North Colorado Family Medicine Residency - Wray Rural Training Program

North Colorado Family Medicine Rural Training Program - Sterling (Residency)

Rural Training Program - Wray (Match ID 1853120C1)

Resident physicians in the Wray Rural Training Program spend their first 15 months training with the Core Program in Greeley, Colorado. Their continuity clinic occurs at North Colorado Family Medicine. In September of their second year of training, the resident physician moves to Wray, Colorado for the remainder of their residency training. Resident physicians are provided with an extra stipend on top of their salary and benefits after moving to Wray. Currently, the Wray Program is limited to one position per PGY year.

The curriculum in Wray is longitudinal and allows the residents to train and practice as a true rural family physicians doing a little bit of everything each day. Workdays begin with inpatient rounds and a morning report of the interesting cases from the emergency department during the night. After teaching rounds, residents then go to the Family Medicine clinic to see continuity patients.  Wray residents also work with local and visiting specialists to gain valuable specialty training experience.

Second-year resident physicians cover the emergency department for nine 24-hour shifts per month (from home at night) and third year resident physicians do seven 24-hour shifts per month (from home at night). This longitudinal approach leads to a tremendous experience in both rural continuity clinic and rural emergency department coverage while still meeting all ACGME requirements for training in other disciplines. 

While training in Wray, residents participate with their classmates back in Greeley for Wednesday afternoon didactics, alternating between traveling back to Greeley once per month for this activity and, at other times, participating via live streaming video. Graduates of the Wray Rural Training Track typically perform about 80 C-sections, 180 total deliveries, 200 colonoscopies, 100 EGD’s as well as exercise cardiac stress tests, OB ultrasound, a high volume of fracture management, tubal ligations, colposcopy, electrical cardioversion, thrombolytics for acute myocardial infarction and stroke, among many other procedures.

Rotations

We offer medical student rotations in Wray, and we encourage students considering a career in rural family medicine and those interested in applying to our Wray Rural Training Program to consider rotating with us. For inquiries into arranging a fourth-year medical student rotation, review the medical student rotations and/or contact North Colorado Family Medicine at (970) 810-2800.

About the Hospital and Clinic

The Wray Community District Hospital opened in 1995 and is a 15-bed critical access hospital with Level IV trauma services. It is a model rural hospital with 2 operating rooms, a 2-bay emergency room, radiology including CT scanner and mammography, cardiac rehabilitation center and other ancillary services. It also serves as the site for frequent specialty clinics.

The Wray Clinic is a 10,000 square-foot clinic connected to the hospital that opened in 2003. It contains 16 exam rooms, 2 procedure rooms and a lab. It also serves as the site for frequent specialty clinics including audiology, cardiology, dermatology, ear, nose and throat, gynecology, hematology/oncology, ophthalmology, orthopedics, podiatry, pulmonology and urology.

Application Process

Learn more about the facilities where our residents train, all located in or near Greeley:

• Banner North Colorado Family Medicine Clinic is the continuity clinic home for all three years for Core and Hospitalist Program Residents as well as for Wray and Sterling residents during their PGY-1 year. The clinic is just a two-block walk from the hospital (NCMC). 
• Banner North Colorado Medical Center is the site of all PGY-1 hospital rotations for all programs and is the site of many elective rotations during PGY-2 and PGY-3 for Core, Hospitalist, and Sunrise residents. The upper floors facing west offer unobstructed views of the Rocky Mountains.
• Sterling Regional MedCenter is the continuity clinic and rotation home for Sterling Program Residents during PGY-2 and PGY-3.
• Sunrise Community Health Center is the continuity clinic home for Sunrise residents during for all three years.

How to Apply

North Colorado Family Medicine participates in the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) application process. Your dean's office at your school will have information on how to apply to our program through this system.

Only applications received through ERAS will be considered.

Signals will be accepted by NCFM and considered for interview offers but will not be used for ranking purposes.

Positions for the first-year class are filled each year through the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) Main Residency Match and/or Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program (SOAP). 

We adhere strictly to NRMP rules and do not discriminate with regard to sex, race, age, color, sexual orientation, religion, national origin, disability, or any other applicable legally protected status.

There are separate match slots designated for each available program (Core-5; Sunrise-2; Hospitalist-1; Wray-1; Sterling-2). If you are interested in any of these following program sites, you must apply separately to each number. You may apply to, interview for and rank for as many programs as you are interested in. If you are interested in applying for one of our rural programs, the Sunrise Program, or the Hospitalist Program, you must also apply to the Core Program.

• Core Program 1853120C0
• Sunrise Community Health Center Program 1853120C2
• Hospitalist Program 1853120C3
• Wray Rural Training Track Program 1853120C1
• Sterling Rural Training Track Program 1853120C4

Direct Applicant Inquiries to:
North Colorado Family Medicine
Attn: Program Office
1600 23rd Ave.
Greeley, CO 80634
(970) 810-2800
Fax: (970) 810-2820

Application Criteria

The criteria to interview include:

• Apply through ERAS before December (Early submission will provide those who are qualified to interview the best selection of interview dates.)
• Three letters of recommendation (if postgraduate residency training, letter and/or evaluation from former Program Director is required)
• Medical Student Performance Evaluation (MSPE)/Dean's Letter
• Medical School Transcript
• Personal Statement that includes your understanding and/or personal philosophy of Family Medicine
• Interviews will not be offered without USMLE Step 1 or COMLEX Part 1 scores. Successful completion of USMLE Step 2 or COMLEX Part is required by graduation from medical school. Applicants are strongly encouraged to take Step/COMLEX 2 with time for scores to return prior to ranking. Applicants with more than 2 attempts at passing any of these exams are not eligible for interview. 
• Eligible for licensure in Colorado during 2nd year of residency
• Graduation from Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) accredited medical schools in the United States or Canada or American Osteopathic Association (AOA) accredited medical schools in the United States
• Graduation from medical school or post-graduate residency training within 3 years of starting with our program

Letters of invitation to interview will be sent out as applications are received and reviewed. Interviews will begin mid-October and continue through mid-January.

International Medical Graduates

IMG applicants must also apply through the ERAS residency application system. All medical graduates invited to interview must be eligible for licensure in Colorado during their second year of residency. For international medical graduates this requires:

• Required to have completed two years of residency training in U.S. or Canada before applying to our program*
• Satisfactory completion of the examination of the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates
• Satisfactory completion of the USMLE examination with a score of 200 or greater
• Submission of evidence by the applicant, satisfactory to the Board of Medical Examiners, that the medical school from which the applicant graduated is approved by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) or the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) or conforms to the minimal educational standards established by the LCME or AOA as determined by the Board.

IMG applicants will not be considered by North Colorado Family Medicine until satisfactory documentation of post graduate medical training has been received. It is the applicant's responsibility to provide this information. Our sponsoring institution does not offer visa sponsorship.

*The physician licensing requirements in the State of Colorado are likely changing. We will continue to re-evaluate our eligibility criteria. If you have questions about Colorado physician licensing please refer to the Board of Medical Examiners.

Salary

Current Salaries

• First year: $60,302
• Second year: $62,864
• Third year: $66,143

Residents training in family medicine at North Colorado Medical Center in Greeley, Colorado, are employees of Banner Health. All Banner Health employees are required to undergo a pre-employment drug screen and a criminal background check. Residents work under the terms and conditions of an annual training agreement effective July 1 through June 30.