Cheshire Medical Center/Dartmouth Health Family Medicine Residency
We anticipate that Cheshire Medical Center will soon be home to a new Family Medicine Residency training program at 62 Maple Avenue in Keene, NH.
Since this is the first such program in the region, we anticipate many questions about what a residency training site is and how it may affect local medical care — your own care or that of the community. We welcome your questions and will continue to build this section.
Contact ChrisSymonds@Cheshire-Med.com for more information, or direct press inquiries to MBarone@cheshire-med.com.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are resident physicians?
Residents are physicians who have graduated from college (4 years) and medical school (4 years), completing a minimum of an additional three 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 health care providers but are supervised by a board-certified physician (also known as an attending or faculty physician).
Family Medicine residents serve as Primary Care Physicians (PCP); they also see patients in other hospital areas, including Labor and Delivery, the Emergency Department, and the Medical-Surgical hospital units. Family Medicine residents are 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 towards their Board Certification. The residents will add a new dimension to care at Cheshire and will bring 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 associate providers – which helps you always have access to your team.
How is this different than Cheshire Medical Center Family Medicine?
The Family Medicine Residency Clinic at Maple Avenue is scheduled to open in 2023 and will be a part of Cheshire Medical Center, but will be distinct from the Family Medicine department at the Medical Center at 580 Court Street.
We will share electronic medical records, all of which you can also access via myDH, but have different staff, providers (resident physicians, faculty physicians, associate providers), and facilities. Faculty physicians will be the first providers at the clinic, and then residents will start in July 2024.
I am a current Cheshire Family Medicine patient – how will this affect me?
Current patients in the Family Medicine department at Cheshire Medical Center may elect to become patients with a new provider at the new Family Medicine Residency Clinic at 62 Maple Ave or may stay with their current provider. At the Family Medicine Residency Clinic, resident physicians, faculty physicians, and associate providers will all see patients.