Blackstone Rural Track — St. Francis Family Medicine Residency
The Blackstone program recruits two residents each year. It places particular importance on residents interested in rural medicine. There is a large focus on outpatient procedures that would benefit physicians passionate about providing care to underserved communities.
Being one of the only medical clinics in Blackstone, residents have numerous opportunities to perform procedures like joint injections, colposcopies, LARC insertion and removal, I&Ds, trauma and much more. The clinic is equipped with an ultrasound machine as well as an in-house lab, allowing residents to advance their imaging skills while providing optimal care to their patients.
Residents of this track receive a well-rounded training of both urban and rural medicine, as they complete all their inpatient training at the main St Francis site. Their outpatient training is a hybrid between the main site and Blackstone.
The Blackstone Family Practice clinic is located about one hour from the St. Francis Medical Center in Blackstone, Va., a rural town of 3,400. The clinic provides care to a heavily underserved population.
Program History
The Blackstone Family Medicine Residency Program is more than 50 years old! It was initially founded in 1970. In 2005, the ACGME regulated that all residency programs had to be located within 30 minutes of the admitting hospital, forcing the program to shut down. However, in 2013, the St. Francis Family Medicine Residency Program developed a rural track and restarted training at Blackstone.