Program Aims
Graduating Exceptional Family Physicians
The goal of the Family Medicine Residency is to prepare a group of culturally humble, skilled, and dedicated family physicians for comprehensive primary care practice in rural and frontier northern Arizona. Elk Ridge Community Health has affiliations with A.T. Still University School of Osteopathic Medicine in Arizona, The University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix, and The University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson.
Training at Elk Ridge Community Health
Elk Ridge Community Health serves 10 communities and more than 50,000 patients across northern Arizona.
Our mission is to improve the health of northern Arizona communities through accessible, affordable, quality, and compassionate care. The vision is to be a national leader in delivering excellent healthcare services that improve the lives of patients in the communities we serve.
Elk Ridge Community Health provides a wide range of patient and family-focused health services. Our organization has a very active obstetrics program; our providers deliver more than 50% of newborns in Flagstaff annually. Behavioral medicine and clinical pharmacy are integrated with primary care.
The services offered by Elk Ridge Community Health include:
- Primary Care & Family Medicine
- Pediatrics
- OB/GYN
- Clinical Pharmacy
- Behavioral Health
- Dental Care
- Physical Therapy
- Telemedicine
- HIV and Hepatitis C Care
- Community Outreach Programs
*Services vary by location
Targeted Training in Family Medicine
With a focus on caring for the underserved, our three-year Family Medicine Residency Program offers excellent opportunities for graduate medical trainees to learn the skills needed to become a lifelong competent and compassionate family physician. In addition to a diverse clinical experience in multiple settings, residents also participate in quality improvement projects to improve patient health outcomes.
Residency Program Objectives
Develop competencies in full-spectrum family medicine, rural and underserved primary care, evidence-based practices, and continuous quality improvement.
Prepare skilled family medicine physicians to center the experiences of vulnerable, underserved, and diverse communities in their clinical care and lifelong learning, providing a culturally-responsive approach that emphasizes the social drivers of health and health equity.
- Understand and implement key concepts of population and individual health, informed by community needs and local resources to addresses acute, chronic and preventive care across the lifespan, with a particular focus on rural and Indigenous peoples.
- Foster family medicine leaders in interprofessional, collaborative, and team-based care engaging a patient-centered approach.
- Build skills in primary care leadership and advocacy in the clinical setting and at the local, state and national levels.
- Develop a strong sense of professional purpose and identity as a family physician with a commitment to growth and wellbeing.
Teaching Sites
“Elk Ridge Community Health’s Flagstaff 4th Street location is the main teaching site of the family medicine residency program. With its diverse patient population, it is an ideal setting for learning, coupled with a full service pharmacy, a dental practice, and laboratory services. Other teaching sites include:
Elk Ridge Community Health’s Williams Clinic serves a community of about 3,500 people, located 30 miles west of Flagstaff. Residents participate in urgent care at this site.
Flagstaff Medical Center, a 267-bed community hospital and regional referral medical center, is where the family medicine adult inpatient, newborn care, labor and delivery and surgical experiences are completed.
Kingman Regional Medical Center in the western Arizona city of Kingman, is a 235-bed community hospital and regional medical center where emergency medicine rotations will occur.
Tuba City Regional Healthcare Corporation is an 80-bed general hospital on the Navajo Reservation. Rural rotations are offered here, along with elective rotations.
Banner Children’s at Desert is located in Mesa, Arizona and is the site of 8 weeks of Inpatient Pediatrics and 4 weeks of Pediatric Emergency Department rotations.
Coconino County Public Health Services District, is where residents will complete their community medicine rotation.
Flagstaff Surgical Associates, located in Flagstaff, Arizona is the site of the surgical rotation.
Northern Arizona HealthCare Orthopedics, located in Flagstaff, Arizona is the site of orthopedic and sports medicine rotations.
If you have questions or would like more information, please email us.
Alicia Tsosie, Family Medicine Residency Coordinator