Mission Statement:

The KU Wichita Internal Medicine/Pediatrics Residency Program mission is to train well-balanced physicians prepared to care for patients throughout the spectrum of life in both inpatient and outpatient settings, providing a strong foundation for launching a career in primary care, hospitalist medicine, emergency medicine or further subspecialty training. We seek to improve the health of patients in Wichita and the broader Kansas community, with a particular emphasis on training physicians for the state of Kansas.

Program Aims:

The mission of the University of Kansas School of Medicine-Wichita is to train doctors who can improve the health of all Kansans. The Internal Medicine/Pediatrics Residency Program seeks to work within that mission to achieve the following aims:

1. Train physicians to care for patients throughout the spectrum of life in both inpatient and outpatient settings.
2. Prepare physicians for careers in primary care, hospitalist medicine, emergency medicine, or further fellowship training.
3. Train physicians to be leaders in academic programs, community or hospital service, and advocacy, whether in urban or rural settings.
4. Foster an environment of inquiry, providing resident physicians the opportunity to develop research, quality improvement and educational leadership skills.
5. Develop skills during residency to promote physician wellness and work-life balance throughout a medical career.

The relative uniformity imposed by accreditation requirements means that you will find our rotation schedule similar to those outlined by most Med/Peds programs. All Med/Peds residents do the following:

1. Complete two years of training in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, after which they are eligible for both board certification exams.
2. Train in alternating blocks of Medicine and Pediatrics, usually from three to six months at a time.
3. Work their way through some combination of general inpatient duties, ambulatory care, emergency medicine and critical care.
4. Develop the skills to advance from intern-level duties to the role of team supervisor and educator.
5. Attend and present at a variety of scheduled didactic sessions, including morning reports, journal clubs, morbidity/mortality meetings, and noon conferences.

What differs from program to program is the setting in which these educational experiences take place, the people with whom one trains, and, to a degree, the philosophy underlying the training. Our physical setting is the heart of the Midwest, where daily life is a little less stressful, a little less congested, and the people very friendly. Perhaps because of this, those with whom we train are engaged and content in their work, which really makes a difference when facing the rigors of a combined residency program. But the real key to understanding us lies in our training philosophy. Wichita's residency programs were started and developed by area physicians. From the beginning, training here has been a community affair; with hundreds of physicians working together to make sure the next generation is well trained. This has produced an environment where the dominant force is collaboration and cooperation. In contrast to many parts of the country, Kansas still has plenty of small, rural communities that are hundreds of miles from a major city. Thus by geographic and demographic necessity, healthcare in Kansas is largely primary care driven. In many of our smallest communities, the primary care physician is the only doctor available. Preparation for this role requires training that emphasizes broad knowledge and self-sufficiency in many different medical settings. Hence a major goal of our program is to produce physicians capable of meeting that challenge. Our graduates have chosen a wide variety of post-residency careers and practice settings, but a crucial focus of our training program is for each graduate to leave with the competence and confidence to practice evidence-based, broad-spectrum, primary care should they choose to do so. If the prospect of this kind of training interests you, we invite you to read on - and to feel welcome to contact us for more information.