MONROE - Monroe Clinic will receive $750,000 over the next three years in a grant from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services to implement a family medicine residency program.
"Once the program receives accreditation this fall, it will be the first new, family medicine residency in Wisconsin in more than 20 years," said Lori Rodefeld, residency coordinator of Monroe Clinic.
It will also be the first rural training track residency program in southern Wisconsin. The other two are in Baraboo and Augusta. Rural Training Track (RTT) residency programs provide graduate medical education to prepare resident physicians broadly for rural family medicine.
The grant is part of a statewide effort to attract physicians to rural and underserved areas of Wisconsin. Monroe Clinic was one of only six organizations to receive funding and the only facility to receive a full $750,000 grant.
Monroe Clinic had been researching and planning its residency program for 18 months, and Mike Sanders, Monroe Clinic president and CEO, believes the grant makes a significant impact in the clinic's ability to launch the new program by 2015.
In addition to providing physicians the clinical training needed in underserved areas, the programs that received grant funding will increase the likelihood that resident physicians will remain in those areas to continue their practices, which in turn will increase access to quality health care, according to DHS Secretary Kitty Rhoades.
Monroe's new residency program will help the clinic "grow our own" physicians, said Rodefeld.
The medical field has seen fewer physicians moving to rural areas after graduation to continue their practice, Rodefeld said. While 20 percent of the population lives in rural areas, only 9 percent of doctors practice in these areas. Doctors tend to set up their practices within 100 miles of their urban residency training, she added. As an example, Rodefeld noted the state of Illinois does not have a physician shortage, but the majority of those physicians are clustered in its Chicago area.
Dr. Thompson, Monroe Clinic's Chief Medical Officer, came up with the idea of starting the residency program at Monroe Clinic, Rodefeld said.
Thompson joined Monroe Clinic as chief medical officer in 2008. He was appointed president of Wisconsin Collaborative for Healthcare Quality's board of directors in January, having served on the board since 2009. Additionally, he serves on the board of the Wisconsin Academy of Family Physicians.
With its new three-year residency program and state-of-the-art hospital facility, Monroe Clinic will be able to offer the increased number of necessary clinical and hospital rotations, attract more students and increase its fellowships, Rodefeld said.
The program is on the fast track to launch in 2015, and will generate six family medicine residency positions, two per year, over the program's first three years.
Monroe Clinic family practice physician, C.J. Smith, D.O., will be acting as site director for the residency program and program director for the osteopathic residency program. He will serve as the contact and site supervisor for residents, as well as a liaison with the College of Medicine at Rockford, who will partner with Monroe Clinic for the residency program.
Accreditation will clear the way for Monroe Clinic to choose its first resident doctors, who can be expected to be in place by mid-2015.
The clinic has applied for accreditation with the American Council on Graduate Medical Education and American Osteopathic Association. The AOA will complete the final review of the application this June, and the ACGME is expected to make its decision this October.
"Once the program receives accreditation this fall, it will be the first new, family medicine residency in Wisconsin in more than 20 years," said Lori Rodefeld, residency coordinator of Monroe Clinic.
It will also be the first rural training track residency program in southern Wisconsin. The other two are in Baraboo and Augusta. Rural Training Track (RTT) residency programs provide graduate medical education to prepare resident physicians broadly for rural family medicine.
The grant is part of a statewide effort to attract physicians to rural and underserved areas of Wisconsin. Monroe Clinic was one of only six organizations to receive funding and the only facility to receive a full $750,000 grant.
Monroe Clinic had been researching and planning its residency program for 18 months, and Mike Sanders, Monroe Clinic president and CEO, believes the grant makes a significant impact in the clinic's ability to launch the new program by 2015.
In addition to providing physicians the clinical training needed in underserved areas, the programs that received grant funding will increase the likelihood that resident physicians will remain in those areas to continue their practices, which in turn will increase access to quality health care, according to DHS Secretary Kitty Rhoades.
Monroe's new residency program will help the clinic "grow our own" physicians, said Rodefeld.
The medical field has seen fewer physicians moving to rural areas after graduation to continue their practice, Rodefeld said. While 20 percent of the population lives in rural areas, only 9 percent of doctors practice in these areas. Doctors tend to set up their practices within 100 miles of their urban residency training, she added. As an example, Rodefeld noted the state of Illinois does not have a physician shortage, but the majority of those physicians are clustered in its Chicago area.
Dr. Thompson, Monroe Clinic's Chief Medical Officer, came up with the idea of starting the residency program at Monroe Clinic, Rodefeld said.
Thompson joined Monroe Clinic as chief medical officer in 2008. He was appointed president of Wisconsin Collaborative for Healthcare Quality's board of directors in January, having served on the board since 2009. Additionally, he serves on the board of the Wisconsin Academy of Family Physicians.
With its new three-year residency program and state-of-the-art hospital facility, Monroe Clinic will be able to offer the increased number of necessary clinical and hospital rotations, attract more students and increase its fellowships, Rodefeld said.
The program is on the fast track to launch in 2015, and will generate six family medicine residency positions, two per year, over the program's first three years.
Monroe Clinic family practice physician, C.J. Smith, D.O., will be acting as site director for the residency program and program director for the osteopathic residency program. He will serve as the contact and site supervisor for residents, as well as a liaison with the College of Medicine at Rockford, who will partner with Monroe Clinic for the residency program.
Accreditation will clear the way for Monroe Clinic to choose its first resident doctors, who can be expected to be in place by mid-2015.
The clinic has applied for accreditation with the American Council on Graduate Medical Education and American Osteopathic Association. The AOA will complete the final review of the application this June, and the ACGME is expected to make its decision this October.