UW Preventive Medicine Residency Program Strategic Education Grant

When I went into pediatrics, I knew I wanted to find a way to help people beyond the clinic. The residency has inspired my work around the disparities in African American birth outcomes, and has helped me find innovative methods of health promotion and community engagement to reach people more broadly.

– Jasmine Zapata, MD, MPH (PMR graduate)

At a Glance

Wisconsin’s evolving healthcare needs require that physicians are well trained to care for patients as well as able to understand the health needs of the populations and communities they serve.

Through the UWSMPH Preventive Medicine Residency Program – Wisconsin’s only accredited Preventive Medicine Residency Program – graduates are uniquely trained in population-based approaches to medicine and well-prepared for careers and leadership in local, state and federal health agencies as well as in health systems and community-based organizations.

The Challenge

To meet Wisconsin’s evolving healthcare needs, future health professionals must be well trained and prepared to care for individual patients as well as communities and populations. This can be accomplished in part by training physicians across the full spectrum of healthcare and public health.

Project Goals

The UW SMPH Preventive Medicine Residency was established in 2014 with funding from the Wisconsin Partnership Program. In this funding period, the Preventive Medicine Residency (PMR) had three main aims:

1. Recruit and train two residents/year in an Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education (ACGME)-accredited PMR Program
2. Assess and improve the quality of the residency training program
3. Obtain extramural funding for resident salaries and program leadership and administration

Results

The Preventive Medicine Residency achieved its aims including:

• becoming a nationally recognized Preventive Medicine Residency Program with full ten-year ACGME accreditation
• performed continuous quality improvement, adding to the Preventive Medicine Program faculty and improving the weekly grand rounds curriculum
• obtained extramural funding from the American Cancer Society to support two resident stipends each year

Since 2014, it successfully recruited six successive cohorts of 2 residents per year, representing a diverse background in terms of education, training and personal history.

Looking to the Future

The PMR seeks to establish long-term sustainability by broadening funding sources and applying for extramural funding. The Wisconsin Partnership Program renewed its support of the Preventive Medicine Residency with a renewed strategic education grant that will allow the PMR to build upon its existing successes.

Lasting Impact

The program has a 100 percent board passage rate to date, with graduates of the first three residency cohorts all successfully obtaining board-certification in General Preventive Medicine and Public Health. Three graduates are now on UW SMPH faculty or in career development programs at the University of Wisconsin, supporting its transformation to an integrated school of medicine and public health.