Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be used as personalized medical advice.

Cheryl Martin (Host): Skagit Regional Health is committed to excellence in training the next generation of physicians. Taking a closer look at the medical residency program. This is Be Well with Skagit Regional Health. I'm Cheryl Martin. Joining me is Dr. Julie Merriam, the Family Medicine Residency Program Director. Welcome, Dr. Merriam.

Julie Merriam, DO: Thank you.

Cheryl Martin (Host): Doctor, what is a medical residency program?

Julie Merriam, DO: Well, that's the clinical training for physicians who've just graduated from medical school and they've chosen a specialty field to go into. They're called resident physicians or resident doctors. And the name resident is interesting. It started years ago because the doctors actually lived in the hospital that they were working for.

Cheryl Martin (Host): So what types of residencies are offered at Skagit Regional?

Julie Merriam, DO: We have a family medicine residency and also an internal medicine residency here.

Cheryl Martin (Host): And how long do residencies typically last?

Julie Merriam, DO: Well, both family medicine and internal medicine are three-year programs, but that's not true for every specialty. Some are a little longer than that, depending on the specialty. Typically, the primary care residencies are the shortest. And after residency, the doctors have the option to go on for fellowship training, which adds another year or more.

Cheryl Martin (Host): So what are the benefits to the community of Skagit Regional Health offering a residency program?

Julie Merriam, DO: Well, teaching in a residency program really helps to keep all the current physicians up to date on the latest medical information. They really a lot of times look things up. If they're trying to explain things to a new physician this can be really fun and sometimes challenging. When we're looking up the latest medical research or reading recent articles together with the trainees we do that a lot when we have patients with really complex needs.

It's a great way to give back to the medical community and recognize that other physicians have trained all of us. It's really rewarding for both physicians and staff when we see our residency graduates working in our community and knowing that we were a small part of their training.

Cheryl Martin (Host): And how many residents will you typically take a year?

Julie Merriam, DO: We take four every year in the family medicine program, so we have a total of 12 since it's a three year training. And in our internal medicine program, we take six per year for a total of 18.

Cheryl Martin (Host): You talked about the benefits to the community by offering a residency program. So how is an appointment with a resident physician compared to an appointment with an established physician?

Julie Merriam, DO: Well, it's actually really similar. With a couple differences in our clinic, because it's a training site, we do have both resident physicians and medical students that we train. So a patient during their appointment might see both of those. And then the biggest difference is that. Everyone still has to be supervised by an experienced physician. So a lot of times a patient will also see the supervising physician at the end of the appointment. Sometimes the supervisor comes in to gather more details about something or to repeat a portion of the physical exam, but lots of times they just come in to verify the plan with the patient and answer any additional questions.

It's an aspect that a lot of our patients enjoy because they feel like they have the benefit of two physicians putting their heads together to make a plan for the best care for them. And some people really, really enjoy being part of the training of the next generation of physicians for our area.

Cheryl Martin (Host): Is it a goal that resident physicians remain in the community after graduation, and if so how many usually take that option?

Julie Merriam, DO: Yeah, it's a big goal for us because we are in an area where we need a lot more physicians. Typically, over the years, about half of our residents have stayed in our community. This year, this summer the residents who graduated made us really lucky and all five of our graduates, are working in this community.

Cheryl Martin (Host): Anything else you'd like to add about the program or why a medical graduate should apply?

Julie Merriam, DO: We're a program that is really proud to be in this community. We have resident physicians who are working every week with community partners in our area and we try to find, where there are needs and see if we can meet them. So for instance, our residents each week work with community action of Skagit County or the Skagit County Health Department. There's a local organization called Friendship House, local schools. We try to really focus on where we can get into the community and fill some needs.

Cheryl Martin (Host): How far in advance should a medical student apply to your program?

Julie Merriam, DO: Actually, there's a really structured application process for medical students in the fourth year. Some have an opportunity to come here and do what we might call an audition rotation or a sub-internship. And they typically would contact us this spring before that. there's an electronic application. That all medical students would know about, and that's how they would actually apply for res for any residency program nationally. Right now we're actually in the season where we're accepting applications for next summer’s start date.

Cheryl Martin (Host): Great. Well, Dr. Julie Merriam, thanks so much for giving us an inside look at Skagit’s Medical Residency Program. Much continued success.

Julie Merriam, DO: Thank you so much.

Cheryl Martin (Host): And if you'd like to learn more, just visit SkagitRegionalHealth.org. That's SkagitRegionalHealth.org. If you found this podcast helpful, please share it on your social channels, and thanks for listening to Be Well with Skagit Regional Health.