Family Medicine Residency AOA Accredited
We are delighted that the Fort Wayne Medical Education Program Family Medicine Residency is accredited by the American Osteopathic Association for training. We offer an AOA-accredited residency concurrent with our ACGME-accredited residency.

Extensive online training opportunities are available through our osteopathic training consortium, the Appalachian Osteopathic Postgraduate Training Institution Consortium, (A-OPTIC). Being dually accredited allows us to recruit the best from both schools of medicine, to offer a broad and robust curriculum, and to allow all our graduates unlimited choices in practice opportunities.

Medical Students interested in either of our accredited primary care programs should contact our applications coordinator, Yvonne Niccum, for details.

Educational Philosophy: Unifying Principles
To provide quality education.
To provide quality care and service.
To provide caring, support, and nurturance--treating each as a person of worth.
To encourage openness in communication.
To be open to creativity and change.
To promote and reward excellence.
To promote loyalty and "esprit-de-corps."
To practice stewardship of resources.
To provide security for all employees.

Responsibility
Here in Fort Wayne, we strongly believe residents learn best through hands-on experience. While studying and lectures are certainly important, nothing can compare with actually seeing patients and deciding on their course of care. Only through experience can a resident expect to gain an appreciation for the nuances of presentation and subsequent diagnosis and treatment.

Starting in the first year, you will be given a large amount of responsibility, much more than most programs. Interns are expected to be in charge of admitting patients, delivering babies, taking care of newborns, running codes, and managing their own panel of outpatients. This amount of responsibility may seem somewhat overwhelming; and, indeed, the learning curve during the first year is quite steep. But you will learn more in a shorter time than in almost any other program in the country. To assist interns, a system of backup is in place and always available if needed.

The majority of medical decisions made by second and third year residents are staffed with an attending at the resident’s discretion. You will have the opportunity to develop your own approach to patient care using the tools and skills you learned during the first year, and you will not have to deal with the constant frustration that can come with always having to do things “somebody else’s way.” Most importantly, upon graduation, you will be prepared and comfortable to start your own practice.

The bottom line is you will have confidence in your abilities to actually take care of patients. Fort Wayne prides itself in giving residents the confidence they need to function as true, independent physicians.

Independence
We also believe in giving residents as much autonomy as possible in pursuing their training. In addition to five elective rotations, latitude will be given throughout your three years to help you focus on those aspects of medicine in which you desire extra training. Perhaps you want more deliveries or pediatric exposure. Maybe you want to pursue cesarean sections, scopes, or other procedures; or you like ER work and sports medicine. Fort Wayne is full of opportunities, and we will help you gain the experience you need to practice whatever aspects of medicine you wish.

Family and Personal Pursuits
At Fort Wayne, we realize your medical training is important. We also realize that the most important aspects of your life usually take place after you leave the hospital. We believe your family and personal pursuits should come first, and the program is designed to reflect this belief.

The call schedule, along with the number of work hours, makes spending adequate time with your family very doable. Residency get-togethers generally have a family focus, and children are welcomed. Fort Wayne, itself, is very family friendly, with great schools and numerous activities for kids.