Rural Arizona Family Medicine Rotations
Rural Site: Hopi Health Center
Location: Polacca, Hopi Indian Reservation
Distance from Tucson: 334 miles (6 hours driving time)
Physician Site Director: Dr. John Stucki
Hopi Health Center is located on the Hopi Reservation, approximately two hours to the northeast of Flagstaff in Polacca, Arizona. There are eight family physicians involved in patient care and teaching at this Indian Health Service medical center, as well as three mid-level providers.
Residents who choose to complete their rural family medicine rotation here have the opportunity to evaluate and manage the full-spectrum of typical family medicine patients, including pediatric, prenatal, adult and geriatric patients with a variety of acute and chronic medical problems.
The resident experience occurs primarily in the outpatient setting, though residents also work in the emergency room, treating patients with a variety of urgent and emergent conditions. There are four inpatient beds, described as "short stay" beds for those with conditions such as cellulitis, bronchioloitis, or other illnesses that warrant short-term admission for monitoring and medication administration.
Residents are expected to complete at least 40 duty hours per week. Most of these are daytime hours, through some evening shifts will be scheduled to allow for exposure to the management of after-hours medical issues in the rural clinical setting. There are no "on-call" requirements, though residents may request to be called for additional exposure to certain procedures or conditions of interest. There are no weekend responsibilities, and residents are encouraged to explore some of the natural attractions not far from Polacca, including Zion National Park, Canyon de Chelly and the Grand Canyon.
There is housing provided in a three bedroom trailer provided by the University of Arizona, located within one of the IHS housing areas approximately 13 miles from Polacca at Keams Canyon. Up to three residents or students may be housed in the trailer at any given time.
Physicians at the Hopi Health Center are enthusiastic about teaching, and enjoy hosting residents and students from a variety of training institutions. They limit the number of learners in their facility at any one time so as to not dilute the learning experience, and previous residents and students who have completed rotations at Hopi Health Center have expressed many positive comments about their experience.
Rural Site: Kayenta Health Center
Location: Kayenta, Arizona, Navajo Indian Reservation
Distance from Tucson: 407 miles (6.5 hours)
Physician Site Director: Dr. Andrew Terranella
The Kayenta Health Center (KHC) is located in far Northern Arizona, in the heart of the Navajo Reservation. KHC is primarily an outpatient, ambulatory facility, through plans are underway for the building of a small hospital, as well. Because of its remote location, a large variety of challenging acute and chronic conditions are treated by KHC physicians. There is a busy emergency room staffed by both board-certified ED and family doctors, where trauma patients, those with complex medical illnesses, as well as patients with a variety of other medical conditions are encountered. There are multiple outpatient clinics focused on the care of well and sick children, patients with diabetes, prenatal clinics and women's health needs. The resident who chooses to participate in the family medicine rotation at KHC would see patients in the outpatient clinics, as well as in the emergency room. Eventually, there will be an inpatient element to the rotation, through not until completion of the new hospital facility. Area attractions include Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Navajo National Monument, Canyon De Chelly and Moab, Utah. Surrounded by high mesas dotted with Pinon Pine and Juniper, Kayenta is an interesting and beautiful location in which to complete the rural family medicine rotation.
Rural Site: St. Johns Family Medicine Clinic
Location: St. Johns, Arizona
Distance from Tucson: 233 miles (4.5 hours)
Physician Site Director: Dr. Jim Sielski
The St. Johns Family Medicine clinic is affiliated with North Country Healthcare in Flagstaff. Dr. Jim Sielski and Michelle Page, FNP, are the primary providers of healthcare at this clinic. They see adult, pediatric, geriatric and prenatal patients. They provide chronic and acute care, including the full spectrum of commonly encountered problems for the family physician. Procedures such as casting, splinting, incision and drainage, laceration repair, osteopathic manipulation, trigger point injections, acupuncture, skin biopsies and colposcopy are performed at the St. Johns Clinic. Although prenatal patients are cared for in the clinic, deliveries are performed by an obstetrician group at the Springerville Hospital.
The nearest hospital is in Springerville, approximately 33 miles from St. Johns. Dr. Sielski provides inpatient rounding in this approximately 20 bed facility on average, about one full week per month. Although this is primarily an outpatient rotation, residents participating in this rotation are expected to round on patients with Dr. Sielski. Residents who choose to live in Springerville and commute to St. Johns would also have the opportunity to spend some time in the Springerville Hospital Emergency Department.
St. Johns is located near the Sunrise Park Ski Resort, Petrified Forest, the Apache Sitgraves National Forest and the Mogollon Rim.
Rural Site: Sells Hospital and Clinics
Location: Sells, Arizona (Tohono O'odham Reservation)
Distance from Tucson: 59 miles (approximately one hour)
Physician Site Director: Dr. Susan Hausser
Months Available: Per limited basis due to service unit commitments with other academic centers.
The Sells Hospital and Clinics is the central component of the Sells Service Unit, an Indian Health Service Facility on the Tohono O'odham Reservation. The majority of the Native Americans served in the facility are Tohono O'odham. Physicians here provide outpatient services to pediatric, adult, geriatric and prenatal patients with a wide variety of acute and chronic medical conditions. There is a small inpatient service, as well, limited to the care of adult patients.
Residents who choose to complete a family medicine rotation in Sells would have primarily an ambulatory care experience with some opportunity to participate in inpatient rounding and call.
Three satellite facilities are now operational in the Tucson Service Unit: the San Xavier Health Center, a large outpatient facility on the outskirts of Tucson, the Santa Rosa Clinic, a small outpatient facility located in the very rural setting of the north-central sector of the Tohono O'odham Reservation and the San Simone Health Center along the western end of the reservation.
As a group, the Tohono O'odham have one of the highest occurences of Type II Diabetes in the world. The study, treatment and prevention of diabetes is of major concern, though many other medical problems are seen and addressed by physicians in the clinic and hospital. There are several projects going on in Sells related to disease prevention, health promotion and other public health related issues, important to the Native peoples they serve.
Rural Site: Safford-Gila Valley Clinic and Mount Graham Community Hospital
Location: Safford, Arizona
Distance from Tucson: 127 miles (2 hours)
Physician Site Director: Dr. Gail Guerrero
There are four physicians who specialize in family medicine at the Gila Valley Clinic in Safford, as well as two physician assistants. The physicians practice full spectrum family medicine, caring for obstetrical patients, pediatrics, geriatrics and adults with both acute and chronic healthcare needs. They see patients both in the ambulatory and inpatient setting, admitting patients to the Mount Graham Regional Medical Center. The population of Safford is just over 9,000 people. Traditionally, Safford has been one of the most popular sites for University of Arizona medical students, due to the quality of the teaching physicians. Comments shared about the physicians and experiences there include "great teachers", "excellent rotation" and "I really enjoyed my experience." Dr. Guerrero and her colleagues are excited about this new opportunity with the UofA/UPHK GME Consortium Family Medicine Residency. |