Mission

We will drop everything to teach you anything we can anytime, anyplace, and any subject—clinical, academic, professional, and personal—so that you can become the kind of physician that is able to address the overwhelmingly vast majority of your patient’s concerns in a competent, caring, continuous, and comprehensive way.

Aims

To produce COMPETENT and QUALIFIED physicians:

The primary goal of the program is to produce highly qualified, board-eligible family physicians capable of providing continuing and comprehensive care to the individual and family as an integrated unit, in any military or civilian medical system. Graduates are capable of independent practice in the field of Family Medicine and recognize that their responsibility is not limited by sex, age, organ system, or disease process but is comprehensive delivery of medical care.

To propagate our specialty through MENTORING:

The program should cultivate mentors who facilitate medical students in learning our specialty while helping them foster Family Medicine skills that they can use in their future specialty. All instruction is performed in an environment that places the highest priority on patient safety and empathic care.

To perform as LEADERS:

Graduates will lead patient care and be able to assume responsibility for directing a team approach to health management. Emphasis will be placed on the integration of a body, mind, and spirit approach as well as promoting healthy family dynamics within the broad context of community health care. The goal is learning how to engage patients and help them utilize their resources to cope with an illness and injury.

Do the EAMC FM residents have to “compete” with other residents for patients, procedures, learning, etc?

Nothing could be further from the truth! Typically the fewer the residents, the less competition there is for learning. However, we would argue that our learning experience is actually enhanced by having other residencies in our institution. Just consider the internal medicine residency, for example. They have to have enough specialists to support the residency program. This means that EAMC has more capability to keep patients that need subspecialty care. Therefore, family medicine residents have opportunities to follow their patients more closely instead of having to relinquish them to another hospital. For instance, when our patients have a myocardial infarction, the residents can see them in the Emergency Department, follow them to the cardiac catheterization lab and watch the procedure, discuss the presentation and treatment with the cardiologist, and round on the patient the next morning to see how they are doing. Then they can see them in their clinic in a few weeks for hospital follow-up. Talk about continuity of care! And because Family Medicine takes care of only Family Medicine patients in the hospital, there is absolutely no competition for patients between any of the services. When considering this it is important to balance depth of experience and breadth of experience. Hospitals that are completely unopposed have a large breadth of experience as they take care of everyone in the hospital. Unfortunately, these experiences often do not have a large depth as the acuity of patients are typically not high as the specialist needed to keep these patients in

the hospital are not there, so the patients are sent elsewhere. In contrast, large medical centers with dozens of programs provide an experience with good depth as you can keep high acuity patients in the hospital, the competition with other programs affects the breadth of your experience. We believe EAMC has the perfect balance as we only benefit from the programs at EACM (Internal Medicine, Surgery, and Orthopedic Surgery) as we have access to their specialist but do not share patients, and at Eisenhower we are unopposed in pediatrics and obstetrics providing a great experience with these patients that family medicine residents typically have a hard time getting at larger medical centers. 

How are the FM residents viewed by other staff and residents in the hospital?

Family Medicine residents are well respected in the hospital. We take care of hospital staff and their families and are respected for our competent, continuous, compassionate, and comprehensive care amongst everyone in the hospital.

What are the strengths of and challenges for the program?

Strengths

• By far the greatest strength of EAMC is the people! There is truly something unique about our residency. Faculty who have trained at other institutions attest to this truth when they arrive. The leadership has put together a phenomenal faculty who are role models in all aspects of life: professional and personal. Our core value of maintaining a cohesive atmosphere fosters a working environment that is rarely duplicated. This is something you will have to experience first-hand to better understand.
• Faculty size, diversity, and continuity. Our faculty have a wide variety of experiences both in the military and civilian world. We have over 15 faculty for 18 residents which puts us in a unique situation of having nearly one-to-one longitudinal faculty advisors. We have many fellowship trained family physicians. About half of our faculty are civilian (most with prior military experience) which creates much needed continuity in this time of increased operation tempo. This brings great stability not often found in military residencies.
• Emphasis on a holistic approach to family medicine training. Our learning environment is everywhere. In the clinic, on the wards, on the ultimate frisbee field, in each other’s homes eating dinner, at triathlons and adventure races. Residents are taught to be excellent clinicians while encouraged to live well-rounded lives. Students with like-minded principles are often attracted to this ideology which leads to a body of residents who love to learn in a collegial, encouraging atmosphere.
• Broad scope of family medicine training in all aspects of family medicine: outpatient, inpatient, maternal child, pediatrics, geriatrics, behavioral health, outpatient procedures, and sports medicine. You will be more than adequately trained!
• Broad procedural experience in mainstream and complementary medicine. The curriculum will give you plenty of exposure, but the residents who actively seek out procedures become even more proficient at ones they would like to continue after residency.
• Great blend of military healthcare, civilian academic facilities, and civilian private practice exposure. Best of all worlds!

Challenges

• Obstetrical deliveries and newborn care performed outside our facility. While it is certainly less geographically convenient to deliver babies at an outside facility, the benefits far outweigh the negatives for us. Delivering at Doctors Hospital will in no way inhibit your ability to deliver far beyond residency requirements for continuity deliveries. Plus, the warm and inviting atmosphere at Doctors for family medicine residents is hard to replicate even at military facilities.
• Less operational exposure. Fort Gordon is not known for its operational tempo. It is home of the US Army Cyber Command, US Army Signal Corps, and has many airmen, sailors, and marines. Although Ft Gordon does not have a plethora of operational training sites, that does not limit the options of pursuing operational medicine after residency. In fact, many of our residents have pursued operational careers upon graduation.

Do your residents see a good balance of patient ages?

Augusta remains one of the most popular retirement choices in the Southeast, and Fort Gordon hosts a large training population of young families. These factors provide for tremendous opportunities for residents to see a great balance between adult, pediatric, adolescent, geriatric, and obstetrical patients. Patient empanelment is purposefully distributed so that patients assigned to residents cover the spectrum of ages. Residents also have pediatric and obstetrical appointments reserved in their clinic schedule to ensure a variety of patient encounters.

What employment opportunities are available for my spouse?

For those with spouses that are also medical, we have many residents with dual physician families. We have a very good working relationship with the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University which offers almost every residency you can imagine. Students who find themselves coming to EAMC will often find a very welcoming atmosphere for their spouse at MCG in the residency of their choice. We will also make every effort to notify a department at MCG of your arrival and your spouse’s desire for a residency position. In addition to MCG there two other large training institutions within 1 hour from Augusta and several more within two hours.

For those who have spouses working in other industries opportunities abound in teaching in public and private institutions, small and large business, and government employment at Fort Gordon, Savannah River Site, and the National Security Agency. Many of our family members work in these environments and are always willing to help our resident spouses find work.

The EAMC Family Medicine Residency prides itself on evidence-based, relevant, and interactive didactics to supplement the wide variety of patient encounters we see every day. Every Thursday morning, residents are released from their various rotations to participate in didactics. Family Medicine staff, residents, and military and civilian subspecialists are integrated into a didactic series which covers topics relevant to the family physician. The morning report schedule is strategically planned in order to provide a balance of inpatient, outpatient, pediatric, obstetrical, geriatric, sports medicine, and behavioral patient encounters. We cover updated practice guidelines from various professional academies in order to keep current with the constantly evolving medical environment.

We also provide a time for patient safety conferences in order to reflect on how we can provide better care to our patients. Finally, a daily After Clinic Conference (ACC) gives residents and students an opportunity to practice patient presentations in a more informal environment while exposing attendees to interesting clinical experiences from their peers’ outpatient clinics.

All required rotations can also be experienced as an elective. We also offer the following elective rotations within DDEAMC:

• Allergy
• Anesthesia
• Behavioral Health
• Endocrinology
• Gastroenterology
• General Surgery
• Infectious Disease
• Integrative Pain Management
• Nephrology
• Neurology
• Ophthalmology
• Orthopedics and Podiatry
• Otolaryngology
• Pathology
• Pulmonology
• Research through the Department of Clinical Investigations
• Rheumatology
• Urology

Our call schedule is very family friendly! PGY1s will take overnight call during Pediatric Wards and Maternal Newborn Service. PGY2/3s take overnight call on Maternal Newborn Service, Intensive Care Unit, Night Float, Obstetrics at Fort Campbell, and the occasional weekend 12-hour inpatient shift (approx. 3-4 per year). We only have one “out-of-town” rotation which allows more time with your loved ones in Augusta.

A military unique curriculum is an integral part of any military residency. Eisenhower has a block and longitudinal curriculum in which to prepare residents for practicing in the deployed and non-deployed military environments. Our staff has vast military experience in clinical, academic, and operational missions. Residents receive military education via online courses, the intern Combat Casualty Care Course in San Antonio, formal didactics on various military medical topics, and informal “war stories” that give you a glimpse into what you might see in future endeavors.

Combat Casualty Care Course (C4) is a one-week course typically completed in PGY1 at San Antonio.

Basic Life Support (BLS), Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS), Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS), Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS), Neonatal Resuscitation Program (NRP), Advanced Life Support in Obstetrics (ALSO) are required life support classes provided by DDEAMC.

Simulation is at the core of our teaching paradigm. We regularly utilize our nationally accredited Simulation Center on the 7th floor which includes state of the art equipment utilized by all GME programs. Our Simulation Center is one of a few Fundamentals of Laparoscopic and Endoscopic Surgery Test Centers in Georgia.

We use the Army’s LEAD 2.0 curriculum in addition to our regularly scheduled didactics with our experienced faculty at DDEAMC.

You will be ahead of your peers in scholarly activity when you graduate! DDEAMC FM Program guides you through a longitudinal scholarly activity curriculum that includes projects at each year level. We use a scholarly activity points system that ensures all residents obtain a baseline knowledge of how to consume and produce scholarly activity. You are guaranteed to get publications on your CV and be more competitive for fellowships and leadership positions.

We have a curriculum that develops QI ideas you have into tangible projects to help improve your working environment and enables you to become board eligible.

As a Medical Center, DDEAMC offers many opportunities to gather wisdom from outside speakers, senior leaders, and healthcare innovators. We also support rotations to the USUHS Faculty Development rotation in Bethesda, Maryland.

• Doctors Hospital of Augusta
• MCG WellStar
• Children’s Hospital of Georgia
• Blanchfield Army Community Hospital
• Brandonwilde

Student Rotations:

• 3rd year clerkship
• 4th year elective
• Family Medicine Sub-Internship
• Sports Medicine elective

DDEAMC Family Medicine Residency is truly a unique program in that it is housed in a large medical center which affords boundless opportunities to interact with every subspecialty, yet embodies a “small hospital” community where residents exercise autonomy when taking care of their patients.

Family Medicine residents are considered peers to our specialty colleagues and are encouraged to learn from one-on-one patient experiences and didactics. We embody a “family” atmosphere where teaching is considered a privilege and joy. Students are an essential part of our quest for teaching excellence. You will be considered an integral part of the team and are invited, even encouraged to participate in any and all residency events during your stay!

Student physicians see a broad range of patients with their staff and resident preceptors. Students can participate in, and direct, the healthcare of children, adults, the elderly, and the pregnant. In addition to ambulatory clinics, students will serve as a member of the inpatient team, participate in a variety of procedures (colposcopy, dermatological procedures, exercise treadmill testing, endometrial biopsy, intrauterine (IUD) placement, implantable contraception, point of care ultrasound (POCUS), osteopathic manipulation treatment, acupuncture, and vasectomy), and sports medicine clinics. Formal didactic sessions will include daily morning reports and after clinic conferences as well as a weekly residency didactic session. Students can expect to receive constructive feedback and formal evaluations that concentrate less on giving a “grade” than giving you tools in which to hone your skills as a clinician. You will be challenged while you’re here. It’s all in the name of ensuring your success in your future endeavors.

The military match process occurs much sooner than our civilian counterparts. Students finalize their selections for residency by November 1st of their 4th year. That necessitates them visiting or interviewing at as many of their residency choices as possible before that time. Most of our residents visited DDEAMC in some capacity as a student, but not necessary rotated with us. Our first choice would be for you to plan on doing a 3rd or 4th year rotation with us. This allows both of us to get to know each other better. You can learn much more about a residency by experiencing everyday life with us, and vice versa. Perhaps the next best option is for you to visit us for a few days for a personal interview. That allows you to see our facilities and meet us first-hand. Putting a face with a name is often very helpful as we review candidates. Finally, we conduct many phone interviews with students for various reasons. If you plan on ranking our residency in your list, we highly advise a phone interview at the very least.

If you are applying for a PGY-2 position, please contact our residency administrative assistant at 706-787-9358 or dha.eisenhower.Eisenhower-AMC.list.ddeamc-fammed@health.mil for further details.

Program PGY3s take the American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM) exam. This exam is offered annually in April. To become fully board certified, applicants are eligible to take board certification exam before graduation. To be eligible to take specialty board exams, graduates must complete all pre-requisites required by the ABFM by April of their graduation year.

Residents are expected to teach their craft to the next generation during their training. Teaching reinforces topics in which residents have mastered and ones in which need more reinforcement. Residents will have opportunities to teach medical students, physician assistant students, advanced practice nursing students, and medics.

Our faculty boast numerous accomplishments both in and out of the residency. But what is even more impressive is their commitment to drop everything and teach you anything, anytime, anywhere. They will serve as outstanding advisors, desirable role models, and indelible mentors. Students continuously rate their experience at EAMC among the very best rotations with the impressive faculty at the forefront of their comments.

We have over 15 board-certified faculty who are both active duty and civilian physicians. Many of our military and civilian faculty have been deployed to various worldwide locations giving them first-hand experience of the challenges and joys of military medicine. Our civilian faculty, who nearly all have prior military service, give stability to a teaching environment that is not immune to the high deployment tempo of their military colleagues (we like to call them “sabbaticals”). All military residency programs must answer this challenge. This is our answer.

The large number of faculty not only affords copious practice styles in which to observe and emulate but also gives us the unique position of allowing nearly 1:1 resident/faculty academic advising and mentoring. We feel that this provides a more personal atmosphere of professional development. Fellowship trained faculty abound with sports medicine, obstetrical, and faculty development fellows. We also have three pediatricians on our teaching faculty and one med-peds faculty member which help offer even more perspectives for our residents to learn from.

We believe in a holistic approach to practicing medicine. Our behavioral medicine curriculum incorporates formal and informal venues in which to train residents in the art of medicine.. As a first year resident, you will have protected time each week in which to meet with your fellow classmates and discuss everything from residency life to how to conduct a motivational interview to how to deal with a difficult patient. These “Soup Groups” facilitate class cohesiveness and enhance an atmosphere of camaraderie in the training program. In addition, they help you to develop the critical skills required to communicate with peers and patients.

Each resident is assigned an academic advisor who assists them in navigating their residency. Deeper mentorships blossom from resident/faculty interaction in our close-knit program. It is common for our residents to develop educational coaching from other specialists at DDEAMC.

Program Culture

Resident well-being is a top priority of the Family Medicine residency program, supported by GME and DDEAMC leadership. Efforts will continually be made to protect residents’ time with patients, minimize non-physician obligations, provide administrative support, promote progressive autonomy and flexibility, improve workplace safety, and enhance professional relationships. Concerns about the learning and working environment will be raised to the Family Medicine Residency.

Clinical Hours

Adherence to ACGME clinical hour requirement as outlined in the EAMC FM Residency Handbook will assist residents to be appropriately rested and fit to provide patient care. Residents will be given the opportunity to attend medical, mental health, and dental care appointments during their working hours.

Fatigue Management

Faculty and residents will receive annual training on recognition of fatigue and sleep deprivation. Faculty and residents are responsible for recognizing these signs and symptoms during interactions with each other and feel safe in bringing these concerns to the faculty responsible for patient care. They should develop an acceptable plan for transferring patient care responsibilities so that the resident can get proper rest and make safe travel arrangements if necessary. Sleep rooms are designated for use by on-call residents or residents that have been determined to be too fatigued to drive.

Absences from Training

Requests for ordinary leave will be in accordance with the GMEC Policy on Leaves and Absences. Primary and Secondary Caregiver leave are offered to residents in accordance with Department of the Army policy. Leaves of absence from training for personal or medical issues which cannot be covered by ordinary leave may be considered if appropriate to the situation.

Supervision policy

Adherence to supervision requirements as outlined in the GMEC Supervision Policy will assist residents and staff to practice in a safe working environment.

Resident Quality of Life

EAMC Family Medicine residency strives to meet the needs of today’s residents. We fully realize that personal and family interests do not cease with the start of residency. In light of this, we acknowledge these needs in the following ways:

• Three weeks’ vacation every year
• Well defined parental leave policies
• Resident support groups that meet weekly during intern year and periodically during the 2nd and 3rd years. These groups serve as a venue to maintain cohesive working relationships and help residents work through the emotional aspects of taking care of patients.
• Faculty class advisors that serve as an advocate to the residency leadership for class needs and initiatives.
• Individual faculty advisors that ensure proper educational progression and serve as individual professional development mentors.

Annual and “off-the-cuff” family friendly social activities 

Annual

• Intern Welcome Party: Every summer we have a big party to welcome the interns and their families to Augusta! There is never a lack of fun to be had!
• Intern Team Building: Every year as the new class arrives our program leaderships takes them out for some fun team building. Whether facing the heights of the high ropes course or trying out the rapids of the Savannah River, our team building event is a great time.
• Chief’s Picnic: This annual event is hosted by our chief residents. We typically hit the pool or volleyball courts with our friends and families to make for a great afternoon together.
• FMC Picnic: This event is a great time with the entire Family Medicine Family. Our RNs, LPNs, MSAs, and other support staff join us for a great time dancing and cooking out with everyone and their families.
• Annual Residency Retreat: This event held annually in September is always a blast. The entire residency (minus the few attendings hanging back to cover the hospital) heads out to a fun location to relax and spend some time unwinding with each other. Some recent retreats have been Gatlinburg, Tennessee, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, and Jekyll Island, Georgia.
• Halloween/ChiliCook Off: This event is a residency favorite. Everyone dresses up in their best Halloween costumes and we typically gather at the home of one of our attendings. The event is great for kids and adults alike. The competition for best chili is fierce and our program director’s wife has some mad chili making skills so watch out.
• Winter Progressive Dinner: Each winter we celebrate with our Progressive Dinner. Several host homes provide delicious dinners for the residents, faculty, and families. Afterwards we do a white elephant gift exchange. It is always a blast and a fun time to dress up have adult time with your Eisenhower family. The highlight is who gets to take home “THE PLATE” the #1 most desired gift that has been passed down from year to year.
• Super Bowl Party: A great night hanging out with friends eating some awesome tailgate food and of course seeing which commercial is going to the best!
• USAFP Alumni Dinner: For the faculty and residents selected to present at our annual chapter meeting of the Uniformed Services Academy of Family Physicians we always enjoy spending a night out to dinner with all of the EAMC Alumni attending the conference. You can get some great dirt on our current attendings from former faculty and residents who know them well!
• FMC Clinic Graduation Luncheon: This is the highlight of the year. This luncheon is held in the clinic with all of the nursing and residency staff to celebrate the graduating residents. We spend the afternoon eating good food and hearing stories from both residents and nursing staff about the experiences they have had together during that resident’s three years of training. It is a great reminder of the “family” we have in Family Medicine.
• Residency Graduation and Awards Banquet: The evening following graduation, all of the residents and their families are invited to a formal banquet to celebrate the graduating residents and the accomplishments of the residency over the last year. It’s a great night to dress fancy and spend time reflecting on the huge gains of another great year!

"Off the Cuff"

• Ultimate Frisbee: Started in 2003, this Thursday afternoon tradition has withstood the test of time. What a great way to get some good Georgia sunshine and toss the disk with some friends! We can be pretty competitive, but this is meant to be an inclusive event for all residents and students who are interested in getting some of the best exercise ever. We even get the faculty out there and take ‘em to school!
• Thursday night “Officers Call”: An informal gathering of residents, faculty, and their families at a local restaurant or someone’s home. Good food, good beverages, and good times. All are invited and we typically do it every week! · Races We have a lot of folks who love to run. Augusta is home of the Augusta 70.3 Ironman Triathlon as well as almost weekly multi-sport races. And with Columbia, Charleston, Atlanta, Savannah, Charlotte, Athens being so close we typically can find a fun race to run on any given weekend!
• Clinic Lunch: The nurses seem to ALWAYS find reasons to celebrate. Birthdays, retirements, or just because they want too are all reasons that we have random parties at work. It makes for a great atmosphere with our awesome nursing staff.
• Cookouts, hangouts, family dinners: There are innumerous “hang-out” times that are thrown together at the last minute for various reasons. Residents and faculty alike open their homes in order to fellowship and break bread. Some of the best memories are made in intimate, small environments.