What to look for in a family residency position

There are over 457 accredited family residency programs in the US, with several thousand positions open each year. This field is more general than some of our specialty offerings – you can expect to learn prevention, diagnostic, and treatment modalities for a variety of ailments and conditions, in patients of all ages.

In addition to the more technical skills, you will also learn how to interact with patients effectively, so you become more than a doctor – you will be their most trusted provider of continuing medicine for life.

Here are a few things to look for when considering a family medicine residency position:

1. Look at the scenery

Family medicine practitioners often build a deep level of connection with their surrounding communities, so consider the type of population you would like to work with when evaluating a family medicine residency position. If your goal is to work in a more rural or semi-urban setting, consider a program that matches this specification. The patients you interact with will closely match the patients you will be working with in your own practice. If you find a position with an associated teaching hospital, all the better.

Urban positions typically are connected with university or research hospitals, and focus on serving the needs of their specific location. Some programs will offer multiple locations in the same city, so consider each of these when evaluating your options. Other programs offer on-site inpatient care facilities, or clinical research laboratories.

2. The program’s philosophy

You can quickly get an idea of a program’s underlying philosophy in their introductory materials. Some programs focus on integrated care – they help patients improve their lifestyle behaviors, manage chronic ailments, and provide other forms of ongoing support. Others focus on underserved populations, or global medicine.

3. Where the faculty works

A key indicator is where the faculty works in their own practice. Rural treatment programs focus on the needs of rural populations, typically including standard diagnostic tests. Urban programs often focus on supporting underserved populations and their unique range of needs. Some programs have specific specialties, such as sports medicine, alternative medicine, or maternal care, and different branches may have different types of faculty specialties.

Consider all of these when evaluating any family medicine residency positions you are applying for, and explore the possibilities. A good tip is to imagine where you want to be in ten years, and find a program that matches your desire.