Family Medicine in the NW

[brianmartin]

I thought since it was close to application time, it might be nice to share info on north west family medicine residency programs. My wife and I are couple's matching in family medicine and want to attend a community / sem-rural program. I'm from Portland, she is from Seattle, and we are looking to stay in the north west, with a preference for Oregon and Washington, but we would go to any NW program that wants us 🙂 We are both OHSU students. We are not applying to OHSU though because we don't want an academic program. Mainly we would like a community program that is family friendly and trains broad spectrum. If anyone has attended any of these programs and has an opinion, we would love to here it. Or if you are also considering these programs, which are your favorite and why?

A few of the programs we are looking at are:
Cascades East in Klamath Falls
Providence Milwaukie in Portland
Family Medicine SW in Vancouver, WA
Central Washington Family Medicine
Providence Spokane Family Medicine
Swedish First Hill / Cherry Hill
East Pierce Family Medicine

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[cabinbuilder]

I thought since it was close to application time, it might be nice to share info on north west family medicine residency programs. My wife and I are couple's matching in family medicine and want to attend a community / sem-rural program. I'm from Portland, she is from Seattle, and we are looking to stay in the north west, with a preference for Oregon and Washington, but we would go to any NW program that wants us 🙂 We are both OHSU students. We are not applying to OHSU though because we don't want an academic program. Mainly we would like a community program that is family friendly and trains broad spectrum. If anyone has attended any of these programs and has an opinion, we would love to here it. Or if you are also considering these programs, which are your favorite and why?

A few of the programs we are looking at are:
Cascades East in Klamath Falls
Providence Milwaukie in Portland
Family Medicine SW in Vancouver, WA
Central Washington Family Medicine
Providence Spokane Family Medicine
Swedish First Hill / Cherry Hill
East Pierce Family Medicine

Klamath Falls is a beautiful hospital and its one of the few places in Oregon I looked at where the employees seems genuinely happy with their jobs. Residency seemed close knit.

A good friend of mine did her residency at SW in Vancouver and loved it. Said she got great training there.

Might look into the residency in Corvallis as well.

 

[FamMed2015]

This thread is highly relevant to my interests. Stay in touch OP.

 

[bioteach]

I interviewed at 6 of those places you listed and currently am a resident at one of them 😉 I'm very happy at the one I chose. If you have any questions feel free to PM me.

 

[FamMed2015]

I interviewed at 6 of those places you listed and currently am a resident at one of them 😉 I'm very happy at the one I chose. If you have any questions feel free to PM me.

Just sent you a PM.

 

[Accountibilty]

Your list of programs is noteworthy for a program you left off your list, namely Providence St. Peter Hospital (PSPH) in Olympia, WA. Because others reading your post may have questions regarding why St. Pete's is conspicuously absent among the NW programs listed, it is most relevant for readers to be reminded why it was a wise choice for you to not consider them. PSPH residency is listed as a "malignant" residency program on at least one website (not posted by me). And rightly so in my opinion. They are currently embroiled in a lawsuit brought by a former resident. Three faculty named as defendants in the lawsuit have departed: Dr. Kevin Haughton (former director), Dr. Lisa Johnson (education chair of UW's family medicine network), and Dr. Maggie Miller. There have been egregious violations of contract and ACGME rules, on which the trial court granted a right to go to trial. Unfortunately the current director Dr. Devin Sawyer is a poor replacement. Former residents have severely criticized him, calling him a "narcissist" and "vindictive". One former resident told me that she "hated that man" after he forced her to continue with an obstetrical delivery (with tears running down her face) despite her recent trauma of witnessing her partner lose a child at birth. Not exactly the ideals of family medicine.

 

[CTex]

Your list of programs is noteworthy for a program you left off your list, namely Providence St. Peter Hospital (PSPH) in Olympia, WA. Because others reading your post may have questions regarding why St. Pete's is conspicuously absent among the NW programs listed, it is most relevant for readers to be reminded why it was a wise choice for you to not consider them. PSPH residency is listed as a "malignant" residency program on at least one website (not posted by me). And rightly so in my opinion. They are currently embroiled in a lawsuit brought by a former resident. Three faculty named as defendants in the lawsuit have departed: Dr. Kevin Haughton (former director), Dr. Lisa Johnson (education chair of UW's family medicine network), and Dr. Maggie Miller. There have been egregious violations of contract and ACGME rules, on which the trial court granted a right to go to trial. Unfortunately the current director Dr. Devin Sawyer is a poor replacement. Former residents have severely criticized him, calling him a "narcissist" and "vindictive". One former resident told me that she "hated that man" after he forced her to continue with an obstetrical delivery (with tears running down her face) despite her recent trauma of witnessing her partner lose a child at birth. Not exactly the ideals of family medicine.

Accountability - How do you find information like this? Obviously, I do not want to go to a "malignant" program, and I would like to know how to avoid one. I have just been looking at programs' websites, which doesn't really tell me much... I thought PSPH looked pretty good until I read your post.

 

[Accountibilty]

My information is factually correct. The problem with relying upon programs' websites is that there is a bunch of hype. Hospitals such as Providence seek to flood their territory with their own graduates as a means of bringing referrals to the hospital. It is all about money, pure and simple. That is why you log onto sites such as SDN to find the truth and also ask HARD questions of residents when you go to interview. I am in a position where I can speak the truth because I am unafraid. Fear is what keeps ambitious people from being honest. Do know that many faculty in community residency programs are bitter burnouts from private practice looking for the easy life that still pays well. I wish this weren't the case.

 

[the prodogy]

Does anyone here have any info on SW Washington in Vancouver, WA? Based on what I've researched so far, they seem to have good OB training. Anyone been here know anything about their curriculum and hours?

 

[brianmartin]

So...checking in with the NW people again about community/rural FM programs.

Going to be interviewing at the new FM residency in Cour D'alene, Idaho..."Kootenai Medical Center"....anyone hear anything about it?

I did my sub-i at Cascades East in Klamath Falls, OR and it was awesome, they have a great program and residents seemed very independent.

Any news/info on NW community programs? Any advice?

Thanks all!