Director's Welcome Message
WE WILL NOT BE WASHED AWAY--EVEN BY A 500-YEAR FLOOD…
Welcome to an incredible program and community!
Despite the epic flooding of the Cedar River in June 2008, and the loss of our 35+ year clinic, both the city of Cedar Rapids and the Cedar Rapids Family Medicine Program have not vanished, but are rebounding and going strong!
Through the hard work of both residents and faculty, our clinic was successfully moved over one very soggy weekend and reopened the very next Monday with no time missed. Moreover, our residency program was also instrumental in assisting in flood-relief efforts and in caring for the community’s most at-risk population, both during and since the flood.
The subsequent months were very trying as the program coped, both with a temporary clinic site that was much smaller than the historic clinic and with the challenge of implementing the changes required to transform the Family Medicine Clinic into a Federally Qualified Community Health Center. In the end, however, these changes were successfully accomplished through the hard work and commitment of our community, hospitals, residents and faculty, as well as by an influx of new faculty, including myself.
Why a Community Health Center?
Federally Qualified Community Health Centers are endowed through a Federal grant system with the resources to provide comprehensive health care with social services and educational program support to both the uninsured and under-insured populations of a community. By their very nature, FQHCs can exemplify all the components of the Patient-Centered-Medical-Home. However, they often suffer from a deficit of comprehensively trained primary care providers…Obviously, a perfect opportunity for a partnership!
Why this community?
Cedar Rapids and its two hospitals have supported postgraduate medical education since 1918, and it was those two hospitals which came together in 1971 to create the first Family Medicine Residency in Iowa. Despite tough national economic times, the commitment to the program has never been stronger, from community and hospital leaders, along with both our specialist and Family Medicine colleagues, many of whom serve as our preceptors.
Why this program?
Our status as the first residency program in Iowa has translated into a commitment to be on the “cutting edge” of innovation. This is evident in our 10+ year history of developing and working with an EMR and computer interfaces, which allow us to perform meaningful Quality Assessment and Improvement of our practice, as well as in our being selected as one of 14 national curriculum innovation sites through the p4 Program. We truly train Future Family Physicians for the Future of Family Medicine in the new millennium.
Why Family Medicine?
The holistic approach of Family Physicians, who provide continuous, comprehensive care to patients and their families in the context of their community, has been repeatedly shown to be the required foundation for good health for both individuals and nations, as stated most recently by the World Health Organization. Here in the United States, 2009 is evolving into the year of Healthcare Reform. That reform will be centered on improving access to healthcare and increasing the Primary Care workforce. The time has never been more urgent for those who wish to answer the call to become “Real Doctors”: well-trained, evidenced-based healers who still “take all-comers,” and who are willing to “walk with a person” through both the trials and triumphs of all of life’s healthcare challenges.
If you wish to answer the above call, Family Medicine is the specialty for you.
As part of the Cedar Rapids Medical Education Foundation Family Medicine Residency Program, we will enthusiastically “walk with you” as you journey through your post-graduate education, and are most ready to train you to be the best Family Physician you can be!
We hope you will be able to visit us and look forward to making you part of our family!
Anne Sullivan, MD
Program Director
