The MultiCare Omak Rural Training Program received accreditation by the ACGME in November 2021, as a 1:2 program, with first year training at the Urban Site MultiCare Tacoma Family Medicine and the second and third years in Rural Omak, Washington working in an FQHC, Family Health Centers and a Critical access Hospital Mid-Valley Hospital.
This program offers the best of both worlds as it combines the benefits of an Urban established Family Medicine program (since 1978) combined with the subsequent hands-on, real-world rural continuity experience. The intern year in Tacoma provides excellent training in the core clinical skills for family medicine, inpatient medicine, ICU care, inpatient pediatrics, NICU, high risk OB, and trauma-based emergency room care.
In Tacoma there is the advantage of the volume and acuity of a regional referral center, and the breadth of pathology of a county of 938,000 population. In Omak, Washington, residents will obtain longitudinal continuity family medicine training by enthusiastic and experienced full spectrum Family Physician Faculty. There is strong local physician, hospital, and clinic support with opportunities in balancing inpatient and outpatient care, POCUS, and endoscopy. Mid-Valley Hospital in Omak is the main critical access hospital licensed for 44 beds. Daily inpatient rounding time will allow residents to follow their assigned patients through the course of the inpatient stay, and to build skills in team leadership and rural multitasking as they then move onto their other scheduled activities for the day. The FQHC Family Health Center serves Okanogan County and has six Medical Clinics, two pharmacies, four dental clinics & two mobile units that serve a rural population of close to 44,000.
The Omak Rural Training Program recruits two residents per year (2-2-2). Applications will be accepted through ERAS in the National Resident Matching Program. The Omak RTP recruited its first class in the fall of 2022, and they started in June 2023.
We are committed to resident well being as well as rigorous training. There are many outdoors opportunities in both settings. Tacoma is within 2-3 hours’ drive to Mount Rainier National Park, Pacific Ocean Beaches, and has many local opportunities for kayaking, sailing, and urban parks with running and nature trails. Omak is close to the spectacular North Cascades Park. Both settings offer meaningful opportunities to serve under resourced populations.
Years of preparation, including generous startup grants from Premera and Washington State, guidance from the University of Washington Network of Family Medicine Residency Programs, and support of UW school of medicine and Pacific NW University school of osteopathic medicine, and support of three strong sponsors MultiCare Health Systems, Family Health Centers and Mid-Valley Hospital have created a strong foundation for this new program.
