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Indiana University School of Medicine
Indiana University School of Medicine
Family Medicine

Specialized Tracks for Residency Training

The IU School of Medicine Department of Family Medicine offers many specialized tracks for residents at the IU Health Primary Care Central Indianapolis Family Medicine Residency. Residents can select from any of the available tracks.

Women's Health Track

The Women’s Health Track allows residents an increased concentration in both obstetrics and gynecology. With the guidance of practicing family medicine faculty, family medicine residents gain obstetrics experience with several faculty physicians privileged in operative obstetrics. During the second and third year of residency training, residents on this track are assigned to an outreach obstetric clinic, a federally qualified health center, as one of their continuity clinics, where IU School of Medicine faculty provide patient services. This clinical setting allows for increased outpatient management of women’s health in obstetrics and gynecologic procedures. This track includes focused experience in ultrasound services, support to attend formal ultrasound courses and additional electives in Women’s Health. Call systems are developed with participants for cesarean deliveries, tubal ligations and D&Cs with the family medicine faculty. Participants in this track are encouraged to participate in monthly journal club.

Learn more about the Women's Health Track.

LGBTQ+ Health Track

The LGBTQ+ Health Track is intended to supplement the clinical training of residents interested in and committed to the whole-person care of sexual and gender minority patients. Through a collaboration with the Eskenazi Health Transgender Health and Wellness Program and other clinical partners in the Indianapolis area, select residents will be offered experiences during residency in clinics that serve the LGBTQ+ community and graduate with advanced skills like gender-affirming medical treatment. In addition to direct clinical experience and supervision, residents will be expected to engage in scholarly and volunteer/advocacy activities promoting health and wellness of the LGBTQ+ community as well as attend didactics teaching topics of advanced competency in the care of these patients. Opportunities for interprofessional collaboration as well as leadership in peer and medical education on LGBTQ+ health topics will also be core to the resident’s experience. The resident’s experience will be facilitated through collaboration with track leadership and an individually assigned mentor with whom the resident will meet at minimum twice annually.

Learn more about the LGBTQ+ subspecialty track from the first two residents to complete the program.

Chronic Pain Opioid Use Disorder Track

The Chronic Pain Opioid Use Disorder (CPOUD) track is a two year longitudinal experience for a chosen few residents to augment their training and comfort level with outpatient treatment of chronic pain and opioid addiction.

This includes:

  • Understanding what chronic pain is and what it isn’t.
  • Learning appropriate use of opioids and how to successfully taper them.
  • How to have the hard conversations around this topic.
  • A thorough understanding of adjunct treatments and medications for pain and when and how to use them.
  • Understanding the neurobiology and complexity of opioid addiction.
  • How to use buprenorphine/naloxone for treating OUD in the outpatient setting, both initiation and maintenance.
  • Pain management of patients on buprenorphine/suboxone.
  • When and how to transition OUD patients to higher levels of care.
  • What resources are important for optimal recovery and how to discuss these options with patients.

We do all of this through a variety of opportunities. The residency has three specialty clinics to give focused exposure to the track goals.

The first and oldest is our Comprehensive Pain Assessment Clinic, where we do in depth assessment of patient with chronic pain and make recommendations for treatment, including appropriate use of opioid therapy. Some patients are followed for a period of time in the CoPAC clinic, some are returned directly to their PCP’s to implement treatment. This clinic is also interprofessional in nature and we routinely have chaplaincy, social work and physical therapy assess patients alongside us.

The second clinic is newer, just a bit older than the track itself. That’s our Buprenorphine Clinic, lovingly referred to as Boop clinic. We start and maintain patients on buprenorphine and help them with their recovery. This clinic is also interprofessional and chaplaincy and peer recovery are important members of that team.

The third clinic is brand new as of 2023. This is the Acupuncture Clinic where we are offering acupuncture as a treatment modality for pain management to our patients. Track residents will have the opportunity to learn some basic protocols and get an introduction to acupuncture as part of their training going forward.

There are also regular track meetings for didactics and journal club as well as the opportunity and expectation of scholarly work which may take a number of forms, such as research, local case presentations, didactics, conference presentations at local or national conferences, residency QI projects, or development of protocols, guidelines or education materials.

Learn more about the CPOUD track from the first two residents to complete the program.

Geriatrics Track

The care of older adults track allows for enhanced education in the care of our older adults. The track is designed for learners interested in pursuing a geriatrics fellowship, though it can be completed by any learner interested in learning more about the care of older adults. This educational track complements the care of older adults curriculum as well as the longitudinal nursing home experience that all residents complete.

Highlights of the Geriatrics track include:

  • Elective rotations specific to the care of older adults.
  • Resident-led presentations during didactics on geriatric medicine.
  • Regular journal club sessions reviewing emerging research in geriatric medicine.
  • Quality improvement project targeted to the care of the older patient in the Family Medicine Center.
  • Community outreach opportunities geared towards to the older adult.
  • Resident-led patient education sessions to community-dwelling older adults.

Health Policy Track

Participants in this special track will be provided the opportunity to:

  • Work directly with faculty and diverse management and healthcare leaders.
  • Conduct research on a range of health care access and affordability issues inclusive but not limited to prevention efforts, access to care issues, health disparities among disadvantaged populations, etc.
  • Survey state agencies with administrative responsibilities in the health care field -State Insurance Commission, Department of Health and Human Resources, Higher Education Policy Commission, etc.
  • Attend agency and legislative committee meetings pertinent to health policy issues.
  • Attend National Health Policy Conferences.
  • Participate in seminars directed towards special topics in health policy.

The health policy track includes components such as:

  • Health Economics
  • Health Systems/Services Financing
  • Physician Payment Systems
  • Health Workforce (Human Resources Planning)
  • Health Law and Regulation
  • Ethical Issues in Health Care
  • Quality Measurement and Outcomes Analysis of Health Care
  • Medicine and the Deployment of Technology
  • Political Process
  • Health Policy Development (Legislative Process)
  • Recent Trends in Indiana and National Health Policy
  • Leadership in Health Care

Lifestyle Medicine Certification Track

The Residency program is excited to be among the nationwide family medicine residency programs who is a home institution for residents to access and complete the American College of Lifestyle Medicine Residency Curriculum.

The Lifestyle Medicine Residency Curriculum consists of both educational and practicum components. Its educational component includes 40 hours of interactive virtual didactic material along with 60 hours of application activities designed to be completed over a one- to three-year time period. The practicum component includes 400 lifestyle medicine-related patient encounters, 10 hours of (Intensive) therapeutic lifestyle change (ITLC or TLC) program experience and 10 hours of group facilitation experience.

Upon completion of the education and practicum components, residents qualify to sit for the American Board of Lifestyle Medicine (ABLM) certification exam.

Global Health Track

The Global Health Residency Track at IU School of Medicine is designed to foster appreciation of the health disparities that exist throughout the world. The program offers valuable mentor relationships between faculty and residents that inspire long-term commitments to global health issues. Program components include an international field experience that residents complete at an approved partnership site. Participants in the Global Health Residency Track are given special preference for scheduling their international experience. Residents accepted into the track should expect to use their two away electives for this experience.



Colon Health Track

The Colon Health Track trains residents who are interested in providing screening endoscopy services to their future patient populations. Many rural and underserved populations have decreased screening rates for colon cancer, and a primary care physician performing this screening increases both convenience and compliance. This track involves a formal curriculum for screening and treatment of gastrointestinal disorders beyond those required for the core residency competencies. It also provides a longitudinal opportunity to perform colonoscopies under the direction of other primary care physicians during the second and third year of residency. Each resident in this track is expected to complete at least 100 colonoscopies and perform a screening colonoscopy with standard biopsy techniques independently before graduation.



Sports Medicine Track

Residents interested in pursuing sports medicine fellowship or those with a significant interest in sports medicine activities are encouraged to consider taking part in the sports medicine track, which provides special education opportunities over the course of the three-year residency. Residents who complete this track are competitive for sports medicine fellowship positions throughout the United States.

  • PGY1

    During the first year of resident training, residents on the sports medicine track have the opportunity to work alongside a senior resident or sports medicine fellow at high school football games, masters-level swimming events and boxing events alongside a teaching physician, collaborate with teaching attendings on scholarly projects, participate in medical student teaching activities and participate in paid high school pre-participation physical events.

  • PGY2

    During the second year of residency, family medicine residents on this track have the opportunity to work as the head team physician at a local high school, cover IUPUI women’s softball team in the spring, and continue covering masters-level swimming and boxing events alongside a teaching physician. PGY2 residents continue to work on scholarly projects and research activities and participate in paid high school pre-participation physical events. Additionally, scheduling support is provided to allow away rotations in sports medicine in the spring in order to gain experience and audition for sports medicine fellowship positions. There is also residency support to attend the AMSSM annual meeting.

  • PGY3

    During the third year, family medicine residents continue their roles as head physician at local high schools, and residents at this stage of training have the opportunity to cover IUPUI women’s volleyball along with masters-level swimming and boxing events alongside a teaching physician. There is an additional sports medicine focused orthopedic rotation with the opportunity to work with musculoskeletal radiology. Scheduling support is continued to allow away rotations in sports medicine (if not already taken). Additionally, residency support is available to attend one of the ACSM team physician courses.

    Third-year residents on the sports medicine track can present monthly lectures for the medical student clerkship and take a leadership role in organizing the high school pre-participation physical events. Residents can begin official fellowship application process in late summer and interview with fellowships during the fall.