Residents will be offered six months of individualized educational experiences through electives, quality improvement and research. Elective rotations can be arranged and tailored based on interests and career aspirations. Unique electives and tracks are summarized below.
New Zealand Rotation
Residents will be offered a unique opportunity to travel to Whakatane, New Zealand to rotate at a 90-bed hospital serving an approximately 40% Native Māori demographic during the third year where they will be exposed to the contrasting universal, publicly funded health system which provides free or low-cost healthcare to all.
Street Medicine Rotation and Track
Residents will be exposed to Street Medicine through the Sih Hasin Street Medicine Clinic founded and operating out of Northern Navajo Medical Center. Street medicine aims to provide healthcare and social services to the unsheltered homeless to address their unique needs directly within their environment. The location of the visit may be in alleyways, urban encampments, under bridges, or the homeless shelter. Residents will attend street medicine clinic in Farmington and Shiprock two days a week during their first year of residency and will then have the opportunity of participating in the street medicine track which will include once weekly Street Medicine clinic, required research and quality improvement projects, and attendance of the annual International Street Medicine Symposium.
High-Altitude Medicine Rotation
This unique high altitude medicine rotation offers internal medicine residents the opportunity to explore the intersection of environmental and clinical medicine in the high mountain regions of southwest Colorado. Internal medicine brings a distinctive lens focused on chronic disease management, physiology, and longitudinal care at altitude. Residents will participate in a 3-day high altitude medicine symposium in Silverton, Colorado, and the clinical portion of the rotation takes place in urgent and primary care clinics in remote, high-altitude towns. Additionally, residents may undertake a scholarly project focused on high altitude medicine, contributing to this evolving field. This rotation reflects our program’s mission to connect deeply with the land and community.
