San Juan Regional Health

 San Juan Regional Medical Center is proud to announce that our Internal Medicine Residency program is now accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. This accreditation ensures that residents and fellows are learning and training in a setting that is preparing them to deliver safe, high-quality medical care now and in the future. San Juan Regional Medical Center is currently accepting applications for our new program and will welcome our first group of internal medicine residents in July 2026. 

There is a shortage of primary care physicians across the nation, including New Mexico. Our Community Health Needs Assessment, which is conducted every three years to determine the health needs of San Juan County as perceived by its citizens, has consistently found that access to healthcare is the number one need in our community.

“This residency program aligns with the strategy of our organization- meeting the healthcare needs of our community,” said Dr. Robert Underwood, Chief Medical Officer at San Juan Regional Medical Center. “Our long-term strategy is to build that cadre of primary care providers right here in Farmington at San Juan Regional Medical Center.”

Our three-year program is focused on creating the next generation of internal medicine physicians to bring care to our local population, offering comprehensive training that encompasses both inpatient and outpatient settings to ensure the core competencies essential for internal medicine practice and subspecialty careers with a targeted focus on inspiring careers in primary care.

"One of the things you want in your training is a high level of acuity; you want to see a wide range of disease processes because that’s how you learn. We have that here. We have a very active hospital with ongoing, complex patient care being provided by highly skilled physicians and caregivers. It’s a wonderful opportunity for residents to learn about patient care from professionals who are not only exceptional clinicians but also fully equipped to teach and mentor the next generation of medical professionals,” Dr. Underwood added.

In addition to our program’s mission to cultivate compassionate, innovative, skilled internal medicine physicians, we prioritize a wellness curriculum that promotes health, life balance, and a sense of community. Our program also offers unique elective opportunities, including a street medicine track, high altitude medicine, and a ward rotation in New Zealand.

“We have been working hard over the last year to build the infrastructure of an innovative three-year curriculum to facilitate the becoming of highly skilled, compassionate physicians attune to the unique health needs of the individuals that make-up our population. Since opening our program for recruitment, we have had had hundreds of highly qualitied applicants interested in matching at our organization. As the program director, I am honored to be in the position to help guide these brilliant young physicians through their training to hopefully stay and work in our culturally rich and geographically unique region,” said Dr. Erin Philpott, Internal Medicine physician and Residency Program Director.

San Juan Regional Medical Center looks forward to the long-ranging impacts of bringing a nationally accredited Internal Medicine Residency program here to our community.

“We are building something that’s really going to be meaningful. If we can provide care right here, our patients don’t have to be separated from their families or away from their homes to get the care they need,” said Dr. Underwood. 

To learn more about San Juan Regional Medical Center’s Internal Medicine Residency program, visit https://www.sanjuanregional.com/residency.