The Department of Family Medicine & Community Health was awarded a $750,000 grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Rural Residency Planning and Development Program to support the creation of a new Rural Track in the Family Medicine Residency. Greg Sawin, M.D., MPH, vice chair for education and faculty development, will serve as the PI for this award over the next three years.
The Rural Track — in collaboration with Duke Primary Care Oxford and Maria Parham Health — allows residents who enter the Duke Family Medicine Residency to complete their first year of training, then spend the vast majority of program years 2 and 3 in the rural communities of Oxford and Henderson. The Rural Track will start with two residents per year, with plans to grow to four residents per year over the first five years.
“This program is designed to help meet the critical primary care shortage needs in rural North Carolina,” says Anthony Viera, M.D., MPH, professor and chair.
Thomas Koinis, M.D., medical director for DPC Oxford will serve as program director, and Maria Parham Health will serve as the rural community hospital. Granvile-Vance Public Health Department will also collaborate to strengthen primary care-public health partnerships.
ACGME plans on completing a virtual site visit by the end of October. Pending accreditation, the Rural Track hopes to recruit its first two residents in the spring for a July 2021 start date.