VHS Family Medicine Residents Continue to Connect With Community Organizations
The Valley Health System (VHS) welcomed its inaugural class of Family Medicine residents in July 2019. Under the direction of Drs. Thomas Hunt, Christine Quartuccio-Carran and Nilesh Gokal, the Family Medicine Residency Program seeks to address the physician shortage in southern Nevada by training and retaining residents in our area.
Community medicine is a vital component of the program. One task for interns in the first block of training is to understand and connect with the abundance of educational, health and social services within the community and learn how they can utilize these resources effectively and efficiently to address social determinants of health, treat patients and promote wellness. The interns have established connections with the following community partners and hope to build on these relationships in the coming years:
- Three Square Food Bank
- Southern Nevada Health District
- Nevada Donor Network
- Volunteers in Medicine of Southern Nevada
- Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada
- Southern Nevada Family Justice Center
- Nathan Adelson Hospice
- The Rape Crisis Center
These relationships have helped the residents provide better care for their patients. “Since I understand there is a high rate of psychological issues, I feel more prepared with the available resources to address the needs of our community,” said Luis Moreno, PGY1 resident. Will Caraway, PGY1 resident, stated, “My phone is full of pictures of handouts, slides, and business cards that I hope to give to my patients so they can use them to improve their health.”
The Family Medicine Residency Program is part of The Valley Health System Graduate Medical Education (GME) Consortium. Its goal is to provide diverse, first-hand clinical training experience coupled with didactics, research opportunities and involvement in hospital operations so it can prepare residents to pursue the next step in their career, be it full-time clinical practice, teaching, research, medical leadership or further subspecialty training.
Learn more about the VHS GME Consortium Family Medicine Residency Program >