University of Arizona College of Medicine - Phoenix-Payson Program

Program Identity & Fit

This is a newly established rural training track sponsored by the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix, based at Banner Payson Medical Center, a critical access hospital serving a large rural catchment area of the Mogollon Rim region. The program is explicitly mission-driven toward training family physicians for resource-limited rural practice, with residents spending the majority (over 50%, per ACGME rural-track structure) of training in Payson and roughly a third of curriculum at the established Banner–University Family Medicine Residency in Phoenix for breadth and volume. Its structure emphasizes full-spectrum rural scope of practice: obstetrics and L&D with C-section training option, surgical first assist, stabilization and transport, sports medicine, and small class size (2 residents/year) enabling intensive 1:1 faculty teaching. Research infrastructure exists at the college level but is not positioned as a program-defining feature; the emphasis is squarely on procedural competence and independent, rural full-spectrum practice readiness.