Family Medicine Residency – Frequently Asked Questions
Is the standard program strictly a university-based training experience?
Although residents of both the standard and rural programs both have access to all the resources of a large tertiary care medical center, our outpatient clinical settings provide a more intimate, community feel than is found at most university programs. ECU Health Medical Center serves patients from counties all across eastern North Carolina, giving our residents a unique opportunity to work with individuals with a wide variety of backgrounds.
In addition to the wide variety of experiences and high level of resources available to our all of our residents, we value both of our programs ability to collaborate with other residency and fellowship programs. The strong reputation of our residents and faculty within the regional healthcare system and affiliated medical school is unlike most academic centers.
Standard and Rural program residents are assigned their own patients at their assigned continuity clinic site. Standard program residents see their continuity panel at the Family Medicine Center at East Carolina University, starting with the first rotation block. Rural program residents are assigned their own continuity panels at the rural site to which they MATCH (Roanoke Chowan Community Health Center in Ahoskie or Goshen Medical Center in Beulaville), and also start seeing these patients during their first rotation block. Resident patient panels are progressively expanded over three years of training for both standard and rural programs.
What resources are available in the resident continuity clinics?
Standard Program residents are assigned their continuity panels at the ECU Family Medicine Center, a very large, stand-alone academic clinical facility located in Greenville, NC. Resources in the center include 60 exam rooms for patient care and procedural skills. Patient services include geriatrics, pharmacotherapy, nutrition counseling, physical therapy, sports medicine, OB ultrasound, exercise stress testing, and behavioral counseling.
Rural Program residents that MATCH in Ahoskie will be assigned their continuity panels at the Roanoke Chowan Community Health Center. This is a large, stand-alone FQHC clinical facility located in Ahoskie, NC. Resources in the Health Center include primary and pediatric care, pharmacy, laboratory services, diabetes education program, and behavioral health. Patient services include Hertford health access, supersnap food program, 340B pharmacy program, patient assistance program, sliding fee for services, school based health, seasonal agricultural worker program, and an on-site ECU dental clinic.
Rural Program residents that MATCH in Duplin will be assigned their continuity panels at the Goshen Medical Center, a large, stand-alone FQHC clinical facility located in Beulaville, NC. Resources in the center include pediatrics, adult medicine, geriatrics, preventative and acute care medicine, chronic disease management, and minor surgical and dermatological procedures. Patient services include EKG, imaging and laboratory services, sliding fee for services, and 340B pharmacy programs.
What are the patient populations like?
ECU Health Medical Center (formerly Pitt County Memorial Hospital) is the only Level 1 tertiary academic medical center in the eastern 1/3 of North Carolina. It serves a diverse patient population from urban Greenville and its rural 29-county catchment area. The patient population is comprised of approximately 1.5 million people that call this region home.
The ECU Family Medicine Center cares for a primarily underserved, racially diverse population from the greater Greenville area; as well as a mixture of hospital and university employees and their families.
The Roanoke Chowan Community Health Center cares for a primarily underserved, racially diverse population from the rural Ahoskie/Hertford county area, an area which comprises the northeastern aspect of the ECU Health Medical Center catchment area.
Goshen Medical Center Beulaville cares for a primarily underserved, racially diverse population from the rural Beulaville/Duplin county area, an area which comprises the southeastern aspect of the ECU Health Medical Center catchment region.
What types of procedures do residents perform?
Residents perform a variety of procedures:
- Skin procedures, such as biopsies, excisions, and cryotherapy
- Gynecological procedures, including colposcopy, endometrial biopsy, Nexplanon and IUD placement
- Newborn circumcision
Additionally, residents are exposed to and have the opportunity to learn: exercise stress testing, holter monitor interpretation, spirometry interpretation, no-scalpel vasectomy.
Do residents use electronic medical records?
ECU Health Medical Center and all outpatient clinics within ECU Physicians use Epic. Inpatient and outpatient functions are fully integrated in the same system. Outlying hospitals and outpatient clinics within the Vidant system – which comprise a large portion of ECU Health Medical Center’s referral base – also use the same electronic medical record.
What are residents’ call responsibilities?
ECU Health Medical Center, Vidant Roanoke-Chowan Hospital, Vidant Duplin Hospital, Roanoke-Chowan Community Health Center, all outpatient clinics within the ECU Health Medical Group, and all outpatient clinics within ECU Physicians use EPIC. Inpatient and outpatient functions are fully integrated in the same system for the entities listed above. Goshen Medical Center Beulaville uses Allscripts ***, which is a MACRA compliant EHR system.
Can residents moonlight?
Yes. Residents with a full, unrestricted North Carolina license can moonlight. Regional opportunities for moonlighting are widely available.
Can residents take electives?
A wide variety of inpatient and outpatient electives are available, including:
- Endocrinology
- Gastroenterology
- Nephrology
- Infectious Disease
- Cardiology sub-services, such as Heart Failure
- Allergy
- Podiatry
- Orthopedics
- Student Health
- Allergy
Residents can also create their own electives within ECU Health Medical Center, the Greenville area, or at more remote locations.
What types of didactic sessions do residents have?
Didactics are a common resource shared by our Standard and Rural programs, and occur during protected time every Thursday afternoon. These can be attended in person or virtually (if off-site), and resident attendance and participation is expected. Our Thursday noon conferences include presentations on core topics related to inpatient care and the department’s Grand Rounds lectures. The remainder of each Thursday afternoon is set aside for didactics for our residents. Family Medicine faculty as well as other subspecialty faculty provide a mixture of traditional lectures and hands-on workshops. Residents also have the opportunity to present evidence-based medicine lectures that answer common clinical questions.
Are residents involved in medical student education?
Residents have an opportunity to interact with and teach medical students in a variety of inpatient and outpatient settings. Faculty and residents in the Department of Family Medicine play a vital role in the clinical skills training of medical students during the first and second year, as well as in clerkships during the third and fourth year.
Visiting students interested in doing an advanced clerkship in family medicine at ECU should visit the Brody School of Medicine Office of Student Affairs website, or call 252-744-2278.
How many faculty are there? What are their interests?
We have over 30 academic physician faculty, as well as faculty in pharmacy, nutrition, behavioral medicine, and physical therapy. In addition, we have incorporated experienced rural family physicians into our faculty to provide oversight, training, and guidance at our rural program sites. Our faculty have a wide variety of interests, including OB, pediatrics, geriatrics, sports medicine, procedural skills, practice management, and rural medicine.
Can residents pursue research interests?
Residents have the opportunity to pursue research interests and collaborate with faculty on existing projects, as well as individual projects. The program does not have a formal research requirement.
Do graduates go on to fellowships?
One to three residents per year go on to fellowships. Currently, our department offers fellowships in Geriatrics and Sports Medicine.
Where do residents live? Do the majority buy homes or rent?
Most residents live within 10 miles of the hospital/clinic to which they MATCH. Greenville, Ahoskie, and Beulaville/Kenansville all have a very affordable cost of living, allowing many residents to buy their own homes. Plenty of rental opportunities are also available in the greater Greenville area.
What do residents do in their free time?
Greenville offers numerous restaurants, parks, shopping malls, boutiques, galleries, and cinemas. East Carolina University has theatre, ballet, concerts, college athletics, and other cultural and sporting events. North Carolina’s capital city, Raleigh, and its renowned beaches are both approximately an hour’s drive away.
The rural communities of Ahoskie and Beulaville/Kenansville also offer multiple outdoor activities, including nearby state parks and wineries.
In all community settings above, the outdoor enthusiast will enjoy easy access to fishing and kayaking locally and along the Outer Banks. Other popular outdoor activities include boating, biking, and hiking.