Residents at Sparrow Hospital receive 600 hours of continuing education on site. Our teaching staff, selected from among the total medical staff, includes private practice physicians and 70 members of the Michigan State University academic medical staff. Sparrow's high standards for medical practitioners attracts an excellent staff who actively participate in educational programs at all levels. Sparrow was first in the State of Michigan to be fully certified for a medical staff continuing education program.

Sparrow is a major affiliate of the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine and College of Osteopathic Medicine. The 70 members of these two colleges who teach at Sparrow participate in daily rounds, conferences, consultations, and other teaching activities with Sparrow's private attending staff. Sparrow Hospital staff members frequently hold clinical appointments at Michigan State University. Residents are eligible for appointments as well.
The Sparrow/MSU Family Medicine Residency Program is a community-based, university-affiliated residency program, which merges the perspectives and resources of a major community hospital and an academic department of Family Medicine. Over fifty percent of the physicians within the Family Medicine Department at Sparrow Hospital are graduates of the Sparrow/MSU Family Medicine Residency Program. MSU's two medical schools place over half their graduates in primary care residencies and employ family physicians as the team physicians for most sports.

Our program, part of a major, regional, full-service community hospital, blends traditional curriculum structure with longitudinal training themes. Within this context, the Family Health Center is considered to be the central focus of training, starting right at the beginning of your first year. We want you to think of your assigned Family Health Center as your home office base, not just a residency clinic where you drop in occasionally to see patients and that takes a back seat to all other rotational experiences. You will have your own assigned panel of patients, and consistent continuity with your patient panel, both inpatient and outpatient, will be a top priority. Learning to be a full-spectrum family physician is a challenge. Multi-tasking is an essential skill to learn. In our program, you'll provide outpatient and inpatient care in much the same way as in a private practice setting, though with some educational modifications.