Welcome!

Dear Student Colleague:

Have you ever wondered what happened to the 'real' family doctor? You know, the one who delivers babies, takes care of patients in the office, hospital, emergency department, nursing home, makes home visits, and goes home to have lunch everyday? Believe it or not, they still exist. Look in almost any small town and you’ll find doctors who practice the full scope of family practice, serve as leaders in their community, and still have time to have a rich and rewarding personal life.

'In a small town, you can make a big difference.'
Our program has unique features and is specifically designed to help train family doctors who would like to step into the role of a community-oriented physician in a small town or rural area. You’ll get hands-on experience in a practice that welcomes you as a partner rather than a “PGY-something,” and live in a small, vibrant community nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. Your teachers will be experienced family doctors and other health professionals who have dedicated their careers to serving their community, and your resident colleagues will share similar professional and personal goals. We’ll teach you everything you’ll need to know to start your own successful practice or join an established one, and you’ll leave with all the tools to practice state-of-the art medicine and stay well ahead of trends in best medical practice.

'Training in a leading-edge laboratory of the New Model of Family Medicine'
Our program is one of 14 residencies nation-wide selected to participate in the P4 project—“Preparing the Personal Physician for Practice”. Our residents train in a truly state-of-the-art Family Medicine Center that features nearly all of the components of the New Model practice. In addition, each resident will have the opportunity to be a partner in a nearby rural clinic that is adopting many of these same features. We expect to demonstrate that residents who have this experience will be far better prepared to establish their own low-overhead patient centered practice upon graduation.

'The importance of personal and professional balance'
We know all too well that without care and attention to your own needs that rural physicians can burn out. The habits you learn during training are often ones you take with you into practice, good or bad. We pay special attention to creating a work environment, schedule, and personal support network that will nurture you as a valued colleague during this phase of your personal and professional development. We believe strongly that the best family doctors are those who have complete lives, and learn how to balance professional commitment and personal growth early in their careers. We will help you achieve that here during residency.

'Learning a lifetime of skills for community service'
This is truly a community-based program, conceived and maintained by physicians who live and work as an integral part of this community. If you hope to someday be that “complete family doctor,” this is a program that allows for an incredibly wide range of enriching clinical experiences in a personalized setting that maximizes flexibility for adult learners who are ready to take charge of the next phase of their professional lives.

I’d urge you to come visit our program. Come see what our group of innovative faculty and residents have created here, and experience what will allow you, too, to thrive in a small town.

I wish you the best of luck in the next step of your adventure in medicine. We hope to have a chance to meet you and show you our community and our program.