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Comments from recent graduates:I suppose you never know how good a system is until you leave it and try something else, but the efficiency and organization at FPC was amazing! I miss the ease of electronic medical records, plus lab, pharmacy, x-ray and US in house! Plus, having a pediatrician, CNM (certified nurse midwife), and OBs on staff and available for consults is a true luxury (not to mention the excellent cardiology and pulmonary specialist training that our local community provides)! Since graduating, I am doing colposcopy, lots of skin procedures, and full spectrum FP care in the hospital. One day I did an LP on a 25 day old, circumcision on a 2 day old, delivered a baby, rounded on several people in the ICU, and had a family meeting about end-of-life care. THEN, went to clinic and did a colposcopy and skin biopsy, plus my afternoon patient panel! Whew! The most important part of that story is not how crazy a day it was, but that I am one of only a few doctors in my practice that received enough training to do all this! Julie Ansell, MD 2001-2004 The Waco Family Practice Residency provided me with a great
foundation to launch my career in Family Medicine. One major strength of the
program is the diversity of the faculty. They each
contributed to expanding my medical knowledge, as well as being role models as
compassionate, caring physicians. Every one of the faculty are enthusiastic
teachers and very approachable. Another strength of the program is the autonomy
that is afforded the residents. Some of my most memorable experiences in
residency occurred during my OB rotations. The obstetricians, Cindy Mabry
RN, CNM, and all of the L & D nurses and staff were great and very
influential in my education. The specialists in the
area are also easy to work with and provide plenty of educational opportunities
including colonoscopy, C-sections, and other hospital/clinic procedures.
There are many advantages to being the only residents in town. Although there
are many more strengths I could mention, the last one is that the Practice
Management Seminar provided during the 3rd year of residency has got to be the
best in the country out of all residency programs. The lessons learned during
this program are invaluable whether you plan on going into solo practice or
being employed by a hospital based clinic. The
Waco area was such a good fit for my family and I that I have decided to stay
and join the Family Practice Center at the new McGregor Community Clinic. The
training I received here has given me the confidence to work in a rural setting
or a tertiary health care center. You will not find a more family friendly
residency and I am honored to be a graduate of the program. If you want to feel confident in your skills as a Family Physician, I highly recommend training at the Waco program. My three years in Waco transformed me from a simple med school grad to a competent physician. As a resident, I spent countless hours involved in patient care, from treating diabetes in the clinic, to delivering babies, to performing colonoscopy, to intubating patients and running codes in rural emergency rooms. As I have settled into a suburban practice in the Fort Worth area, I have felt comfortable with every clinical situation I have encountered. Many ER physicians at the hospitals I admit to are surprised to find a family physician so eager to admit his own patients to the ICU, and take such an active role in the care of his patients outside the office setting. I trust you'll find in Waco many great resources - resources that will forever develop you as a physician. Cody L. Mihills, MD 2001-2004 My experience at Waco lived up to its billing. I knew I would only get to experience residency one time, so I looked for a place that would push my limits and teach me more than I would need to know. At Waco, I was challenged every day, and rewarded ten-fold for meeting those challenges. My fellow residents were a daily reminder that I was in the right place, because of their abilities and their ambition to improve. Many of the friends I made will be lifelong, and my wife agrees that the strong resident and spouse relationships are highlights of our time in Waco. I also discovered that it was true about the importance of a high-energy, knowledgeable faculty. The combination of different teaching styles and areas of expertise made the high faculty to resident ratio that much more valuable. Additionally, dozens of local specialists (especially those in Pulmonary, Cardiology, and Colorectal surgery) took an active role in supporting and teaching the residents. With no other competing residencies in the city, the significance of this became even greater. The long-term test of my training is obviously still to come, as I continue to learn each day while in private practice. Although it is not realistic to think you can learn all there is to know about Family Medicine in any 3-year time period, I am very confident with my abilities. In my new clinic, I am excited and willing to perform procedures and inpatient hospital work, and taking on complicated patients is never intimidating. It's easy to see that my training in Waco is what gives me this confidence to excel now, and is also what will drive me to continually improve as a physician in the future. Ben Brashear, MD 2001-2004 Everyday I am reminded of how fortunate I am to have trained in the Waco program. As a staff physician at a rural, underserved clinic I am faced with challenging patients every day in the clinic and in the hospital. I also supervise residents from a competing program who do hospital rotations with us, and I have to say that Waco definitely has the best residents around! The combination of outstanding faculty, excellent patient pathology, hospital experience, OB experience and clinic experience make Waco an outstanding program which in turn produces outstanding family physicians! I know that I am able to provide the best care to my patients with confidence secondary to my experiences while in residency in Waco. Not only did I receive excellent training in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics which I use everyday, but my OB experience was outstanding-even enabling me to get full OB privileges including C-sections at my hospital right out of residency. I have seen and been able to manage a wide range of patients especially in the hospital-from routine to complicated ICU patients. You won't find a better Family Practice residency program to provide a broad range of quality training from excellent faculty to allow you to practice in any setting-from rural to urban! Make the three years count by joining the residency program in Waco! Ami Foster, MD 2000-2003 Residency in Waco was one of the best times of my life. The training I received there has made me feel totally comfortable practicing medicine out on my own. I honestly don’t think better family practice training can be had anywhere in the nation. The faculty is a highly competent group of physicians with a broad spectrum of individual interests that makes for a unique opportunity to learn different ways of doing things. And, most importantly, each and every one of the faculty members has a genuine interest in both the personal and professional growth of the residents. They are an exceptional bunch of people from whom I learned a lot more than just how to be a doctor. The residents that I trained alongside were of exceptionally high quality as well, and are all close friends that I will always remember. Living in Waco was also a pleasant surprise. There are plenty of things to do around town and a good variety of outdoor activities as well. We bought our first home while in Waco, and it was hard to leave…but I will always fondly remember the time that I spent there during residency. Michael Morris, MD 1997-2000 "When I was choosing a residency, I wanted to make sure that all my hard work in medical school would pay off by getting the best training possible. I also wanted to make sure I had the most open doors when I was ready to interview for a job. When I talked to influential family practitioners in Texas, the word was that Waco had been one of, if not the best family medicine programs in Texas for years. My interview confirmed that impression, and my years of training there proved it thoroughly. Its tradition is strong, the faculty are diverse, dedicated and solid, the peers are consistently a mix of broad knowledge and good character, and the hospital and community support is incomparable. Excitingly, it does a great job at balancing building well-trained doctors, while supporting and nourishing them personally. One of the best markers I had of its excellence was how thoroughly prepared I felt when I started my practice, both in my hospital practice and in my new office practice in Lorena, just south of Waco. Interestingly enough, when I came to Waco, I thought it would be a sacrifice to live there while I got great training. Before long, my wife and I grew to love the town, and decided to practice and live there longterm. Waco's size, safety, churches and schools are perfect for my family. The university lends diversity to the culture, the strong medical climate is remarkable, and it's still just a short trip to other universities and big cities and their draws." Tim Martindale, MD 1996-1999 Kristi Norris and I were the first Waco graduates to do the OB fellowship in Austin. As we began the fellowship we were already very well prepared - so much so that the faculty were impressed with our fund of knowledge and this reflected favorably on our faculty and OB experience in Waco. We had done a fair number of c-sections and been involved in High risk OB for 3 years in residency before getting here and some of the other fellows had much less opportunities in these areas. Let's just say I bet if anyone from Waco applied here again, they would be hard pressed to find a reason not to hire them because they have seen the kind of obstetrical training we come with! Lisa Clemons, MD 1996-1999 Why Waco?" I remember being asked soon after match day. I still get this question every so often. "Well, how much time do you have?" From the very first day of residency until now, I have found the Family Practice Center in Waco to be a major blessing in my life. Academically, I had the opportunity to train with and under some of the best doctors I know. Personally, I treasure the role models and friends that I met during residency. Professionally, I am continually amazed at how well FPC prepared me for private practice. The program has some of the obvious benefits of being community-based, well ranked historically, and very family-oriented. Some of the not-so-obvious benefits are the "Team Area Approach" to the outpatient clinic, a complete course in practice management, and a fantastic relationship with medical specialists in the community. It was at Family Practice Center in Team B where I learned what I know about how to address issues related to running a doctor’s office. The financial practice management classes during the third year played a major role in the selection of my current practice situation, with which I am very satisfied. Lastly, one of the things I missed the most about leaving Waco was the closeness of the relationships between FPC doctors and local specialists. There is no doubt in my mind that I received excellent medical training in residency. I am also convinced that the program helped to prepare me for life as a doctor. Best wishes to you in whatever your pursuits may be, and may the Lord direct you to the right place for you. I know He did for me. Karen Yeh, MD 1996-1999 If I knew then what I know now....., I would absolutely, without question choose
Waco all over again as the place to complete my residency. After having
been out in "the real world" for a while, I can better appreciate the
solid foundation of medical knowledge that the Waco residency provided. I
certainly didn't learn everything there is to know about medicine during
residency. Unfortunately, no residency can provide you with that. (Oh, but
wouldn't it be nice!) However, I did feel that in my first couple of years
out of residency I was at least equal to or better equipped to handle most
situations in the different medical fields than many of my colleagues who where
also just out of residency. There is no question that Waco provides the
opportunities to train an excellent Family Practitioner. Even if I did not feel that Waco provided me with such a good education, I would still have chosen it as my residency. Why? Because I could not imagine not knowing all of the people that I met there and not having the good friends that I made. The staff and the residents are truly top notch people that I feel very blessed to have met and come to know. I still feel that I can call any one of the staff there and they would be very eager to help me out or to just talk. They care not only about me as a doctor they train but as a person and that to me is priceless. Sherry Jo Castillo, MD 1995-1998 |