Maggie McKay (Host): Welcome to The Health Podcast from Pullman Regional Hospital. I'm your host, Maggie McKay. Joining us today is Dr. Molly Thompson, Family Medicine physician and Associate Program Director of the Washington State University Family Medicine Residency Program at Pullman Regional Hospital, to discuss residency training in rural Pullman, Washington. Thank you so much for being here today.

Molly Thompson, MD: Thanks, Maggie.

Host: So, let's start with what is a residency and what has its importance been in our community.

Molly Thompson, MD: Yeah. A residency is the next step of medical training after medical school. So, medical school gives people all the knowledge or some of the knowledge they will need to be physicians. They become physicians. And then, their next step is residency. Residency is basically hands-on training where they are able to apply the knowledge that they gained through medical school under the supervision of seasoned physicians. The importance to our community is that we are bringing nine more physicians to the community to provide healthcare to our rural setting.

Host: And what is a Match Day?

Molly Thompson, MD: Yeah. Match Day is a big deal in the realm of a medical student and then resident physician's life. So, Match Day happens every March since, I think, 1952. And essentially, what happens is through the fall, all the medical students—fourth year medical students—will interview with residency programs. They create a list of where they would want to go called a rank list, so one through whatever. And then, residencies also rank applicants one through however long. And then, a mathematical equation happens, and a residency is paired with an applicant. That information is released during Match Week. And the celebration happens Friday of Match day.

Host: What is a typical day like in the life of a resident?

Molly Thompson, MD: Yeah, I think one of the fun things about being a resident is that there isn't one day that is the exact same. And while that may be a little stressful, it really teaches resilience and the ability to move and take what walks in to your door. So, residents typically are going to start doing some kind of medicine in the morning, and then they'll end at some point. Maybe the next morning or that night, they could be in locations like the emergency room, they could be in the clinic, they could be inpatient, they could be on the OB floor or newborn nursery or pediatrics clinic, or ENT clinic. Family medicine is really broad scope. We have to know a little bit about a lot of different things. And so, residents can be found all across our medical community.

Host: And what's been unique about this residency program? What are you most proud of?

Molly Thompson, MD: Okay. So, we are one of the very few residencies in the country that are completely out of a critical access hospital, meaning we are rural through and through. All three years of family medicine residency training occur in Pullman. We do have a couple rotations where our residents go to Spokane, but they live in Pullman for three years, which is very unique.

The thing that I'm most proud of is we have graduating residents this year for the first time, meaning this is our third year in our inaugural graduating class. And I am so proud of them. It was so fun and so rewarding to see them start teaching the first years, you really can tell how far they've come in a year when they are teaching the next year of residents behind them. And that's beyond rewarding as a teacher.

Host: Dr. Thompson, instructors can also learn from their students. What's something you've learned from the three-year residents?

Molly Thompson, MD: I think they are really resilient and can be pretty tech-savvy. So, one of the things that I really like and have learned from them is to use my electronic resources. I have seen them try different AI scribes, for instance. I have seen them try different things for efficiency. And I guess, that reminds me to not get stuck in my old ways, because medicine is constantly changing. And I need to change with it. And they're a really good daily reminder to do that.

Host: What do you see as the ultimate goal of the residency program?

Molly Thompson, MD: Yeah. So, I think there's two big goals. So, one of the big goals is to bring physicians to our rural area, meaning this residency can be a recruitment tool to bring physicians to a place where, honestly, it's hard to recruit rural. But if you trained here statistically, you are more likely to stay within—I want to say it's within like 70 miles of where you trained. So, that's a pretty cool thing that we could be bringing physicians to the Palouse, which would be awesome.

The other big goal for me is I want to be proud of the residents that we create, if you will, that we shape. I want them to leave our residency feeling prepared to practice. They won't have seen everything, that's just impossible. But they should have the tools to be able to adapt to anything that walks in their door. And that, for me, is a success. That's a win. That is the ultimate dream.

Host: In closing, is there anything else you'd like to add?

Molly Thompson, MD: Something I'd like to add is just that we have a really great program here, and the reason that it is so great is truly because of the people—the people that are part of our community and supported us three years ago, five years ago, 10 years ago, when this was just a dream, and continue to support us now. And beyond just supporting the program, but really trying to make sure that as we get residents coming and moving here, that they are welcomed into our community. That is priceless. You cannot put a number on that.

Host: Well, thank you so much for sharing this important information with us. It's been very enlightening and we appreciate your time, because we know you're busy.

Molly Thompson, MD: Thank you so much for having me.

Host: Absolutely. Again, that's Dr. Molly Thompson. Learn more about this subject, providers, and services at Pullman Regional Hospital online at pullmanregional.org. Thank you for listening to The Health Podcast from Pullman Regional Hospital.