Kootenai Health Program

Program Identity & Fit

Kootenai Health is an unopposed, community-based family medicine residency in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho — the only FM program in North Idaho — affiliated with the University of Washington Family Medicine Residency Network, blending academic structure with regional health-system practice. The curriculum is explicitly rural-ready and full-spectrum, covering obstetrics, inpatient medicine, pediatrics, emergency medicine, behavioral health, sports medicine, and POCUS, with named individualized pathways (Advanced OB, Rural Intensive, Ambulatory Medicine, Inpatient Adult Medicine, Emergency Medicine) and a post-residency Rural Health Fellowship emphasizing critical-access hospital, EM, and ICU training. Scholarly work is pathway-linked rather than institution-wide (e.g., Rural Intensive Pathway requires a rural-health scholarly project and conference presentation), signaling research as a directed tool for rural practice rather than a core research mission. The program frames itself around producing broad-spectrum physicians ready to serve growing, underserved, and rural Inland Northwest communities, valuing adaptability, community leadership, and progressive procedural autonomy over subspecialized academic ambition.