West Virginia University Program

Program Identity & Fit

WVU's Family and Community Medicine Residency is a university-affiliated program built explicitly around the health needs of rural, elderly, and economically disadvantaged West Virginians, with clinical training spanning primary care sites, a nursing home, hospice, Ruby Memorial Hospital, and community practices across the state. Research is structurally embedded through a Practice-Based Research Network, a dedicated Vice Chair of Research, a Director of Resident Research, and support from the Clinical and Translational Science Institute, giving residents access to faculty-mentored scholarship beyond typical resident projects. The program offers longitudinal focus tracks (Addiction Medicine, Academic Medicine, Geriatrics, Maternal Child Care, Ultrasound, Sports Medicine) that let residents build fellowship- or practice-relevant expertise while training as comprehensive primary care physicians. Its stated mission - training primary care physician leaders for rural and underserved populations while safeguarding against burnout - signals a program that values residents committed to rural/community service and longitudinal skill-building over narrow subspecialization.