Family Medince Residency Program

Standard Curriculum

The standard curriculum, our most popular, is designed to prepare the resident for the challenges of practice in a variety of settings. The key to excellent resident education is direct patient management. Our philosophy is to allow residents to manage patients under the guidance of experienced physicians. The core clinical rotations of adult medicine, pediatrics, and obstetrics will provide plentiful and varied experience such that our graduates are very comfortable managing the most challenging patients.

Rural Curriculum
Memorial has a rural focus curriculum that any resident who matches in the program may elect to take. This curriculum is intended for residents who know early in their training that they want to practice in a rural setting. One block in each of the three years is spent at a rural site. Years two and three allow the resident to select a site remote from the South Bend area. Many residents use this as an opportunity to work at a site in the region of the country where they hope to practice in the future. Modifications of the Standard Curriculum to accommodate the three blocks of the rural rotations include moving one block of orthopedics from the first year to the third year and limiting other third year electives to three and one half blocks.

Health Services Management Curriculum
This innovative 4 year curriculum not only prepares residents for a career in the practice of family medicine, but for a leadership role in health care administration and policy-making. The resident spends six months spread over years two through four, with the administrative and management team of Memorial Hospital and Health System rotating through departments concerned with finances, quality, information systems, corporate compliance, and much more. In addition, residents in this curriculum usually spend one evening a week during the academic year taking classes at Indiana University South Bend to fulfill the requirements for a Masters Degree in Public Affairs with a concentration in Health Systems Management. Courses in the curriculum include emphasis on public management, health information systems, the impact of legislation and tort law on health care delivery and health planning as well as many other areas. This curriculum is available to a limited number of residents.

Sports Medicine Focus Curriculum
Beginning in the PGY-1 curriculum there will be longitudinal components including high school training room and event coverage, preparticipation exams, research, and local, national, and international special events.