Unopposed Family Med Residencies

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OberynMartell

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I was wondering if anyone knew of a good list of unopposed family med residencies? From my searches, it's harder to gauge some of these smaller programs, and I was wondering if anyone on here had any good input regarding this, especially things like:

1) education/training
2) location
3) how happy the residents are

Also, if anyone has any knowledge of good university-affiliated programs that are supportive of family medicine, that would also be nice. I know some university systems tend to look down on and undervalue family medicine as a "lesser specialty," so if there are any that are reputed to truly value and support family medicine I would be interested in hearing about them.

Thanks in advance.

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There are many.
I only applied to unopposed FM programs in the Carolinas and a few IM programs (uni and community).

My short list:
McLeod Health--Florence, SC--where I will most likely end up. Great program, well established (30-ish years continuous), outstanding facilities, happy residents, happy faculty, pays more than any other residency in SC. Good benefits. Nice smallish town in NE SC. 70 miles to Myrtle Beach. Incredibly low cost of living. I happen to own a home here and my husband doesn't want to move (likes his job) so win-win. ACGME but very DO-friendly and even 1-2 IMGs in most classes. Medicine-heavy, inpatient heavy. Peds and OB are more than adequate for me (not my interests so this is great IMO.)

AnMed Health--Anderson, SC--another well-established great community program. In the upstate, a nice area on Lake Hartwell. This is Clemson country. Residents seem happy enough although I didn't spend much time with them (I was off-site at the hospice house, my choice). A bit less diverse resident population IMO. Strong faculty. Two hospitals to cover about 2 miles apart (I didn't like that as much). Cost of living reasonable, a little higher than Florence. Also ACGME and DO-friendly. Lower pay and benefits not quite as good.

Spartanburg Regional--Spartanburg, SC--also the upstate, about 30 min north of Anderson. Not quite unopposed but almost--general surgery and TRI residents also in the hospital. More diverse residents. The only dual-accredited FM program in SC. (For that matter, the only osteopathic residency in SC.) Very strong hospital system. I was very impressed with the PD and faculty when I interviewed; however, I had done a rotation there months earlier and didn't enjoy it at all. Just didn't mesh with the people. Pay is lower and benefits similar to McLeod. What I liked best about this program is that it's specialist-taught: OBs teach OB, pediatricians peds, internists IM etc.

MAHEC-Hendersonville, NC--very small program 25 min outside of Asheville. Only 3 residents. Like DOs. A few IMGs. Gorgeous place--an outdoors enthusiast would thrive here. Happy residents. Tiny outdated hospital. Brand-new gorgeous and spacious community health center several miles away where much of the learning takes place. Lowest pay of any place I interviewed which is too bad because the cost of living is quite high compared to SC. My husband wouldn't move there so it's lower on my list but still a great place. Probably should like OB if you go there cuz you could be delivering babies up to your last day of residency.

Oops almost forgot: Marshall Family Medicine, Huntington, WV: I liked it. Good facility. Nice residents. Not sure about the faculty. They have a health policy track which interested me but not enough to move there. OB heavy and in fact there's such a drug addiction problem that they had to build a separate nursery for the detoxing babies. That turned me off bigtime. Oh and I don't think this program was unopposed either...I think there is general surgery and OB also at Cabell. It's been a few months lol.

Hope this helps--good luck!
 
Thank you for the in-depth reply. Since you're out in the Carolina area, what do you know about UNC family med residency?
 
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Thank you for the in-depth reply. Since you're out in the Carolina area, what do you know about UNC family med residency?
Ha, only that they never responded to my application. So nothing. No response from Carolinas either. I did get an invite to Fayetteville but turned it down.
 
There are probably hundreds of unopposed FM residencies. How about some other criteria like region or state?
 
I guess I was specifically thinking of more western/Pacific programs, places like Colorado, Oregon, Washington, and possibly California. I know Missoula, MT has a program associated with the University of Washington/University of Montana, but I think it's very new.

As for university-affiliated, I was wondering specifically about University of Washington and University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

Ultimately I know I'll have to interview and see for myself, but if anybody has any input on these programs or other good ones in the region that would be great. Thanks.
 
SUNY Buffalo has an un-opposed program. The family medicine program there has 4 sites (one unopposed in the surburban setting, 2 urban, and 1 rural). When applying you have to choose the specific site - the un-opposed one would be SUNY Buffalo-Amherst/Millard Fillmore Suburban.
 
So unopposed, west coast + montana/colorado. Ventura is on that list of course, but there are many many others. What else are you looking for? That's still a big list. Folks might be able to help if you offer more details about what "good" means to you.
 
Some programs I've been wondering about are Klamath Falls, OR (OHSU at Cascades East), OHSU in Portland, and St. Mary's in Grand Junction, Colorado.

I've heard of Ventura and that it's an excellent training program, but have also read that it has kind of an arrogant reputation. I'm sure it's a great program, but personally I am hesitant about California schools for many reasons - California is crowded, polluted, high crime, high cost of living, traffic, etc.

As far as University-affiliated, I know at my home institution, Family Medicine is looked down upon by other specialties. I know University of Washington and UNC are both very highly rated family programs, but just wanted any input from people who have interviewed/experienced these programs firsthand. Is Family Medicine respected/supported there?

To refine my list even further, I am looking for programs with a more independent environment, strong academic/evidence based medicine, ample procedure experience, good history of getting residents jobs after graduation, and with people that are friendly and who get along with each other. If I could find this place in a smaller (<150,000) mountainous region, all the better. That might seem overly specific and particular now, but that would be my ideal program. I know every program will have its advantages and disadvantages, but those are some of the things I'm looking for to narrow it down.
 
I've heard of Ventura and that it's an excellent training program, but have also read that it has kind of an arrogant reputation. I'm sure it's a great program, but personally I am hesitant about California schools for many reasons - California is crowded, polluted, high crime, high cost of living, traffic, etc.

Wow. That's an impressive list of generalizations about a state as large and diverse as California. I can't report back on every town in this state, and there certainly are areas that fit one some of that description. But maybe you are confusing "California" with "South Central LA" or something?

Crowded: yes, some places in California do indeed have a higher population density than, say, Nebraska (23.9/sq mile). Some, but not all. 15 counties are actually less dense than Nebraska. 9 are less dense than South Dakota. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_population_density, http://www.usa.com/rank/california-state--population-density--county-rank.htm). Ventura doesn't feel crowded to me at all, especially given that we are minutes away from hundreds of hiking trails, state forests, national forests, national parks, the entire Pacific ocean and that you can walk from the actual hospital up to a popular hiking trail ("Two Trees".) That's in addition to the hundreds of acres of agricultural land around here - citrus, strawberries, greens, etc.

Polluted: yup, there is haze over LA that you'll see if you fly into the airport. But there's a small mountain range between us and them that keeps most of it over there as far as we are concerned. California has smog laws and stronger environmental laws than many places in the country. You won't find massive factory farmed hog or cattle sewage lakes, mining tailings, industrial lead pollution, oil encrusted shorelines etc, in this town like you might in the midwest, in the mountain states, the east coast, or the gulf coast. Is it perfect? No. But the air and water feel good here. I've lived places where you don't want to breathe through your nose; that's not the case here.

High crime: I have lived in places where people were killed on my block and people were mugged coming home from work and things were stolen unless, and even if, they were bolted down. Ventura isn't like that. There's drug crime here like almost everywhere. But I often leave my front door or basement door unlocked, have no bars on the windows (that don't have screens and which I leave open most of the year.) No one I know has been robbed. I feel safe walking alone at night.

High cost of living: residency isn't going to make you rich anywhere, but there are certainly places that your buck will go farther than here, true. Gas is more expensive than in many places (though many of us walk or bike to work), and home prices are higher for sure. That said, you can live a block from the beach on a resident's salary, or live farther away or with friends and save money while being here. No one I know is struggling to make ends meet here. In fact, people routinely take international vacations and clearly have cash to spare.

Traffic: it exists in the state. It doesn't exist much in our town. "Traffic" for me in Ventura is if it takes more than one light cycle to get through a traffic intersection, or if my regular trips around town take an extra 2-3 minutes more than I expected. I do sometimes run into traffic on the highway near LA or coming back from Santa Barbara on a weekend or during rush hour. But in my day to day life, it's way less of an issue than I had feared, especially after having spent time in some other higher traffic areas in northern parts of the state.

Arrogant: maybe the above sounds arrogant? I don't intend for it to be. I do find this town way more pleasant than I had expected moving here. The weather is super year round, people are friendly, it's beautiful almost all of the time. It's a pretty nice place to live. Do I think it's better than everywhere else? No, there are awesome things about other places I've lived too. Each spot has its own flavor. Is the residency arrogant? Doesn't feel that way to me. I'd encourage you to actually come meet folks out here and decide for yourself. We do work really hard, and are proud of the work we do, the community we serve, and the skills we build. We're also really proud of Family Medicine and get a huge amount of respect/support at our hospital and community. People are also friendly, grounded, supportive of each other, not stuck up.

This might not be the program that is the right fit for you (despite the fact that it is independent minded, affiliated with UCLA, high academic standards, intense procedural experience, universal h/o resident employment after graduation in accordance with their desires, super friendly people who get along, in a town <200k, alongside mountains which were things you were interested in), BUT please try not to paint us in a corner based on broad generalizations about the state.

A lot of folks at this program also looked at Klamath Falls and Grand Junction. I didn't; hopefully other SDN folks can give you more info about those programs. Good luck in your search!
 
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13% state income tax in Cali. awesome state, but that's enough to keep me away.
 
13% state income tax in Cali. awesome state, but that's enough to keep me away.
Fair enough. :)

Although, since we mainly take care of poor people, I can appreciate the impact on them of living in a state with a income tax (progressive tax) vs one with just sales and/or property tax (regressive tax.) And since docs in general tend toward the highest income brackets, I'm not worried that California's income tax, even if it were higher, would leave me sleeping on the streets. ;)
 
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I certainly meant no offense about the program or the state, but like anywhere, I see a lot of advantages and disadvantages to California. And yes it is a huge state and each region is probably very different. I'll have to check the residency out, I have talked with people from California who have mentioned the program and how well-renowned it is, and many people on SDN have mentioned it as one of the best. You definitely paint a good picture about the city as well.

Since you didn't interview at Klamath Falls, what are some other good programs you experienced out west?
 
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@Dharma : Currently, there are 4 (of 14) interns, 1 second year, and 3 third years who are DOs, plus 1 core faculty member who recently joined the program and other attendings in the hospital and clinic system who are DOs. We're not dually accredited, but each DO resident has 1/2 day of dedicated OMM clinic per month (in addition to any treatment in their regular visits) where they work 1 on 1 with a different DO attending to do just OMM visits for the continuity patients that the rest of us refer to them. It gives all of us (even those of us without that training) that treatment option to offer our patients who have musculoskeletal complaints, which works out well for them and us both in terms of training and patient care options.

@OberynMartell: from having talked to other residents about West Coast residencies they looked at, some of the common names that come up include places like Salinas/Natividad, Martinez/Contra Costa, Santa Rosa, sometimes Northridge, Klamath Falls, one other similar one that I'm blanking on right now, Southwest Washington/Providence, Tacoma, the Swedish programs in Seattle, Other mentions among places you listed include residencies in Idaho, Alaska, and Grand Junction CO. I haven't heard much about programs in Montana. Keep poking around the forums and you'll find lots of input about those places. Good luck!
 
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Considering today's monumental news that ACGME and AOA have settled on a merger agreement, dual accreditation may not matter much longer :)
 
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East TN State University Bristol Program! Unopposed, university affiliated in area <150k, in the mountains, fantastic faculty and fellow residents!! Dual accredited as well. Message me if you have more questions. I love it here. Great training as well!
 
@Dharma : Currently, there are 4 (of 14) interns, 1 second year, and 3 third years who are DOs, plus 1 core faculty member who recently joined the program and other attendings in the hospital and clinic system who are DOs. We're not dually accredited, but each DO resident has 1/2 day of dedicated OMM clinic per month (in addition to any treatment in their regular visits) where they work 1 on 1 with a different DO attending to do just OMM visits for the continuity patients that the rest of us refer to them. It gives all of us (even those of us without that training) that treatment option to offer our patients who have musculoskeletal complaints, which works out well for them and us both in terms of training and patient care options.

Just a follow-up question: Does your program tend to go with students who rotated with your program? If I go with FM, I'd like to apply to your program (yeah, even with your crazy income tax in Cali), however with the restrictions our school has regarding rotations (most 4th year rotations have to be at affiliated locations oddly enough) I doubt I will be able to pull off a month in Cali before interview season.
 
Just a follow-up question: Does your program tend to go with students who rotated with your program? If I go with FM, I'd like to apply to your program (yeah, even with your crazy income tax in Cali), however with the restrictions our school has regarding rotations (most 4th year rotations have to be at affiliated locations oddly enough) I doubt I will be able to pull off a month in Cali before interview season.

That's weird. What school is that? "We want to prevent you from having too many opportunities."
 
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That's weird. What school is that? "We want to prevent you from having too many opportunities."
I'd rather not say but yeah it's a pretty beat deal. I think I have (maybe) 3 blocks where I can go out of network and 2 of those are after interview season.
 
Just a follow-up question: Does your program tend to go with students who rotated with your program? If I go with FM, I'd like to apply to your program (yeah, even with your crazy income tax in Cali), however with the restrictions our school has regarding rotations (most 4th year rotations have to be at affiliated locations oddly enough) I doubt I will be able to pull off a month in Cali before interview season.

We've got a mix. Maybe 1/4 to 1/3 rotated here, guessing off the top of my head. We get about 800+ applications a year and interview about 120, so we definitely can't get all of them rotated through here during their fourth year. As everyone has said, rotations at a program can either really help or really hurt you in terms of a program picking you or not, but they are definitely ideal in terms of you deciding whether a program would be a good fit for you.

And I've heard of multiple programs - state schools usually, that restrict away electives because they want you to work in your state. You're not alone in that.
 
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