The NEW! Family Medicine Service: Better Care for our Patients/Increased Family Medicine Teaching
In the fall of 2004, residents of the program identified a way to improve the existing Family Medicine Inpatient Service by expanding it to include the care of Medicine and OB patients from Seattle Indian Health Board and Sea Mar. Prompted by this request, Joe Shamseldin, Associate Director of the Curriculum, assembled a task force to design a service that would increase the teamwork and interaction of residents from all the three sites, improve continuity of care, and emphasize Family Medicine teaching. Second year resident and Swedish Resident Organization President, Ben Guiney, who was part of the task force, says he was impressed by how quickly the faculty responded to the request and how much work they devoted to make it come together this year. "When I interviewed here I was told that this is a resident- driven curriculum, " Ben said. "Now that I'm a resident, I see first hand that this is true." Since the FMS started in July 2005, the response from residents and community attendings has been overwhelmingly positive. "Including all three sites in FMS has improved residents' understanding of how to manage the health issues unique to these patient populations," says Pat Gemperline, Site Director at Sea Mar whose clinic admits a high number of OB patients to the service. "The OB triage response time has dramatically improved over last year. When we call, residents are right there." The task force is meeting monthly to make adjustments on the fly. The team's long-term plans? Phasing in ICU and pediatric patients to represent the full scope of Family Medicine.
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