What Do Residents Gain as Members of the UW Family Medicine Residency Network?

Visualize yourself joining one of the 18 network programs across the unique, collaborative 5-state WWAMI region. Train at the program best suited to your interests, paired with the benefits of being affiliated with an outstanding medical school and a highly - respected academic medical center. To be a member of such a strong network of programs will help you get the most from your residency years.

Online Resources

Perhaps the most valuable resource we have is our web-based access to the UW Health Sciences Library and the Care Provider Toolkit. With your your own login and password, you will have full access to all resources, accessible from work or home - anywhere you can open a web browser. PrimeAnswers is a web portal to the UW system specifically designed for primary care physicians. Hundreds of journals are available in full text, easily printed from your desktop. Challenges, such as being sure you get good quality evidence, are made easier with the availability of these online resources as well as a dedicated team of health sciences librarians available to help you find the information you need.

Evidence Based Practice (EBP) Emphasis


For the last 5 years we have been training faculty and providing resources to ensure that when there is good evidence, you know where to find it and how to apply it to your patients. The library is a good starting place, but you need information at the point of patient care. You also need to know how to ask a question to increase the chances you will find an answer. Each program has developed its own ways to teach EBP and sharing methods is encouraged.

Opportunities to Review Evidence for Publication

UWFMRN is a founding member of the national Family Practice Inquiries Network (FPIN). With your faculty you will have the opportunity to do evidence reviews to answer questions generated in practice and to write these up for publication as a Clinical Inquiry in the Journal of Family Practice. You can also generate clinical questions as part of our Quest project.


Opportunities for Leadership

A two day Chief Resident Development course is offered to incoming Chiefs every Spring. The group gets a chance to meet each other and hear tips from outgoing Chiefs. Sessions on leadership, conflict resolution, life planning and teaching are common and popular.

Communication

The Network is connected electronically by a secure intranet system which includes an email account for every resident, the capability of networking with others through online conferences and easy sharing of resources. You can download the full system to your computer or use it via the web. Invisible to you as a resident but essential to the quality and success of your program is the daily communication between coordinators and directors.

Courses

We are building more capacity to share resources between programs. For instance, Advanced Life Support Obstetrics (ALSO) courses are coordinated to ensure every network resident has the course available to them at a reasonable price when required in their training. Special curriculum additions in clinical genetics, end of life care, and patient centered care have all been developed collaboratively across the network.

Online Evaluation & Administration Systems

Realizing that we could offer more to every program by developing and sharing a Network-wide online site for schedules, evaluations, tracking, and program resources the UWFMRN has adopted web-based software for this purpose. Each program has its own unique site but network-wide training and resource sharing is facilitated. All programs are expected to be up and running by the time you begin your residency. We are using a commercial vendor with a track record of success in Family Medicine and are working closely with them to ensure this new system enhances your training.

Free Subscription to WWAMI NET/WORK Practice Opportunities Listing

As you near completion of your residency training, stay informed of practice openings and advanced fellowship training opportunities for family physicians throughout the WWAMI region. Each graduate of the UWFMRN programs receives a free subscription to the WWAMI NET/WORK newsletter.