicine service also serves to expose medical students and other specialists to our residents, our staff, and the concept of family medicine.
