September 2010
SFM Is Now Training Next Generation of Doctors.
Over the next two years, the new faces you may see at our offices are Pacific Northwest University (PNWU) medical students in their third and fourth years of training, doing their family medicine rotation.
The students learn first-hand by conducting patient interviews and exams, talking with the family and shadowing and participating in care and procedures under supervision of their attending physician.
“It was a great experience for me to shadow and learn from Dr. Pullen at Sound Family Medicine. For the first time, I was out of the classroom and interacting with patients one on one, which I truly enjoyed. I am grateful to Dr. Pullen for teaching me not only the science behind medicine, but also showing excellent bedside manners and care that he expresses toward every one of his patients,” reports Vladislava Vasilyeva about her experience,
Pacific Northwest University is a new medical school located in Yakima and these students will be among the first to graduate. In 2012, they will graduate with a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree. Osteopathic physicians are fully licensed medical providers that practice in all specialty areas including surgery. They receive extra training in the musculoskeletal system to practice a "whole person" approach which often focuses on preventative health care. Osteopathic principles and practices emphasize the relationship between the body's nerves, muscles, bones and organs and students of osteopathic medicine learn manual medicine techniques to help treat dysfunction and aid in healing. Sound Family Medicine has volunteered to provide these students with an environment to learn principles of family medicine as well as osteopathic manipulation.
Other members of the inaugural class at the College of Osteopathic Medicine are practicing in 19 clinical sites around the Pacific Northwest for intensive training in family medicine, pediatrics, general surgery, women's health and mental health.
Keith Peterson who rotated with Dr. Blackburn at the SFM Sunrise office on his first rotation said “I have been so impressed by the welcome that I and the other students have received in Puyallup and at Good Samaritan. We all have roots to this area and are happy to return “home” to work in this next phase of our lives. The attending doctors have been amazing.”
Students were matched as closely as possible with their hometowns in keeping with the university's mission, which is to encourage graduates to practice family medicine in areas that are short on doctors.
"We want them to go back to the area they are from and stay," said the dean, Robyn Phillips-Madsen.
Phillips-Madsen said the clinical years will be heavily structured to make sure students adhere to rigorous standards and that the doctors who will mentor them have plenty of support. There will be end-of-rotation examinations and every site will have a regional dean and coordinator to keep students accountable.
If you consent to have one of these medical students work with your doctor during your visit, you will become a part of the training of these future physicians as well.
