Family Medicine Residency

Family Medicine Residency

The Memorial Health University Medical Center Family Medicine Residency Program’s mission is to develop the next generation of physicians and physician leaders. As a part of HCA Healthcare, we are driven by a single mission: Above all else, we are committed to the care and improvement of human life.

This program is designed to offer residents a rewarding, educational environment where residents are provided individualized learning opportunities by faculty and staff who support and sustain one another throughout quality care delivery. Our faculty are committed to ensuring the residents' clinical experience and educational needs are fulfilled while expanding residents’ perspectives to be inclusive of cultures, values, and ideals.

Program overview

Our Family Medicine Residency Program is a networked program that strives to develop well-rounded family doctors. We consider ourselves networked instead of “opposed,” because of the unique, collaborative relationship that we share with the other residency programs at Memorial Health University Medical Center.

Our goal is for residents to practice broad-spectrum family medicine in any community, especially in underserved or low-resource areas. Our graduates have chosen careers at health departments, as outpatient providers in private practice, and as hospitalists who practice in ICUs. Our residents have also done fellowships in sports medicine, geriatrics, global health, and emergency medicine.

The specialists in our program have developed a broad-spectrum family medicine experience for our residents. We have family medicine attending physicians who practice obstetrics, and one who has a CAQ in sports medicine. As the clinical experiences of our resident physicians expand, our department chair has made it a priority to expand the resources available to them.

These experiences have been supplemented by a redesign of our residency education series, which now includes longitudinal didactic sessions on behavioral health, health disparities, sports medicine, point-of-care ultrasound (including musculoskeletal ultrasound), procedures, and evidence-based medicine/critical appraisal of medical literature.

Our residents and students can experience the full spectrum of care, including morning rounds, busy days in the office, and unpredictable late-night calls to labor and delivery. Our group practice makes all of this possible within the framework of a viable lifestyle that allows you to enjoy living in the city of Savannah.

Research and scholarship

We want our residents to graduate with the appreciation, knowledge, and skills needed to critique and generate scholarly activity for family medicine physicians in the United States.

To accomplish this goal, we have integrated time into the residents’ schedules to work on scholarly activity including performance/quality improvement, PDSA cycles, and a GME sponsored projects. Additionally, we have had residents routinely complete at least one publication through various formats. Past publications have included Family Practice Inquiries Network (FPIN) Help Desk Answers and Clinical Inquiries in the AAFP journal, Dynamed, and Five Minute Clinical Consults. Residents have been included as investigators in clinical research projects that have included sickle cell and HIV care.

Residents participate in a yearly “Research Day” where projects and case reports from Mercer University School of Medicine and all other in-house residencies are presented locally. Residents are encouraged to present at other local, regional and national conferences including the Society of Teachers in Family Medicine and Georgia Academy of Family Medicine.

Residents have protected weekly didactics which include critical appraisal of medical literature and board review topics.

Wellness

Our program takes resident wellness very seriously and have continually worked to reduce administrative burden, allow for administrative time while in the clinic, schedule bonding time during weekly didactics and can offer private, individual counseling through our behavioral health specialist.

Community engagement

We have a partnership with a local Federally Qualified Health Center, J.C. Lewis Primary Health Care Center. Here residents are able to see another model of health care and have an opportunity to provide care to the homeless community of Savannah with their mobile health unit. We participate in HIV/Hepatitis C program that offers free or low cost treatment to patients. We often participate in local food and supply drives. Past projects have included Walk With a Doc, the Rocking Chair Project, and a community garden. We welcome new ideas to give back!

Memorial Health University Medical Center has an affiliation with Mercer University School of Medicine and has been the home of Mercer’s Savannah campus since 2007. Our entire faculty holds academic appointments in the Mercer University School of Medicine and we have a constant presence of medical students who work with us on both inpatient and outpatient medical care.

Rotation Schedule

Clinic First

Memorial Family Medicine is proud to be a part of the latest cohort Family Medicine residencies across the country to be chosen to initiate a “Clinic First” model in their training.

Though there is not a set or correct way of implementing this initiative, the goal is to improve primary care ambulatory residency training for residents. In order to continue to train our residents to be able to practice the kind of medicine they wish to by the time they graduate, we have adopted a split four-week rotation model.

That is, we have 13 blocks within the academic year and within each block, the residents will spend two weeks in the clinic and two weeks solely on the rotation they are assigned.

The following is a sample of resident rotations:

PGY1

• Orientation
• 13 Blocks of outpatient clinic
• Inpatient x5
• Night Float
• OB
• ER
• Newborn Nursery
• Peds outpatient
• Peds inpatient
• ICU
• Ortho

PGY 2

• 13 blocks of outpatient clinic
• Inpatient x4
• Night Float x2
• ENT
• OB
• Peds IP
• Rural
• ER
• General Surgery
• Gynecology

PGY 3

• 13 blocks of outpatient clinic
• Inpatient x4
• Night Float x2
• Elective x3
• Selective x1
• Peds ER
• Dermatology
• Ortho

Other electives can be approved by the program director after goals and objectives are submitted for consideration.

Teaching Opportunities

The Family Medicine Residency Program at Memorial Health University Medical Center is proud to offer a number of teaching opportunities. Remember the hard-working residents who helped you when you were a med student? This is your chance to pay it forward and share your passion for family medicine with new students.

Memorial Health University Medical Center is a 612-bed academic medical center dedicated to education and discovery. As a family medicine resident, you will have the opportunity to work with and provide one-on-one teaching to students from multiple disciplines.

The Savannah campus of Mercer University School of Medicine is located on the Memorial University Medical Center campus. Residents work with Mercer’s third- and fourth-year medical students.

At Memorial University Medical Center, we strongly believe that your own family medicine training is greatly enhanced through teaching others.

FAQs

Do you consider international medical graduates for your family medicine training program?

Yes.

What is the year of graduation cut-off?

The Program Director reviews all the applications to our program and evaluates the applicants’ overall skills and professional achievements; a decision to invite a candidate for an interview is based on several factors, not only the medical school graduation year.

Do I need an ECFMG Certificate to apply?

Not at the moment of your application. We do request that you submit an ECFMG Status Report with your ERAS common application.