New Rural Rotation for McLeod Family Medicine Residency Program

McLeod’s Family Medicine Residency Program launched a new required rural residency rotation over the summer. This elective rural rotation was made a requirement for all second-year medical residents. During the rotation, the residents spend four weeks working with rural family physicians in the full scope of their practices. This experience includes office-based patient care, hospital rounds, nursing home care, and procedure clinics.

The rural rotations provide residents with optimal exposure to what practicing rural medicine entails. Residents learn how to provide optimal care in what are typically more resource-strapped environments. Rural practices also tend to offer more office-based procedures, which translates to more experience for the residents. Finally, residents learn about cultural differences, making them better caregivers.

The new rural rotation requirement is in keeping with McLeod Family Medicine Residency Program’s mission statement, which is “to graduate competent family physicians who will populate the underserved areas of primarily rural South Carolina and to provide health care services to the community and population we serve.” The program graduates residents in family medicine who go on to practice in a wide range of practices, including: outpatient, hospitals, nursing homes, hospice, emergency rooms, administration, academia, and combinations thereof.

McLeod Family Medicine Residency Program continues to seek more rural preceptors around the state to share their unique practice experiences and to broaden the scope of rural health education for residents. The option of additional elective rural rotations is also still available to residents, with the hope that they will have such a positive experience on the required rotation that they will elect to pursue another rural opportunity.

To find out more about the rural rotation, McLeod Family Medicine Residency Program, or to become a rural preceptor with their program, please contact Dr. John Mattheis at jmattheis@mcleodhealth.org or 843-777-2808.

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