The rural family medicine residency is a collaborative initiative between the University Of Kansas Medical Center (KUMC) in Kansas City, Kansas, and the Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas (CHC/SEK) in Pittsburg, Kansas.

This residency experience is the best of two worlds; urban and rural. The PGY1 residents will be based at the KU academic medical center in Kansas City, Kansas. The experiences in an academic institution provide a solid foundation in preparation for the transition to the rural training site in PGY2 and PGY3.

The primary residency site for PGY2 and PGY3 is CHC/SEK, one of the largest FQHC’s in the state of Kansas. All of the resources needed for this underserved rural community are found under one roof along with the Residency Continuity Clinic. Residents will also train at Pittsburg’s Ascension Via Christi Hospital to learn care of the acute patient in a rural setting.

Unique benefits and features of the FQHC based residency experience include but are not limited to:

• Learning to manage complex care patients and access specialty care and consultation from a rural environment.
• Being the only residency in the community eliminates competition for procedures and experiences as well as focused support and attention from faculty.
• Access to a multidisciplinary team on-site to immediately address your patients’ needs including; dental, behavioral health, addiction treatment, HIV care, registered dietitians, physical therapy, pelvic floor physical therapy, chiropractor, diagnostics, population health, community health workers, and more.
• CHC/SEK is actively engaged with schools and jails within the region to provide services and providers on-site in these locations.
• A very robust menu of addiction treatment services are in place and expanding.

PGY1 residents benefit from the depth and breadth of our program, its faculty, and training sites. PGY2 and PGY3 residents benefit from training in a truly rural setting of a well-established FQHC at CHC/SEK, where they will have access to a multidisciplinary team and many of the resources needed to support a successful rural medical practice.

We believe this is a truly unique program for future family medicine physicians planning to practice in rural areas, while offering the benefits of an urban academic center and the intimacy of the rural setting that many enjoy.