U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA-5) got a firsthand look at the future of rural healthcare this week when she visited WSU’s brand new family medicine residency program at Pullman Regional Hospital.
The program has just welcomed its first three residents — Dr. Bolu Olawuyi, Dr. Jeff Ward and Dr. Mohammed Younes. At full capacity, the program will house three residents per year for three years for a total of nine residents. That such a program would be established at a critical access hospital is exceptionally rare nationally and reflects the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine’s mission to increase access to physicians in underserved communities and other challenging healthcare environments.
During the Congresswoman’s visit, she heard of the unique challenges and opportunities associated with operating a residency program in a small, rural setting. Residents there will enjoy a high faculty-to-resident ratio and extensive emergency department training opportunities in a program that will train them to lead multi-disciplinary teams within a patient-centered model to promote patient care throughout their continuum of life.
The residents themselves highlighted the opportunity to increase access to primary care and described the value of such a training experience to the long-term recruitment and retention of physicians in rural communities.