Thank you for your interest in the Deaconess Medical Center Transitional Residency. We are a small, friendly, community based program with eight residents per year. Deaconess is a tertiary referral hospital offering comprehensive care not only to our local population but also to a large referral base throughout the Inland Northwest. Being a community based program we are able to offer many things that larger programs cannot. For example, our primary mission in having a medical education program is to provide a real world learning environment for physicians who will be practicing medicine in that real world. While our faculty is actively involved in research, they are first and foremost clinicians who have chosen to share their passion through teaching. The faculty is dedicated to patient care and to medical education. We strive to provide you with a broad, balanced experience that will serve as a foundation for whatever your future holds whether that be a career in anesthesia, emergency medicine, radiology, ophthalmology, dermatology, physiatry, or internal/family medicine. While we believe that a broad experience is necessary for all physicians, we try to offer flexibility so residents can pursue individual areas of interest. The clinical experience here is comprised of one-on-one relationships with faculty on many rotations, as well as the classic team approach involving medical students, interns and senior residents on other services. Didactic conferences, teaching rounds and journal club complement the clinical experience. Our graduates report that their technical skills, knowledge base, and patient management skills meet or exceed those of their fellow residents. They feel that their year at Deaconess Medical Center has prepared them well for their future careers.

We hope that you will take the time to come visit Deaconess Medical Center and Spokane. I think you will be surprised by what you find: a cohesive group of happy residents and a great environment for medical education. Combining these attributes with Spokane’s mild four-season climate and tremendous recreational opportunities will make your year with us a memorable one.

Darryl Potyk, MD, FACP
Director of Medical Education
Director, Deaconess Transitional Residency Program
Deaconess Medical Center, Spokane, WA