Family Medicine

Since 1977, the Family Medicine Residency Program at Palmetto Health Richland has taken pride in training more than 260 successful family practice physicians for South Carolina and the nation. Our graduates practice in all types of settings: the office, the hospital, the home, the classroom, in long-term care facilities and on the athletic field.

Residents in the Palmetto Health Family Medicine Residency Program are trained by faculty who love their life's work, who believe that they were "called" to Family Medicine and who care deeply for their patients and this residency. Our faculty is large, diverse, and committed to personalized education. They include:

Sixteen full-time family physicians

Sports medicine, geriatric and maternity care specialists

Preventive medicine residency

Active research division, with PhD and MD clinical investigators and extensive research infrastructure

Two clinical psychologists

Clinical pharmacologist

Part-time biostatistician

Computerized information systems specialist

We emphasize full-breadth Family Medicine. Our diverse patient population offers broad exposure to all age groups. Our strongest areas include Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, and office procedures. We also maintain our own maternity care service and an active inpatient service. In addition to the required curriculum in any Family Medicine training program, our residents also have the opportunity to learn to perform emergency ultrasound, achieve certification in the Fundamentals of Critical Care Support, and manage trauma patients in a Level One center.

Palmetto Health is dedicated to state-of-the-art care. We have a new Family Medicine Center with a fully integrated electronic health record system. All patient rooms, resident offices, nursing and study areas are fully equipped with computers for instant access to patient records, prescription writing, lab and drug interaction data, and online teaching resources. The Center features:

Video endoscopy for colonoscopy, flexible sigmoidoscopy and nasolaryngoscopy

Onsite laboratory facilities

Procedure rooms for stress testing, colposcopy, minor surgical procedures, casting, office pulmonary function testing, tympanometry and Holter monitoring

We also have incredible hospital facilities. In January 2006, Palmetto Health Heart Hospital located on the main hospital campus, opened its doors, becoming the most advanced cardiac care facility in the area. Serving patients from the Midlands and all over central South Carolina, the $80 million, 200,000-square-foot hospital is the state's only freestanding facility dedicated entirely to the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular diseases.

Like sports? Our residents get the unique opportunity to care for NCAA Division 1 athletes from the University of South Carolina, as well as those from surrounding smaller colleges and high schools in the Midlands area. Our department cares for all USC athletes and offers a Primary Care Sports Medicine Fellowship.

Prepared for the future? Our residents learn the fundamentals of continuous quality improvement, evidence-based practice, and practice redesign. With these skills graduates are ready for the New Model of Family Medicine.

Life is good in Columbia. Located in the heart of South Carolina, it has everything to offer, but is not so big that it can't be "mastered" in three years, especially with the "80 hour rule". Specifically, the night life in the Vista District is designed around the young professional crowd — singles or married. Columbia also has many excellent restaurants, a nationally ranked zoo and botanical garden, and local professional theatres presenting top quality performances. Columbia has an average mean temperature of 64° and 244 days of sunshine; so our climate gives year round opportunities to enjoy the outdoors, be it our lake, trails, parks, or sports facilities.

We are recognized for our excellence! Both the residency and the sports medicine fellowship were recently awarded a five-year re-accreditation by the ACGME with commendations for substantial compliance. Our residents consistently pass board examinations.

We seek caring, compassionate individuals who want to develop their knowledge and skills to be able to care for patients from birth throughout life. We are patient centered and family committed. We look for individuals who desire an intense, broad-range residency education that will enable them to care for patients in any clinical setting, whether in a hospital, an outpatient clinic, ER, Labor & Delivery, or an ICU, and in any geographic location.

We prepare family medicine physicians for the future they envision for themselves. We're proud of our commitments to our community, personalized education, evidence-based practice, and the Future of Family Medicine. We truly are the best of both worlds!