About Madigan's Family Medicine Residency Program
The goal of Madigan’s Family Medicine Residency Program is a three year program. The Family Medicine Residency Training Program trains the family physician who is prepared to provide comprehensive and continuous primary care to all age groups of both sexes in either a military or civilian setting. To achieve this goal, the following aspects of training are emphasized:
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To impress upon each resident that the responsible practice of medicine is a lifelong learning process and the residency years merely represent a continuum of this process between medical school and practice.
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To instill a holistic approach in the care, management, and education of patients.
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Acceptance of the wider range of responsibilities (i.e., health aspects of large troop units, tactical and logistical aspects of military medicine) of Family Medicine in the military setting as compared to a civilian setting.
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Understanding that a family practitioner is but one member of a health care team.
At the completion of residency training, the graduate will show mastery of the six Accreditation Counsel for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) core competencies and should:
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Demonstrate clinical excellence, utilizing current biomedical knowledge in identifying and managing the medical problems presented by his/her patients.
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Provide continuing and comprehensive care to individuals and families
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Demonstrate the ability to integrate the behavioral / emotional / social / environmental factors of families in promoting health and managing disease.
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Recognize the importance of maintaining and developing the knowledge, skills, and attitudes required for the best in modern medical practice in a rapidly changing world and pursue a regular and systematic program of life-long learning.
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Recognize the need and demonstrate the ability to utilize consultation with other medical specialists while maintaining continuity of care.
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Share tasks and responsibilities with other health professionals.
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Be aware of the findings of relevant research; understand and critically evaluate this body of research; and apply the results of the research to medical practice.
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Manage his/her practice in a businesslike, cost-effective manner which will provide professional satisfaction and time for a rewarding personal life.
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Serve as an advocate for the patient within the health care system.
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Assess the quality of care that he/she provides and actively pursue measures to correct deficiencies.
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Recognize community resources as an integral part of the health care system; participate in improving the health of the community.
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Inform and counsel patients concerning their health problems, recognizing patient and physician backgrounds, beliefs, and expectations.
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Develop mutually satisfying physician-patient relationships to promote comprehensive problem-identification and solving.
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Use current medical knowledge to identify, evaluate and minimize risks for patient and family.
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Balance potential benefits, costs, and resources in determining appropriate interventions.
BASIC PRINCIPLES OF PATIENT CARE IN FAMILY MEDICINE
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Compassionate Care (Personalized Care): Family physicians do not just treat patients, they care for people - this caring function of family medicine emphasizes the personalized approach to understanding the patient as a person, respecting the person as an individual, and showing compassion for his/her discomfort "It is much more important to know what sort of patient has a disease than what sort of disease a patient has."
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Continuity of Care: The continuum of care is the patient, and the episode is the disease (for some other specialties, the continuum is the disease and the episode is the patient). This principle reflects a trusting, long-term relationship between the doctor and patient with a commitment to providing care to patients and their families over time. Family physicians maintain responsibility for their patients who require hospitalization or consultation with other providers, integrating the care provided.
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Comprehensive Care: The patient is viewed both from a biological perspective as well as a social and psychological one (the bio-psycho-social model). The view also involves the total individual in context of his/her family, society, and multiple health needs. Comprehensive care may also refer to the "womb to tomb", "birth to death" aspect of family medicine. Our specialty is not limited by age, sex, or diagnosis.
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Coordinated Care: The family physician is an orchestrator of care of the individual patient. As such, he/she identifies others to assist in the patient's care (including other specialists). It is the responsibility of the family physician to guide the patient through the health care system and to act as the patient 's advocate - consultants must not only satisfy the patient but also the family physician.
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Community Orientation: Occupation, culture and other unique aspects of the community are important factors in patient care. This is especially true in our setting - our community is the military (Army). Knowing the community aids in diagnosis as well as in treatment.
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Family Orientation: Family physicians regard patients as members of a family system and recognize the influence of illness on families. Trained to work with families, they understand the difference between functional and dysfunctional families. As with the community, knowing the family often helps in the diagnosis as well as the treatment.
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Prevention: Preventing illness is important in Family Medicine and includes: recognizing risk factors for disease, delaying the consequences of chronic disease, and promoting healthy life-styles.
Madigan is one of the Army’s most state-of-the-art and technically advanced medical centers, and is one of only three designated Level II trauma centers throughout the U.S. Medical Command (MEDCOM).
As a teaching institute, Madigan offers outstanding Graduate Medical and Nursing Education Programs. Residents and fellows enrolled in Madigan’s Graduate Medical Education program have consistently scored in the 90th percentile on state and national examinations, making Madigan a highly desirable place to train.