Program Overview

History and Structure

The University of Washington Family Medicine Residency Program was established in 1972. The Director of the Family Medicine Residency Program is J. Mark Beard, MD. As of July 2012, 267 residents have graduated from the program, the majority of whom are practicing in Washington State.

Members of the Residency Faculty are heavily involved in teaching residents, and nearly all physician faculty in the Department participate in resident education by precepting in one of the two Family Medical Centers (FMCs) and attending the residents on the Family Medicine inpatient service at the University of Washington Medical Center. In 1997, the Residency added a Harborview Medical Center satellite. Judy Pauwels, MD, is the Chief of Family Medicine at the University of Washington Medical Center. Freddy Chen, MD, MPH, is Chief of Family Medicine at Harborview and Jane Huntington, MD, serves in the role of HMC Family Medicine Clinic Medical Director. The University of Washington Neighborhood Clinic - Northgate FMC is led by Matt Jaffy, MD.

UW Family Medicine Residency Mission

We are a university-based educational organization dedicated to training excellent family physicians to meet the needs of urban, suburban and rural practices, and to developing future leaders and academic faculty in our specialty.

To achieve these goals, we are committed to active clinical practices that serve diverse populations of patients, and to a spirit of inquiry and collegial sharing.

University-Based

  • Diverse faculty
  • Linkages with medical school, research, other departments
  • Multiple opportunities
    • Public health/Health advocacy
    • Medical management
    • Medical Student teaching
    • Scholarly activity
  • Collaboratively working with other specialties
  • Development of lasting professional relationships
  • Excellent teaching and educational opportunities

Serving Diverse Populations

  • Harborview FMC:
    • Urban underserved in central Seattle
    • Culturally and ethnically diverse
    • >50% interpreted visits
    • Wide spectrum of international, ethnic and cultural groups
    • Many homeless
    • Many refugee groups
  • UW Neighborhood Clinic - Northgate FMC:
    • Northgate neighborhood
    • >10% interpreted visits
    • 30% of patients from other cultures
    • Wide spectrum of ages and payor types
    • Economically diverse from developmentally challenged to university professors

Sharing a Spirit of Inquiry and Collegiality

  • Mutual professional respect
  • Resident involvement and participation in residency program administration
  • Collaborative scholarly projects
  • Resident initiatives

What’s Special About the UW Residency Program?

UW Residents

  • Representing 20 medical schools across the US
  • Diversity of backgrounds and interests
  • UW Resident's medical interests
    • Care for the underserved
    • Sports medicine
    • Women’s health
    • Global/International health
    • Cross-cultural care
    • Student teaching
    • Public health
    • Health policy
    • Scholarly activities
    • Evidence-based medicine

UW Faculty

  • UW Faculty Interests
    • Urban, suburban and rural underserved
    • Cultural diversity
    • Health policy
    • Research/clinical inquiry
    • Education, undergraduate and graduate
    • Women’s health and reproductive medicine
    • Sports medicine
    • Patient-centered medical home models
    • Palliative Care
    • Geriatrics
    • Global/International Health
    • Behavioral science and patient-centered communication

Areas of Concentration in Residency Education

  • Academic Focus Areas
    • Teaching and curricular development
    • Research / scholarly writing
    • Health policy / advocacy
  • Clinical Areas
    • Sports medicine
    • Vulnerable populations
    • Global health
    • Dermatology
    • Women’s health
    • Reproductive health
    • Men’s health
    • Geriatrics
    • Palliative care
    • Integrative medicine

Resident Academic Activities

  • Teaching activities
    • Medical Students
      • Introduction to clinical medicine (ICM) sessions
      • Practice-based learning sessions
      • Observed, structured clinical exam (OSCE) supervision
      • Ward teams
      • Family medicine clinic supervision
    • Other residents
      • Teaching sessions
      • Ward teams
    • Community
      • Sports medicine talks
      • School health talks
      • Community health education talks
  • Research/Writing
    • Masters in Public Health options
    • Health outcomes research
    • Research meetings
    • Scholarly activities
      • Family Practice Inquiry Network (FPIN) articles
      • Other educational journal articles
      • First Aid for the Boards
  • Health Policy Involvement
    • American and Washington Academy of Family Physicians activities
    • Washington state and national legislative activities
    • Academic or Educational presentations
      • Society of Teachers of Family Medicine
      • Washington Academy of Family Physicians
      • University of Washington's Annual Family Medicine Update Course

Family Medicine: What Does That Mean in an Urban University Setting?

Family Medicine: The Core Training of Our Program

  • Continuity clinics at UW Neighborhood Clinics-Northgate or Harborview:
    • R1: 1-2 clinics per week
    • R2: 2-3 clinics per week
    • R3: 4 clinics per week
  • Core Skills and Home Focus:
    • R1 rotations: 6 weeks of outpatient educational and clinical experience
    • Common ambulatory care problems
    • Community medicine
    • R-1 support/Balint group
    • Patient-centered communications
    • Advanced Cardiac Life Support Course
    • Neonatal Resuscitation Provider Course
    • Simulation Laboratory / ISIS procedural modules
    • Dental health training
  • Family Medicine Inpatient Service (medicine, OB, newborn care):
    • R1: 6 weeks
    • R2: 2 months
    • R3: 1 month
  • Community practice rotation:
    • R2: 1 month
    • Libby, MT
    • Sequim, WA
    • Othello, WA
    • Individually arranged international or community site
  • R3 curriculum:
    • R3: 1 half-day per week
    • Advanced behavioral science skills
    • Community medicine
    • Practice management training
    • Individual scholarly projects
    • Self-selected group practice improvement activities

Family Medicine: The Medical Home Model

  • UW Neighborhood Clinic-Northgate
    • 18 Residents, 6 in each year
    • Six practice teams: 2-3 Faculty, 3 Residents (R1, R2, R3), 0-1 Physician Assistants
    • Pharmacist, Social Worker, Behavioral Scientist, Nutritionist, Psychiatrist, Sports Medicine, Ultrasound
    • Patients: from local community and the University
  • FMC at Harborview Medical Center
    • 6 Residents, 2 in each year
    • 8 Physician Faculty
    • Pharmacist, Social Worker, Behavioral Scientist, Ultrasound
    • Patients: predominantly urban underserved of central and south Seattle

What Does the Rest of the Curriculum Include?

Internal Medicine: Inpatient

  • 5 Inpatient Blocks:
    • R1: 3 Four-Week Blocks of General Medicine:
      • Roosevelt Site: 4 Weeks Each at Harborview and Seattle Veterans Hospital (VA)(8wks total), and 4 Weeks ICU at UWMC
      • HMC Site: 8 Weeks at Harborview, and 4 Weeks ICU at UWMC
    • R2: 2 months of co-leading a medicine team
      • Roosevelt site: 2 months at Seattle VA
      • HMC site: 2 months at Harborview

Internal Medicine: Outpatient

  • Cardiology, Geriatrics, Neurology, Rheumatology, Dermatology
  • Electives in multiple other subspecialties available
  • ACLS training

Pediatrics

  • 1 1/2 blocks inpatient:
    • R1: 4 weeks at Seattle Children’s Hospital
    • R1: 2 weeks NICU at UWMC
  • 3 1/2 blocks outpatient:
    • R1: 2 weeks community outpatient, 1 month ER at Children’s
    • R2: 1 month ER at Children’s
    • R3: 1 month outpatient
  • NRP course

Women’s Health: Obstetrics

  • Obstetrics: 3 months inpatient
    • R1: 6 weeks at UWMC OB Labor and Delivery
    • R2: 1 1/2 months at Group Health Cooperative L&D in Seattle
  • Obstetrics: 3 months outpatient ( 1 clinic per week)
    • R3: Longitudinal Continuity Prenatal care at Columbia Health Center
  • Advanced Life Support in Obstetrics (ALSO) course
  • Average number of deliveries/resident (2008 grads): 113 (range: 91-140)
  • Deliveries on Family Medicine Service with family physician faculty supervision

Women’s Health: Gynecology

  • Gynecology
    • R2: 1 month
    • R3: Colposcopy, Urogynecology, and Breast clinics
  • Specific other topics:
    • Reproductive health
    • Integrated medical and surgical abortion care, with “opt out” option
    • Gynecologic office procedures
    • Domestic violence training

Orthopedics/Sports Medicine

  • R1: 1 month orthopedics/sports medicine
  • R2: 1 month sports medicine
  • Sports medicine fellowship affiliation
  • Procedure workshops:
    • Joint and musculoskeletal exams
    • Casting
    • Joint aspiration and injection

Behavioral Sciences

  • Patient-centered communication skill focus
  • Motivational interviewing
  • One:one precepting with behavioral scientists in your clinics
  • Psychiatry and mental health specialists on site
  • Integrated approach to chronic pain management

General Surgery

  • R2: 1 month general surgery in “away” community sites
  • R3: Surgical clinics at Seattle VA
  • Procedure workshops

Emergency Medicine

  • R1: 4 weeks general ER at UWMC
  • R1: 2 weeks trauma ER at HMC
  • R1 and R2: 2 months pediatric ER at Seattle Children's

Other Curricular Areas

  • Electives R2/3: 4 months
  • Formal learning activities
    • Mon/Weds/Fri - Family Medicine Report
    • Wednesday PM Didactic Conferences: case based, interactive
    • Ward Service Teaching Rounds
    • Web-based modules on "Anytime Courses"
    • All curricula and supplemental materials on-line

How do Residents and Faculty Get to Know Each Other Informally?

Special Activities

  • Dinners
  • Intramural sports
  • Social events
  • Resident retreats
  • Wilderness medicine course

Department of Family Medicine

  • Chair: Tom Norris, MD
  • Medical Student Education Section: Director, Tom Greer, MD
  • Graduate Section: UWMC Family Practice Residency: Director: J. Mark Beard, MD
  • Affiliated Network Programs in WWAMI Region (18 family medicine programs): Director, Nancy G. Stevens, MD
  • Affiliated Network Programs in WWAMI Region (18 family medicine programs): Director: Nancy Stevens, MD
  • Research Section: Director, Laura-Mae Baldwin, MD
  • MEDEX Section: Director, Ruth Ballweg, MPA, PA-C
  • Fellowships:
    • Academic Chief Residency at UWMC Roosevelt FMC
    • Sports Medicine Fellowship: Director, Kim Harmon, MD
    • Global Health Fellowship
    • Palliative Care Fellowship: Stu Faber, MD

Who Should Choose us?

  • If you are still searching for a collaborative, family medicine-supportive, academic teaching hospital...
  • If you're academically and scholarly inclined…
  • If you thrive on diversity and change…
  • If you’re looking for opportunities to grow and to help others grow…
  • If you are stimulated by multidisciplinary learning...
  • If you value relationships…
  • If you enjoy teaching...
  • If you have a good sense of humor…!