Rural Residency Planning and Development Program - Central Michigan University College of Medicine – CMU Medical Education Partners (Partners) is a new RPPD applicant, and an eligible entity due to its status as a GME consortium for more than 50 years that operates an accredited primary care residency program. The Family Medicine (FM) program was first accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) on December 3, 1969 (ACGME Program #1202531174). Information on the residency program can be viewed at Med.cmich.edu/residency. The FM Residency Program at Central Michigan University College of Medicine/CMU Medical Education Partners is part of a GME consortium which includes two community hospitals (Covenant HealthCare and MyMichigan Saginaw), a university medical school (Central Michigan University College of Medicine) and Partners, an educational institution. The proposed rural residency program track will take place in an affiliated critical access hospital, Scheurer Health, which has never had GME programs. These new FM resident positions will be maintained at the critical access hospital in a rural area for more than 51% of their training which provides services that include primary care and health screenings for the underserved rural populations in the Thumb area of Michigan. Partners houses the offices for the Program Director, Associate Program Director, Coordinator and other faculty who manage the program. Scheurer hospital will become rural residents’ continuity clinic caring for high acuity, low-resourced patients, overseen by an experienced rural family physician site director who will become a core faculty member in the training program. The critical access hospital and clinics are in a primary care, dental and mental health HPSA area, and a Medically Underserved Area specifically for low-income population. The total FTE positions requested for expansion from the ACGME for all years of training is 6 (2-2-2). Our primary goal is to increase access to high-quality healthcare for the patients in Michigan’s Thumb region?by expanding the rural primary care physician workforce through residency training. Our primary outcome measurement will reflect our goal – the percent of RTP-trained residents that remain within the rural community of Michigan. With this commitment to rural health, Partners will continue to expand upon its mission of advancing health and wellness through exceptional education, innovative research, quality patient care and strategic collaborations to improve the health and well-being of individuals and communities.
