Family Medicine Residency

Family Residency Program

The family physician fills a special role in medicine: meeting the challenge to bridge economic, cultural, and language barriers to provide accessible, appropriate, and effective care. The needs of patients, particularly the poor, cannot be adequately served by traditional hospital or office-based healthcare systems. Physicians in Family Medicine residency training are encouraged to provide clinical care within the context of the community in which they live. Begun in 1973 in response to a critical need for physicians in the rural areas of the state, the University of New Mexico (UNM) residency in Family Medicine incorporates a unique combination of tertiary care training with broad experiences in rural settings. “1+2” programs in Santa Fe, Las Cruces, and Silver City evolved to decentralize training of physicians from tertiary care sites into community settings like those in which they will be practicing.

Santa Fe and Silver City continue to offer a "1+2" Training Program and Las Cruces and UNM both offer complete three-year programs. CSV Family Medicine Residency Program began in 1996 and is jointly sponsored by UNM, CHRISTUS St. Vincent Regional Medical Center and La Familia Medical Center. It is designed as a longitudinal and block-based residency experience. The program is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), and fully meets the expectations of the American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM). The outpatient continuity clinic sites are at La Familia Medical Center and the new CHRISTUS St. Vincent Family Medical Center. Additional training occurs at CHRISTUS St. Vincent Regional Medical Center, the Santa Fe Indian Hospital, the private practices of local physicians, and in rural settings throughout Northern New Mexico.

For more information on the Residency Program at CSV, please click here.

Welcome! - Bienvenidos!

It is a privilege to have this opportunity to welcome you to our website and share with you a few thoughts on the CSV Family Medicine Residency Program located in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The CSV Family Medicine Residency Program graduated its first class of residents in June 1998. Our program is a “1+2 Residency Program” that combines the best components of a one-year University-based internship in Albuquerque with a two-year Community-based residency in Santa Fe.

I believe that this one year in a traditional medical education setting forms a critical foundation for the successful continuation of the residency program. CHRISTUS St. Vincent Regional Medical Center, a not-for-profit community hospital, and La Familia Medical Center, a federally qualified community health center, and the CHRISTUS St. Vincent Family Medicine Center provide the core clinical settings for this non-traditional program in Santa Fe during the second and third years of training.

Of the many strengths of our program, it is my opinion that the following characteristics distinguish the CSV Family Medicine Residency Program from many other training programs: Santa Fe is a beautiful place to live. With a population of 68,000, it is the oldest continuously inhabited capital city in the United States. This sense of history is enhanced by its multicultural heritage of Native Americans, Hispanics, and Northern Europeans. Unique architecture and four–season climate, with predominantly blue skies and sunny weather, makes Santa Fe an exceptionally appealing site to begin one’s career.

Our mission is a noble one. We are dedicated to improving primary care access for uninsured, rural and immigrant patient populations. One of our continuity clinics is at a well established community health center. In July of 2013 we opened a second continuity clinic for our residents to train. This new clinic, the CSV Family Medicine Center, allowed us to increase our resident slots from three to four per year, and now with continued efforts we have increased our slots from four to five per year, and looking forward to increase in this direction. This has been an exciting opportunity to broaden the residency training experience as we strive to meet the needs of our community.

We deliver approximately 30% of the babies born in Santa Fe’s only community hospital. Over 80% of our graduates choose to remain in New Mexico after graduation. Of those who have left New Mexico, all have worked in under-served settings. Our curriculum is flexible, allowing ample opportunity for individual residents to tailor their educational experience to their special needs, interests and talents. It is a training environment that values the precepts of individualized adult-learning. Our residency utilizes one-on-one teaching, especially in the hospital when one resident is on call with one attending.

Our residency provides protected time for residents to engage in a community project of their choice. The community medicine experience includes specific training in health policy advocacy at the New Mexico State Legislature, as well as extensive involvement with the New Mexico Department of Health.

I hope that you find this web site helpful in choosing the residency program that is best for you. If you have any other questions about the CSV Family Medicine Residency Program, please feel free to explore further or contact me directly at william.bowen@stvin.org

Mission Statement

To train competent, compassionate family physicians to meet the needs of the communities of Northern New Mexico.

Program Goals:

In order to realize our Mission, we will achieve the following goals:

  • Provide a comprehensive learning experience across all domains of family medicine that allows resident flexibility to pursue individual interests
  • Nurture and embrace an environment of diversity, integrity, and wellness
  • Prioritize patient-centered care with an emphasis on constant quality improvement