In addition, longitudinal aspects of the curriculum over the 36 months of training include behavioral medicine, practice management, cost containment, health screening, environmental and occupational medicine, nutrition, and the care of nursing home patients. The obstetrics curriculum is a key strength of the program. The residents at Valley Medical Center receive a greater variety and more in-depth experiences than residents who train at programs in which they must compete with other residents in training. Due to the quality of the training at Valley Medical Center, University of Washington family medicine residents come to Valley to do a six-week obstetrics rotation and work alongside the VMC residents and attendings. Obstetrics begins at the onset of the program and continues through residency.
Residents work closely with obstetricians, perinatologists, and family physicians.
They typically perform 120-150 vaginal deliveries over the course of training. By the time they graduate, residents will have performed or participated in more deliveries than most other family medicine residents. Also, residents receive nearly daily instruction in the form of obstetric-related didactics from family practice and obstetrical faculty while on rotation. The behavioral medicine curriculum is integrated throughout the program with quarterly seminars for each resident class, collaborative precepting in Focus Clinic, psychiatric consultation and case reviews, scheduled joint diagnostic and counseling interviews, and the option of elective block rotations according to resident interest. Additionally, the behavioral medicine faculty facilitate a support group for the first year class that runs weekly or biweekly throughout the year.