Mission

At the NCC Family Medicine Residency, we train and develop outstanding full-scope physician officers equipped to provide joint force leadership in diverse environments.

Vision

The NCC FMR is the ‘it’ program. We demonstrate the model for military family medicine, set the standard for family medicine’s relevance to Defense Health Agency and the Department of Defense, and attract the most talented faculty and residents to do so. We represent the ideal of tri-service, joint learning and teaming, growth and adaptation, inclusion and belonging. We recruit the most socially and culturally diverse resident and faculty team. We build the model for social change in health care outcomes. We exemplify personal wellness and approach our patients with holistic paths to health. We engage in pathways to build a workforce that reflects the population we serve. We develop leaders who practice with curiosity, humility, and vulnerability in pursuit of medical and personal excellence.

Aims

• To develop and graduate full scope family medicine physicians who are ready to provide comprehensive, compassionate patient care to our military members and their dependents in diverse environments worldwide.
• To develop master adaptive learners who are curious and engaged, interested and participating in quality improvement and scholarly activity.
• To develop leaders who are experts in navigating our health system and driving change.
• To recruit, develop and sustain a diverse pipeline of learners and educators who model and reflect the diversity of our nation in all aspects.

Morning report is held every weekday from 7:30 to 8:15 a.m. and is a combination of resident case discussions; faculty and specialist lectures; journal club; wellness, professionalism, and military topics; and advisor or mentoring time. Afternoon didactics occur on Wednesday afternoons. This consists of dedicated intern teaching, interactive workshops, military medicine topics, simulation sessions, board review, and osteopathic didactics. Second and third-year residents help to organize some of these sessions with the assistance of faculty and specialists. Our didactics are organized by our academics committee, consisting of faculty members and second and third-year residents.

• Advanced Obstetrics
• Allergy
• Anesthesiology
• Endocrinology
• Faculty Development
• Geriatrics
• Global Health
• Health Policy
• Leadership
• Military Medicine
• Obstetrics and Gynecology
• Ophthalmology
• Osteopathic Manipulation Treatment
• Otolaryngology
• Pain Medicine
• Pediatrics Subspecialties
• Pulmonary
• Research
• RESET
• Rheumatology
• Sleep
• Sports Medicine
• Urology

The current call schedule has three call shifts.

• PGY1s have two to three 12-hour Saturday/Sunday calls, and one to two 12-hour OB call on Sundays over the course of the year.
• PGY2s and PGY3s have the same, and also a 24-hour OB call one to two times over the course of a year.

As a tri-service residency, we have a military curriculum that contains readiness, leadership, and operational medicine elements from the Air Force, Army, Navy, and Marines. Our military medicine committee consists of faculty and residents from each service; this committee plans monthly reports at least every other month, as well as at least two afternoon didactic sessions per year, on a variety of military topics. We host quarterly service breakfasts where individuals from each service gather in smaller groups for informal discussion on service specific topics and mentorship. Our health systems science and transition to practice curricula also feature military-specific topics, including preparing for deployments, navigating a career in the military, briefing Commanders, and general officer development.

• Basic Life Support
• Advanced Life Support
• Pediatric Advanced Life Support
• Neonatal Resuscitative Program
• Advanced Life Support in Obstetrics
• S.T.A.B.L.E Program
• DOD Opioid Provider Training
• Combat Casualty Care Course/Advanced Trauma Life Support

While we do not feature a formal leadership curriculum, leadership lessons and mentoring play a large part in our military, didactics, and residents as educators curricula. We have dedicated leadership didactic sessions and speak regularly about what it means to be a physician leader. As the only dedicated residency program in the medical center, our residents have leadership opportunities throughout the hospital. Our PGY 2 and PGY3 residents hold positions on program, clinic, hospital, and regional level committees, and several of our residents and faculty have also held leadership positions on national-level organizations and committees.

While we do not feature a formal leadership curriculum, leadership lessons and mentoring play a large part in our military, didactics, and residents as educators curricula. We have dedicated leadership didactic sessions and speak regularly about what it means to be a physician leader. As the only dedicated residency program in the medical center, our residents have leadership opportunities throughout the hospital. Our PGY 2 and PGY3 residents hold positions on program, clinic, hospital, and regional level committees, and several of our residents and faculty have also held leadership positions on national-level organizations and committees.

Our residents are required to complete at least one practice improvement/quality improvement (PI/QI) and one scholarly project throughout their time in residency. Most of our residents far exceed this expectation. ATAMMC holds an annual research symposium, in which our residents our encouraged to participate; in 2024, our resident researchers won both first and third places in the poster competition. We also have a very high showing at the Uniformed Services Academy of Family Physicians (USAFP) annual meeting every year, with residents and faculty regularly selected to lead didactic sessions, deliver podium presentations, and present posters.

Every resident is required to engage in process improvement and quality improvement projects by their second year of training and must involve at least one faculty in their project. Our residents, faculty and nurses are actively involved in multiple ongoing process improvement (PI) / quality improvement (QI) projects within the clinic and in collaboration with other departments within the hospital. Time for these initiatives is carved out for the teams to meet on 3rd Wednesdays when clinics are closed. Several residents develop PI/QI projects that go on to inform clinical practice changes and have the opportunity to present their projects at the Hospital Research Day which occurs in the Spring and at other conferences nationwide. Some prior projects include: lung cancer screening initiative (done in collaboration with pulmonology), Military Sick Call run by senior residents and faculty, Improving access to contraceptive care through a weekly faculty run walk-in clinic, improving wait times for minor procedures by transitioning integrative pain management to a dedicated pain management clinic allowing residents to have richer learning opportunities in both areas.

Developing military leaders is a very important area of focus for our residency and has been intentionally woven into several areas of the longitudinal residency curriculum.

• Every resident is required to enter a patient safety report using the hospital reporting system during their first year of training.
• Every resident is required to present a case that reflects on the topic of professionalism and lead a discussion on the topic during morning report in their second year of training.
• Our military medicine curriculum addresses officership and provides residents with practical experience via team-based simulations and objective structured clinical exams (OSCE).
• Each resident is assigned an advisor at the beginning of their training and time is dedicated at least quarterly for meetings to ensure training requirements are being met and professional development is being nurtured. Additionally, every resident is encouraged to find a professional mentor by the mid-point of their internship year.
• Our Reflective Practice curriculum allows residents and faculty to meet every other month to discuss specific topics and share experiences relevant to professional development and identity as a family medicine physician. Some previously discussed topics include Uncertainty, Medical Errors, Death and grief, Imposter Syndrome, Bias in Medicine.
• Our residents may opt to participate in a RESET elective where they are assigned a faculty coach to address a specific area of personal and professional development. The duration of the rotation may vary depending on the focus and intent.

Inova Fairfax Hospital

We invite you to come learn about family medicine and our program during a 3rd or 4th year Family Medicine rotation! We have specifically designed our family medicine rotations to meet medical school requirements for a clerkship or sub-internship, while also offering elective days to meet the interests of each student doctor. During your rotation, you can expect to learn full-spectrum family medicine in the outpatient clinic, minor procedure clinic, geriatric clinic, Osteopathic manipulation treatment clinic, labor and delivery, and in the inpatient setting.

If you would like to arrange a rotation, please email the medical student email box at: dha.belvoir.fbch.mbx.medical-students@health.mil. We will respond with a .pdf form to complete that will request information on demographics, rotation type and dates of the rotation. Please be prepared to offer alternative dates as rotations are first come, first served. After confirmation from our department, your request will be forwarded to the hospital’s GME department. Please ensure to respond to the requests for information from the GME department. Your rotation is not official un􀆟l the GME department sends confirmation.

To set up a medical student rotation or an interview for a residency position, please send an email request to: dha.belvoir.fbch.mbx.medical-students@health.mil. Interviews can be in-person or virtual.

Program graduates take the American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM). Osteopathic residents have the option to take the American Osteopathic Board of Family Physicians (AOBFP) board exam. The ABFM board is offered bi-annually, and the AOBFP exam is offered annually with an additional option of taking the early entry initial certification. To become fully board certified by the ABFM, applicants are eligible to take board certification exam in the spring if graduating before October 31, or in the fall if graduating after October 31. To be eligible to take specialty board exams, graduates must complete all pre-requisites required by the ABFM, which can be found at https://www.theabfm.org/become-certified/pathways/resident/. To become fully board certified by the AOBFP, applicants must meet the pre-requisites found at https://certification.osteopathic.org/family-physicians/certification-process/family-medicine/. Boards must be taken within the calendar year of graduation and are usually taken during residency.

• Third-year residents are invited to apply for the USUHS Faculty Development rotation, with two or three selected most years.
• A Residents as Educators symposium is held twice each year, delivering dedicated workshops on faculty and leadership development topics.

Our residents have the opportunity to teach 3rd and 4th year medical students from USUHS, George Washington University, and the HPSP program. These teaching opportunities occur in clinic, on the inpatient team, and on labor and delivery. Physician's Assistant and midwifery students also rotate through these areas and benefit from our residents teaching.

• Geriatrics
• Obstetrics
• Pediatrics
• Faculty Development
• Sports Medicine
• Lifestyle Medicine

Each arriving intern is paired with a current resident to help ease the transition process to residency. Residents are also assigned formal advisors and are required to identify additional faculty mentors. Residents are given time during morning report to meet with their advisors, associate program directors, or service-specific faculty for mentoring sessions.

Residents and faculty work together on our JAM (Joy and Meaning) and Social Committees to organize both formal and informal discussions and events dedicated to personal and program wellness. We also have regular Reflective Practice discussions to think about and share our experiences as physicians and as individuals.