Virginia Commonwealth University Health System Program

Program Identity & Fit

This is a newly launched (inaugural class 2024) rural track family medicine residency that pairs a community-based, "by the community, for the community" hospital in South Hill, Virginia with the tertiary academic infrastructure of VCU Health in Richmond. The 4-4-4 program structures training geographically: PGY-1 occurs in Richmond with rotations at the Level 1 trauma tertiary center and the urban underserved Hayes E. Willis Health Center, while PGY-2/PGY-3 shift entirely to Community Memorial Hospital, a small rural hospital serving a medically underserved Southside Virginia population with documented health disparities. The curriculum is explicitly built around whole-person, community-embedded care, with longitudinal threads in social determinants of health, global health, and DEI, plus a three-year community-based scholarship project culminating in a public poster presentation, quality improvement work, and a dedicated public health/community-needs rotation. The program values adaptability and personalized training plans, explicitly supporting trajectories ranging from independent rural practice to academic research/physician-scientist paths, and draws on the department's established ACORN practice-based research network for scholarship mentorship.