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Midland/Alpena Rural Track

If you are interested in practicing in a rural community, this program offers an excellent opportunity to train at a busy and nationally recognized hospital and outpatient office in a beautiful lakeside community with a medical staff that is deeply dedicated to working closely with learners.

Our rural track is part of Michigandocs.org (MIDOCs), a state-funded program set up to expand graduate medical education residency positions and retain physicians in underserved areas in the state of Michigan. Acceptance of a MIDOCs residency slot includes a two-year commitment to practice in a rural or urban underserved area in Michigan post-residency. Additionally, residents may also receive up to $150,000 for repayment of qualifying educational loans. Addendum to Residency Agreement

This State of Michigan initiative is supported by four medical schools and their collaborating residency programs. Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, with which the MyMichigan Medical Center Midland Family Medicine Residency Program is affiliated, is one of the members of this partnership. The Midland Family Medicine Residency was chosen to participate, with the goal of training and retaining primary care providers in Northern Michigan.

The Midland MIDOCs rural track program will have six (6) residents (2 per year) serving their PGY-1 year at the base program in Midland and their PGY-2 and PGY-3 years at MyMichigan Medical Center Alpena, a nationally-recognized rural hospital located in the northeastern corner of Michigan’s lower peninsula. Alcona Health Center Ossineke, a Federally Qualified Community Health Center, is home to the rural track residents’ family medicine clinic.

Clinical Experiences

The rural track curriculum was modeled after the 3-year curriculum of the Midland program. The dedicated rural training track will allow exposure to all aspects and challenges of rural family medicine, including but not limited to access to primary and specialty care, rural population health and disease management, resource management, use of electronic health records within these practice situations, and robust telemedicine support and specialty support from a tertiary level facility within the system.

During PGY-2 and PGY-3, the rural track residents will participate in didactics with the Midland-based residents through video conferencing. In order to maintain cohesiveness among all of the Midland FM residents, Alpena residents will return to Midland for group educational experiences, once in the second year and once in the third year (Clinical Seminars). These small group activities include additional training in musculoskeletal/sports medicine, geriatrics, practice management, women’s health and research.

Rural Medicine Track Rotations

First Year – in Midland

  • Family Medicine Orientation (1 block)
  • Cardiology (1 block)
  • Electives (2 blocks)
  • Inpatient Medicine (1 week integrated into each block)
  • Obstetrics (2 blocks)
  • MSK (1 block)
  • Nephrology (1 block)
  • Pediatrics – Inpatient (1 block)
  • Pediatrics – Outpatient + Nursery (2 blocks)
  • Psychiatry (1 block)
  • Pulmonology (1 block)

Second Year – in Alpena

  • Clinical Seminars & Research (1 month)
  • Dermatology (1 month)
  • Elective (1 month)
  • Emergency Medicine (1 month)
  • Inpatient Service/ICU (2 months)
  • Neurology/Urology (1 month)
  • Obstetrics/Gynecology (2 months)
  • Orthopedics/Podiatry (1 month)
  • Pediatrics – Outpatient (1 month)
  • Practice Management/Rural Health (1 month)

Third Year – in Alpena

  • All Day Office (1 month)
  • Clinical Seminars & Research (1 month)
  • Elective (3 months)
  • Emergency Medicine (1 month)
  • Geriatrics/Palliative Care (1 month)
  • Inpatient Service/ICU (2 months)
  • Obstetrics/Gynecology (1 month)
  • Ophthalmology/Hematology (1 month)
  • Surgery (1 month)

Apply Through ERAS

  • Deadline: December 1
  • Midland NRMP code 1961120C0
  • Rural Track NRMP code 1961120C1
  • Listed as: MyMichigan Medical Center Midland

View Application Requirements

Related Locations

Testimonial

Photo of Christian Grant, Resident physician with the Midland Family Medicine Residency program, Rural Track program.

Christian Grant, M.D.
2024 Resident Physician

Hybrid Experience of Suburban and Rural Settings

"Prior to and during medical school, I had little knowledge of what family medicine was as a specialty, but I knew the kind of medicine I wanted to practice. I wanted to play a role in the community where I knew people well and developed a relationship with them over an extended period of time, got to know their families, and become a better doctor because of it (think “Doc Hollywood”). But, I often wondered if the type of medicine I wanted to practice and the career I had in mind for so long could still exist in a world that moved as quickly as it does today. When I was applying to residency programs, the Rural Track of the MyMichigan Midland program caught my eye and I quickly recognized that if ever I was going to get the chance to be trained in a rural setting and have the career that I wanted for so long, this was it. And to be a part of its first class and help to create something special was a challenge and opportunity that I couldn’t pass on.

Our program is unique in that residents in this track are trained in Midland and Alpena, providing a hybridized experience in both suburban and rural settings through our partnership with the Alcona Health Center of northeastern Michigan, thereby exposing residents to a wide breadth of specialties and experiences. I believe that in my time as a resident in this program we have been able to establish a strong foundation and will continue to build connections within both communities for many years to come. This is in part why I made the decision to remain with Alcona Health Center following graduation next year. " – Christian Grant, M.D.