Program Director's Welcome

With great excitement, I welcome you to the Rush-Copley Family Medicine Residency Program.   For most of us, the career choice of Family Medicine is one that flows from the heart.   My vivid memory of the first days of my own Family Medicine clerkship as a third year medical student is one of coming home.  “Yes, this is what I had in mind” was the voice I heard.  If we are fortunate to have you visit us, we hope you hear that same refrain. 

Residency is a time of tremendous personal and educational growth, the joy of accomplishment and significant stress.   It is our desire for you to experience this time in a supportive, caring environment. Your faculty and fellow residents will assist you in the development of skills to be an effective clinician and “coach” in the examining room and a strong leader and patient advocate in your community.   We also believe in having fun in the process.  At Rush-Copley these philosophies provide a basis for sending you off on the path to create a career that makes a contribution to individuals and communities while also allowing you to achieve personal life balance for lasting career satisfaction.   

As a medical student you may have been somewhat isolated from some of the ways in which the practice of medicine has been experiencing significant change.  While you are likely aware of the malpractice crisis, the issue of the uninsured and the need to grow our electronic capabilities in healthcare, you may be less knowledgeable of the Future of Family Medicine Report, the To Err is Human Report and Crossing the Quality Chasm.  Each of these documents provides a slightly different view of the ways in which medical practice must undergo fundamental change to best serve the needs of our population.  Both a solid clinical knowledge base and insight into process design to support excellent clinical care are essential for the Family Physician of the new era. Both the core clinical knowledge elements of Family Medicine and these reports guide our curriculum design at Rush-Copley.

With physician job dissatisfaction at an all time high at 18%, we also believe that caring for one’s self is another vital skill that must be nutured in the residency environment.   By helping you learn skills to create a practice that meets the needs of your patients and also supports your own job and life satisfaction, we believe that our mission is fulfilled. 

Carrie Nelson, MD, MS
Program Director, Rush-Copley Family Medicine Residency Program
Assistant Professor, Rush Medical College