Since Cheshire Medical Center's Family Medicine Residency is the first-of-its-kind in our region, we anticipate many questions about receiving care at our Family & Community Care location on Maple Avenue in Keene and how training the next generation of Family Medicine providers will affect our community.
For more information on choosing a Family & Community Care provider, visit choosing a new provider.
What are resident physicians?
Residents are physicians who have graduated from college (four years) and medical school (four years), and are now completing a minimum of three additional years of supervised training and education to prepare for independent practice. Residency training programs, through a rigorous process, are approved by a national accrediting body. Residents have a medical training license and fill the same roles as other healthcare providers, but are supervised by board-certified physicians (also known as attending or faculty physicians).
Family Medicine residents serve as primary care providers; they also see patients in other hospital areas, including Labor and Delivery, the Emergency Department and the medical-surgical hospital units. Family Medicine residents become increasingly independent over their three years of training, but always have a supervising faculty physician.
What are the benefits of seeing a resident physician?
Having a resident physician on your care team is a fantastic experience! Resident physicians are still in training and are eager to learn. Their learning foundation has been the most recent evidence and practices in Family Medicine, and they are driven to stay informed with the newest health information while working toward their board certification. Resident physicians will add a new dimension to care, bringing a diverse set of knowledge and experiences as they continue their training and prepare to become independent providers.
Residents have a smaller panel of patients and, like other members of the care team, are invested in providing high-quality care. They are also overseen and often accompanied by faculty physicians, who are also dedicated to continually advancing their medical knowledge and expertise. Your whole care team may include a combination of providers — residents, faculty physicians and advanced practice providers — which helps you have better access to your team.
How is the Family & Community Care team different than Cheshire's Family Medicine department on Court Street?
Family & Community Care at Maple Avenue is part of Cheshire Medical Center, but distinct from the Family Medicine department at the main Court Street campus. We share electronic medical records, all of which you can access via myDH, but Family & Community Care has different staff, providers (resident physicians, faculty physicians, associate providers) and facilities.
I am a current Court Street Family Medicine patient. How will this affect me?
It may not. Current patients in Cheshire's Family Medicine department on Court Street may elect to become patients with a new provider at the new Family & Community Care or may stay with their current provider. At Family & Community Care, resident physicians, faculty physicians and associate providers will all see patients.