• Criteria for Foreign Medical Graduates



• Overview
  
  
• Mid-Minnesota Family Medicine Center Clinical Training



• Clinical Training at St. Cloud Hospital



• Curriculum
  Block Rotations: First Year
  Block Rotations: Second Year
  Block Rotations: Third Year



• Longitudinal Curricula - All Years



• Didactic Training



• Procedural Skills and Certifications



• Evaluation



• Conference Time



• On-Call Schedule



• Moonlighting



• Applications, Interviews and Appointments

Overview
Our program prepares family physicians both to possess the training and expertise to provide definitive care for the vast majority of patients they will see in their practice, and to adapt to the leadership roles that will be part of their future practice in the community. 

 
Mid-Minnesota Family Medicine Center Clinical Training
The University of Minnesota/St. Cloud Hospital Family Medicine Residency Program emphasizes teaching in outpatient settings that are supportive, exciting learning environments. Our instruction focuses on evidence-based medicine, and we teach you how to apply the current literature to your individual patients.

The Mid-Minnesota Family Medicine Center is a 20,614 square foot, state-of-the-art facility that is completely equipped for educational purposes. We have 22 exam rooms and two procedure rooms, a private entrance, a spacious waiting room, a classroom for teaching and separate workspace for faculty and residents. This clinic serves the St. Cloud metro area, which has a population of more than 100,000. The Mid-Minnesota Family Medicine Center is three blocks west of St. Cloud Hospital (SCH).

Our office uses innovative technology and equipment, including video Colposcopy and flexible sigmoidoscopy and ultrasound. Residents use personal computers and personal digital assistants in the hospital and at the Mid-Minnesota Family MedicineCenter. We utilize an electronic medical record that is directly connected to the hospital electronic medical record. 

The University of Minnesota/St. Cloud Hospital Family Medicine Residency Program embraces a patient-centered practice of medicine. Throughout your three years, you will be supported in learning the skills necessary to practice patient-centered medicine. Critical to the practice is the ability to create and sustain a therapeutic and ethically sound relationship with patients. These skills will be taught through lectures, rounds, precepting, video taping, coaching and group process. 

Throughout the program, we will assign families to you with the expectation that you will provide their continuing care during your residency. You will develop a practice of your own that is part of a patient care team consisting of other residents, several nurses and physician faculty members. The team will share responsibility for families so other team members can provide continuity for you when you are not available. Mid-level providers assist in delivering urgent care services in the clinic.

Team members work together to deliver consistently high-quality patient care, while allowing enough time away for each individual to care for personal needs. Ancillary staff including medical assistants, LPN's, RN’s and patient advocates play important roles in helping to care for and educate our patients.

 
Clinical Training at St. Cloud Hospital
If your patients require hospitalization, you will admit them to St. Cloud Hospital with a faculty physician. The attending faculty on the hospital service will conduct rounds with you for all hospitalized Mid-Minnesota Family MedicineCenter patients. While your patients are at SCH, you will have access to a full spectrum of specialty and subspecialty consultation services without loss of primary patient care responsibility. The faculty attendings will always be available to teach you and assist you in the care of your patients. 

Because SCH is a regional, tertiary care hospital, you will be involved in the treatment of more complex medical cases than you might see in a smaller community hospital. You will have the opportunity to work with physicians and staff from many specialty areas that will provide you the background you will need to be more effective in your future practice. Simultaneously, because the Family Medicine Residency Program is the only residency at SCH, you will have opportunities to learn procedures and manage patients who might be referred to specialists in a university-hospital setting.

Curriculum
Block Rotations: First Year
Most rotations in the first year occur at the SCH. You will see your own patients 1-2 half days per week at the Mid-Minnesota Family MedicineCenter. Rotations are based on 13 four-week cycles. Orientation begins the third week of June.

During the second and third years of residency, you will work with subspecialists in St. Cloud and gain experience in rural settings.


Block Rotations: Second Year
You will see patients 2-4 half days per week at the Mid-Minnesota Family MedicineCenter. 

Block Rotations: Third Year
You will see patients 3-5 half days per week at the Mid-Minnesota Family MedicineCenter.

Longitudinal Curricula - All Years
• Community Medicine
• Diagnostic Imaging
• Ethics
• Family Medicine
• Geriatrics
• Human Behavior and Psychiatry
• Practice Management
• Research


Didactic Training
Core content lectures will be a regular part of your educational experience. Lectures occur daily, usually over the noon hour. These conferences are presented by the faculty, community physicians, other clinicians and guest speakers. The series starts with an introduction to general principles of family medicine and office-based practice. Later topics cover the full spectrum of family practice:
• Adolescent Medicine
• Adult Medicine and Subspecialties
• Behavioral Medicine
• Care of the Elderly
• Child Health
• Community Medicine
• Critical Review of the Medical Literature
• Dermatology
• Emergency Medical Care
• Ethics
• Family Systems
• Maternity Care
• Nutrition
• Patient Education
• Practice Management
• Surgery
• Women’s Health

You will join the hospital staff to attend relevant CME conferences given by SCH physicians and guest speakers. You will be encouraged to attend departmental CME presentations as part of the lecture series. You will make presentations during Information Management lectures, Family Medicine Morbidity and Mortality conferences and Pediatric conferences throughout your last two years. The program supports your attendance at specific local family practice-oriented conferences during your residency.


Procedural Skills and Certifications
Procedural skills are an important part of rural practice. You will have opportunities to learn:
• Arthrocentesis
• Casting and Splinting
• Circumcision
• Colposcopy and LEEP
• Cryotherapy
• Dilation and Curettage
• Endometrial Biopsy
• Exercise Stress Testing
• Flexible Sigmoidoscopy
• Fetal Monitoring
• Incision and Drainage of Abscesses
• Lumbar Puncture
• Office Obstetrical Ultrasound
• Skin Biopsy/Lesion Excision
• Suction Curettage
• Surgical Assisting
• Suturing/Laceration Repair
• Vaginal Delivery, both assisted and spontaneous 

We require all University of Minnesota/St. Cloud Hospital residents to have certification in Basic Cardiac Life Support (BCLS) prior to entering the program. You will take courses in Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS), Neonatal Resuscitation Program (NRP) and Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) during residency orientation. You will have the opportunity to become certified in Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) during your residency. You will take Advanced Life Support in Obstetrics (ALSO) sometime during your first year of training.

Evaluation
To assist you in acquiring the appropriate knowledge and technical skills, we will provide you feedback on your performance during your family medicine residency. Your evaluations will be based on the ACGME competencies. You will meet with your assigned faculty adviser approximately four times each year, during which time you will develop and monitor your own goals. In addition, you will regularly evaluate the faculty and your clinical rotations to help us improve the quality of the training program.

To help you gauge your progress in knowledge acquisition during your residency and to prepare you for your certifying exam in family practice, you will participate in an annual self-assessment examination provided by the American Board of Family Practice.


Conference Time
Residents in the second and third years may take up to five working days each year to attend educational meetings accredited by recognized societies (the American Academy of Family Physicians, the National Congress of Family Practice Residents, the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine, the American Medical Women’s Association, etc.). You are encouraged to present research at regional and national meetings. If your paper is accepted for presentation, we will provide you with a per diem, authorized travel expenses (beyond the conference allotment) and time away from the program for the presentations. 


On-Call Schedule
During your first year, you will be on call every fourth to fifth night. The faculty and an upper level resident will be available to you by phone, and when necessary, in the hospital. Most of the on-call duty in the second and third years is taken at home. It averages every sixth to seventh night during rotations at SCH. During the Inpatient Family Medicine rotation in the second and third year, your call will be in the hospital one day a week. Rural rotation call varies depending on location and goals of the rotation. Holiday call will be equitably distributed amongst all residents. Residents' duty hour regulations are strictly monitored and enforced.


Moonlighting
We permit moonlighting for fully licensed residents, provided these activities do not interfere with your education or resident duty hour regulations. Supervised practice in an emergency room setting can be a valuable training experience and can introduce you to smaller hospitals in the area. Urgent care practice can allow you to improve your skills in time management. 

Applications, Interviews and Appointments
Applicants will meet the following criteria:

• U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident.
• Less than eight years since graduation from medical school or direct patient care experience.
• Verified clinical experience in the U.S.
• If not a graduate from a LCME accredited U.S.or Canadian medical school or an osteopathic medicine college accredited by the AOA, then a current ECFMG certificate is required.
• Each step of the USMLE or COMLEX taken no more than three times, and all steps passed within seven years of passing the initial step.
• No more than two attempts at USMLE Clinical Skills.
• Applications accepted only through the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS).

You are invited to consider a residency at the University of Minnesota/St. Cloud Hospital Family Medicine Residency Program. Four positions are available each year.

All applications are accepted through ERAS (Electronic Residency Application Service). Application deadline is January 8, 2010.

We request that you submit:
• Official college, graduate school and medical school transcripts.
• Official records of board scores (NBME, FLEX, USMLE, LMCC, VQE or FMGEMS).
• A dean’s letter and two other letters of recommendation.
• A personal statement.

Information about certification is available from:

ECFMG
3624 Market Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104
U.S.A.

Please call if you are unsure of the status of your application. The faculty will review all applications and invite selected candidates for personal interviews. 

The interview day is an important time for you to learn more about us and our program and for us to get to know you. Please invite your spouse/significant other to join us for this day. You will meet with the program director, other faculty, residents and support staff. We conduct interviews from November through January each year. We will try to fit your schedule as best we can, although we recommend that you have several dates available. Food expenses and one night’s lodging are provided by the residency program. 

Appointments are made through the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP).

Minnesota law requires physicians to pass a criminal background study before having direct patient contact. Residents must complete a background study prior to entering residency. Failure to pass the background study is grounds for dismissal.

Inquiries
For more information, please contact:

University of Minnesota/St. Cloud Hospital Family Medicine Residency Program
1520 Whitney Court, Suite 200
St. Cloud, MN 56303-1867

Phone: (320) 240-3182
Fax: (320) 240-3165
E-mail: sauver@centracare.com 

Affirmative action and equal opportunity educator and employer.