RESIDENCY CORNER
Russell Maier, MD / Program Director
In January of 2011 CWFMR was chosen as one of the first 11 Teaching Health Centers in the nation. This designation allowed us to increase our class size to 8 residents per year. Further, it recognized that we have strong, stable program for training family physicians to serve rural and underserved patients. This year we are again applying for an expansion of two more residents per year.
Why expand at a time when the economy is shaky and there is some uneasiness in health care? Simple. We need more Family Medicine Physicians, we need them now, and by expanding existing quality programs we can quickly increase the supply of family physicians. If we want better health outcomes, more satisfied patients, and to spend less money, we – Family Physicians – are the answer.
CWFM-R has been a teaching health center owned and operated by Community Health of Central Washington since 2003. This September, 2011, we celebrated our 8th anniversary as an FQHC and this past July graduated our 18th class of residents. As a member of the WWAMI Family Medicine Residency network, nationally recognized as the premier family medicine network in the country, we have a tremendously strong peer group of programs with whom we work collaboratively. Further, although we are in more rural part of the state, we are affiliated with two Medical Schools, the University Of Washington School Of Medicine, recognized for over a decade as having the number one department of family medicine, and with Pacific University of the Health Sciences, a new osteopathic school working to produce graduates interested in primary care.
The stability of our program and recent grant has allowed us to expand our faculty. This past year we added three new faculty. Judy Harvey, a 2001 graduate of our program and past president of the medical staff, practices full spectrum family medicine and brings a busy OB practice in addition to her leadership skills back to residency. Patrick Moran, an osteopathic physician who is OMM fellowship and OB fellowship trained, further strengthens our OB training and osteopathic training. Ankur Rana, last year’s chief resident, stayed on to become a new junior faculty member bringing excellent full spectrum skills and a knowledge of what a resident’s life is like. These new faculty join an experienced faculty who actively practice in the hospital, on the OB floor, and have leadership positions in the region and in the nation.
If you want to take care of a needy population in a community health center, and train in a well-established program with strong teachers, great faculty, and an organization with Education in its mission statement, I encourage you to take a look at Central Washington Family Medicine Residency.