Cascades East Family Medicine Residency
2801 Daggett Avenue
Klamath Falls, OR 97601
(541) 274-4611
info@ruralresidency.com

Cascades East: Family, Community, Education

CURRICULUM

Nellie

I was blessed with a class that cared about patients and about each other. We took care of each other and thus became better physicians. Our faculty were thoughtful, open, and patient. I enjoyed being with the people I worked with.

Natalie Kather, M.D. ’99
Practicing in Medford, OR

Goals & Objectives

Rotations

First Year

Second Year

Third Year

Student Electives

OB and Teaching Track

Lectures

Patients

Managed Care

Second Year Curriculum

Family Medicine Clinic

(longitudinal)
Second year residents spend two to four half days each week in the Family Medicine Center. Residents at this level provide continuing care to a larger number of families than first year residents and have a greater degree of responsibility. Residents are encouraged to coordinate all of the health needs of their patients with the assistance of team nurses and under the supervision of family medicine faculty members. During the second year, each resident is assigned approximately 350 patients for continuing care and must experience at least 400 outpatient encounters. Second year residents share after hours and weekend call for Family Medicine Center patients. Residents may also become involved with the delivery of sports medicine services to local high schools and colleges.

Inpatient Medicine

(one or two blocks)
The internal medicine rotation for second year residents takes place at Sky Lakes Medical Center. The second year residents supervise and assist the first year residents on the medicine service in delivering inpatient care.

Residents who choose the Teaching Track spend two blocks supervising interns, while those who choose the OB Track will spend one block.

Obstetrics

(one or two blocks)
The second year maternal-child health rotations take place in Klamath Falls at Sky Lakes Medical Center. The emphasis is on care of high-risk patients and continuation of experience in the first year. Additionally, residents follow the neonates at the Family Birthing Center.

Residents who choose the OB Track will spend two blocks on OB while Teaching Track residents will spend one.

Surgery

(one block)
The surgery rotation takes place at Sky Lakes Medical Center in Klamath Falls. The emphasis is on learning minor outpatient surgical procedures, first assisting at major surgery and perioperative care. Two experienced general surgeons from the community supervise residents on a one-to-one basis.

Orthopedics

(one block)
The orthopedic rotation occupies one month in the second year curriculum. Residents work with one of the local orthopedic surgeons in Klamath Falls. The rotation emphasizes outpatient management of common office problems and fracture care. Sports medicine experience is also part of this rotation.

Integrated Family Medicine

(one block)
This one-month rotation continues the integrated community medicine curriculum series begun during intern year. Included in the series is experience in Child and Adult Outpatient Psychiatry, child abuse case evaluations, evaluative assessments of developmentally delayed children, experience in other outpatient settings as well as specific seminars devoted to Family Life cycles and the community oriented primary care view of family medicine. Residents continue to develop their community-based improvement project during this block.

Emergency Medicine

(two blocks)
Sky Lakes Medical Center in Klamath Falls has one of the busiest emergency rooms in Oregon, with over 26,000 outpatient visits per year. Experienced emergency room physicians boarded in both emergency medicine and family medicine staff the emergency room.

This two-month rotation focuses on learning to assess emergency patients and on basic skills such as suturing, care of fractures, management of major and minor trauma and psychiatric emergencies.

ICU

(two blocks)
The critical care rotation is six weeks in length and takes place in either the resort town of Bend, Oregon, or in Klamath Falls. The rotation includes procedural training and supplements the learning we already receive caring for ICU patients on the inpatient medicine team. The emphasis is on cardiology and pulmonary medicine. This is a busy rotation for trauma and critical care, as the Bend hospital performs cardiothoracic surgery and neurosurgery. Residents are supervised by a team of pulmonologist/intensivists.

Frontier Medicine

(two blocks)
This six-week rotation takes place in one of the small communities in Oregon—Burns, Reedsport or Lakeview. Residents work in a practice with family physicians and experience rural primary care first hand. The program provides housing and travel expenses. Residents have the opportunity to staff the ER, assist in surgery and work in the clinic as well.

Elective

(one block)
The purpose of the elective blocks is to allow a resident to augment his or her education with an individualized plan developed by each resident and his or her advisor. Elective rotations can occur at any of the over one hundred electives available to residents here and at our sister program in Portland. In addition, electives are available in either Klamath Falls or Bend for the residents who desire further training in procedures such as endoscopy or colposcopy or who desire further training in obstetrics or general surgery.