Rotations and Curriculum

Facilities

Mercy Health – Anderson Hospital

Anderson Hospital has 286 acute care beds, with 36 emergency department beds, 20 ICU beds, 30 obstetric beds and is classified as a Level 2 NICU. The hospital offers a broad range of inpatient and outpatient services. It was awarded as a Truven Top 100 Hospital on 12 occasions and has been recognized for its excellence in stroke treatment by the AHA/ASA.

Mercy Health – Family and Community Medicine Residency Practice  

The hallmark of our residency program, the Family Medicine practice (FMP) has up to 21 patient exam rooms with built-in computers to each exam room. Residents learn the essentials of family medicine and are able to see a wide variety of pathology in the clinic. There is a laboratory conveniently located across from the suite making it easily accessible to our patients. When residents are not on the FMP rotation, they still must complete at least one-half day or one full day per week in the clinic. PGY-1 residents do one half day per week, PGY-2 residents do two half days per week and PGY-3 residents do three half days per week of continuity clinic.

Nationwide Children’s Hospital 

Located in Columbus, Ohio, Nationwide Children’s Hospital consistently ranks in the Top 10 Best Pediatric Hospitals in the nation according to U.S. News & World Report. Residents spend one month here, completing two weeks in the inpatient pediatric service and two weeks in the pediatric emergency department.

Dayton Children’s Hospital 

Spread over a variety of locations in southwest Ohio, Dayton Children’s Hospital offers multiple outpatient urgent care centers. Residents spend their time at an assigned urgent care center to provide acute outpatient pediatric services to children and adolescents.

Block Schedule

Our rotational experiences have been developed to maximize education opportunities while allowing our residents to thrive personally. Our residents will integrate into educational teams and will be scheduled to minimize in-house, overnight call allowing personal wellness and resilience while maximizing educational experiences. The academic schedule consists of 13 four-week blocks.

PGY-1	Duration
Adult Emergency Medicine	1 block
Adult Inpatient	3 blocks
Alpha Orientation	1 block
Behavioral Medicine	1 block
Elective	1 block
Family Medicine Practice	1 block
General Surgery/Otolaryngology	1 block
Newborn Nursery	1 block
Obstetrics	2 blocks
Sports Medicine	1 block

 

PGY-2	Duration
Adult Emergency Medicine	1 block
Adult Inpatient	2 blocks
Community Medicine	Longitudinal
Elective	2 blocks
Family Medicine Practice	2 blocks
Health Systems Management	1 block
Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU)	0.5 block
Night Float	1 block
Obstetrics Continuity Clinic	Longitudinal
Orthopedics	1 block
Outpatient Pediatrics	1 block
Pediatric Inpatient/Emergency Medicine	1 block
Population Health	0.5 block

 

PGY-3	Duration
Adult Inpatient	2 blocks
Cardiology	1 block
Community Medicine	Longitudinal
Elective	3 blocks
Family Medicine Practice	3 blocks
Geriatrics/Nursing Home	1 block
Gynecology	1 block
Obstetrics Continuity Clinic	Longitudinal
Outpatient Pediatrics	1 block
Pain Management	0.5 block
Point of Care Ultrasound	0.5 block block

Electives

Allergy and Immunology	Radiology
Anesthesiology	Pain Management
Cardiology	Pathology and Laboratory
Dermatology	Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation
Endocrinology	Podiatry
Gastroenterology	Pulmonary/Critical Care
Hematology/Oncology	Rheumatology
Infectious Disease	Orthopedics/Sports Medicine
Neurology	Practice Management
Occupational Medicine	Research Methods

Didactic Curriculum

Resident conferences will be scheduled weekly on Wednesdays from 1 to 5 p.m. Topics will include a broad range of structured didactic activities and residents will have protected time to attend.  

• Grand Rounds: Topics will include a broad range of family medicine topics that are important for evidence-based practice. These topics will be delivered by faculty members, including family medicine and specialists, to be the most current evidence available to advance the practice of medicine.
• Core Content of Family Medicine: This series will include the reviews and workshops covering the core content topics in family medicine including, but not limited to: Professionalism, Problem-Based Learning Initiatives (PBLI) and Patient Safety, Behavioral Health, Maternity Care and Women’s Health, Sports Medicine, Geriatrics, Practice Management and Community Medicine.
• Morbidity and Mortality: The PGY-3 serving as senior resident of the service will present Morbidity and Mortality (M&M) didactic session the first Wednesday after the completion of their inpatient service month. This is an opportunity for a critical appraisal of services offered, implementations that could improve quality of care provided and mitigation any patient safety concerns.
• Journal Club: Journal Club will be held quarterly. Articles will be pre-approved by the program director. Residents will gain knowledge at locating, appraising and assimilating evidence from scientific studies related to their patients’ health problems. Journal Club highlights opportunities for using information technology to optimize learning.
• Board Review Series: The Board review series is an interactive, weekly session led by residents using recent ITE questions, updated guidelines and research to prepare for the ABFM Boards held in April. 
• Conference Attendance: Residents will be expected to attend all Wednesday conferences/didactic sessions, other than pre-approved time off such as vacation and/or excused rotations.
• Resident Tracks
  • Sports Medicine Track: Individuals interested in pursuing a career in sports medicine and/or a primary care sports medicine fellowship are encouraged to join this track. Residents have the ability to aid with sideline coverage of high school football games during the fall and are encouraged to present annually at a national sports medicine conference of their choosing. Residents also have the opportunity to be involved with volunteering as part of the medical team at the Queen Bee Half Marathon and Flying Pig Marathon.
  • Residents as Teachers Track: This track is designed for individuals pursuing a career or future practice in academic medicine. Residents are encouraged to attend conferences focusing on academic medicine throughout the year. They work closely with medical students who rotate in our family medicine practice over the course of the year.
  • Lifestyle Medicine Track: While every resident is offered 2 lifestyle medicine (LM) lectures and 1 application activity monthly as part of didactics, individuals interested in qualifying to sit for the American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM) boards after residency will be supported through completion of additional LM application activity hours and participate in a Therapeutic Lifestyle Change program and facilitate shared medical appointments. Following curriculum completion and boards passing, trainees will earn the title of DiplABLM ("Board Certified Lifestyle Medicine Physician"). 

Research and Scholarly Activity

Residents are expected to complete one research project and one quality improvement project before graduation. Residents will be offered opportunities to participate in scholarly activities and have opportunities to participate in quality improvement projects. Residents will be educated in research study design and basic statistics as part of our evidence-based medicine curriculum.

Publications and Presentations

Akhtar, A. “Overcoming a Moral Injury: A Case Study.” Presented at: 2025 AAFP Physician Health and Well-being Conference; Hilton Head Island, SC.([AAFP][3])

Shoukat, F. & Bowers, J. Case report with title Acute infectious mononucleosis and Viral Gastroenteritis masking new onset DM type I with mild DKA (2025)

Akhtar, A. & Ruck, A. “Reverse Mentorship in Healthcare Leadership and Bridging Generational Gaps.” Presented at: 2025 AAFP Physician Health and Well-being Conference; Hilton Head Island, SC.

Akhtar, A. “The Silent Leaders: The Role of Introverted Physicians in Transforming Healthcare Teams.” Presented at: 2025 AAFP Physician Health and Well-being Conference; March 24–26, 2025; Hilton Head Island, SC.

Healy, S., Kern, R., & Shihabuddin, B. “An Interesting Case of Gradually Debilitating Bilateral Peripheral Symptoms.” Poster Presentation at the 2025 Annual Conference, American Medical Society for Sports Medicine in Kansas City, MO. April 24, 2025.

Morris, R., Stonecipher, E., Tenkman, A. & Ati, G. “Increasing Pediatric Numbers in the Family Medicine Residency Clinic” Poster Presentation. May 2025.

Shoukat, F. “Improving Pap Smear Screening rates in family medicine clinic by using MyChart Scheduling Tickets” Podium presentation presented at 2025 Cincinnati Region Scholars’ day.  May 30, 2025

Amna Zaheer, Daniyah Zehra Hussain, & Ahmad Akhtar. (2024). ADVANCEMENTS IN MARBURG VIRUS VACCINE DEVELOPMENT: UNRAVELLING RECENT FINDINGS. A NARRATIVE REVIEW. Student’s Journal of Health Research Africa, 5(3), 19. https://doi.org/10.51168/sjhrafrica.v5i3.1015

Akhtar, A. "A Challenging Odyssey through Diagnosis, Management, and Hope - A Rare Case Report.” American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting, Denver, CO. April 2024.

Akhtar, A.; "Concomitant MELAS Syndrome and Ogilvie's Syndrome: A Diagnostic and Therapeutic Challenge” American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting, Denver, CO. April 2024.

El-Bach, F., Peake, P. “Middle Finger Pain: Unraveling the Diagnostic Puzzle.” Poster Presentation at the 2024 Annual Conference, American Medical Society for Sports Medicine in Baltimore, MD. (April 2024) 

Spelic A, Akhtar A, Tenkman A. "Addison's Disease Presenting with Dermatologic and Neurological Symptoms: A Classic Case" Presented at Mercy Health-The Jewish Hospital (April 2024). 

Sean Healy DO, MS, Jason Patel MD, James Osher MD, Allegra Tenkman MD. “Keeping a Close Eye on the Air We Breathe - A Rare Ocular Case in an Athlete.” Poster Presentation at the 2024 Annual Conference, American Medical Society for Sports Medicine in Baltimore, MD. (April 16, 2024) 

Mercy Health Anderson Hospital Family and Community Medicine Residency. "AAFP Curriculum Guideline - Physician Wellbeing." American Academy of Family Physicians Family Medicine Residency Curriculum Guidelines. April 23, 2024. https://www.aafp.org/students-residents/residency-program-directors/curriculum-guidelines.html 

May M., Stonecipher E., Tenkman A., Atherton J., Morris, R. “Overcoming the Declining Proportion of Family Physicians Providing Pediatric Care as a Family Medicine Residency Program.” Presented at the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine Annual Spring Conference 2024 in Los Angeles, CA. (May 2024)

Tenkman, A; Savaliya, R. “Using Step-Wise Electronic Medical Record Training Approach to Reduce Resident Burnout and Improve Resident Physician EPIC EMR Efficiency.” Presented at the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine Annual Spring Conference 2024 in Los Angeles, CA. (May 2024)

Timmons, R.; Atherton, Jillian., Patel, J., Tenkman, A., Mazloomi, F. “Bridging Health, Culture, and Community for Hispanic Pediatric Wellness.” Poster presented at STFM conference on Practice and Quality Improvement. Denver, Colorado, September 15-17, 2024.

Azeem, K., & Akhtar, A. (2023). TriGuard Device for Prevention of Stroke in Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement. Amsterdam Medical Student Journal, 33, 10. 

Atherton, J.; Chen, T. “Efficacy of Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Depression and Anxiety for Geriatric Patients in a Family Medicine Residency Practice”. Society of Teachers in Family Medicine Conference on Practice Improvement, St. Louis, MO. September 2023. (Poster)

Peyton, A.; Rubiano, C.; “Voter Registration Integration into a Family and Community Medicine Residency.” Society of Teachers in Family Medicine Conference on Practice Improvement, St. Louis, MO. September 2023. (Podium)

Rashid Kazerooni PharmD, Sean Healy DO, MS, Monica Verduzco-Gutierrez MD. “Disparities in Access to Spasticity Chemodenervation Specialists in the United States: A National Analysis of Medicare Data.” American Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. (November 28, 2023) 

Atherton, Jillian.; Healy, Sean. “Mental Health Issues in Dance and Performing Arts.” Virtual Presentation for Cincinnati School for Creative and Performing Arts, Cincinnati, OH. December 2023.