Residents

Our residents are phenomenal! Moreover, they have an inherent desire to balance their intensive training with commitments to family and friends. Well roundedness is encouraged at all levels in our residency. Our residents matriculate from all over the country bringing with them a unique set of talents that are fostered in a “family” environment. This close-knit atmosphere provides ample room to grow individually while encouraging residents to give back to the program that gave them so much.

Resident Quality of Life

EAMC Family Medicine residency strives to meet the needs of today’s residents. We fully realize that personal and family interests do not cease with the start of residency. In light of this, we acknowledge these needs in the following ways:

• Three weeks’ vacation every year
• Well defined maternity and paternity leave policies
• Resident support groups that meet weekly during intern year and periodically during the 2nd and 3rd years. These groups serve as a venue to maintain cohesive working relationships and help residents work through the emotional aspects of taking care of patients
• Faculty class advisors that serve as an advocate to the residency leadership for class needs and initiatives
• Individual faculty advisors that ensure proper educational progression and serve as individual professional development mentors

A multitude of annual and “off-the-cuff” social activities that are very family friendly

Annual

• Intern Welcome Party: Every summer we have a big party to welcome the interns and their families to Augusta! There is never a lack of fun to be had!
• Intern Team Building: Every year as the new class arrives our program leaderships takes them out for some fun team building. Whether facing the heights of the high ropes course or trying out the rapids of the Savannah River, our team building event is a great time.
• Chief’s Picnic: This annual event is hosted by our chief residents. We typically hit the pool or volleyball courts with our friends and families to make for a great afternoon together.
• FMC Picnic: This event is a great time with the entire Family Medicine Family. Our RNs, LPNs, MSAs, and other support staff join us for a great time dancing and cooking out with everyone and their families.
• Annual Residency Retreat: This event held annually in September is always a blast. The entire residency (minus the few attendings hanging back to cover the hospital) heads out to a fun location to relax and spend some time unwinding with each other. Some recent retreats have been Gatlinburg, Tennessee, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, and Jekyll Island, Georgia.
• Halloween/ChiliCook Off: This event is a residency favorite. Everyone dresses up in their best Halloween costumes and we typically gather at the home of one of our attendings. The event is great for kids and adults alike. The competition for best chili is fierce and our program director’s wife has some mad chili making skills so watch out.
• Winter Progressive Dinner: Each winter we celebrate with our Progressive Dinner. Several host homes provide delicious dinners for the residents, faculty, and families. Afterwards we do a white elephant gift exchange. It is always a blast and a fun time to dress up have adult time with your Eisenhower family. The highlight is who gets to take home “THE PLATE” the #1 most desired gift that has been passed down from year to year.
• Super Bowl Party: A great night hanging out with friends eating some awesome tailgate food and of course seeing which commercial is going to the best!
• USAFP Alumni Dinner: For the faculty and residents selected to present at our annual chapter meeting of the Uniformed Services Academy of Family Physicians we always enjoy spending a night out to dinner with all of the EAMC Alumni attending the conference. You can get some great dirt on our current attendings from former faculty and residents who know them well!
• FMC Clinic Graduation Luncheon: This is the highlight of the year. This luncheon is held in the clinic with all of the nursing and residency staff to celebrate the graduating residents. We spend the afternoon eating good food and hearing stories from both residents and nursing staff about the experiences they have had together during that resident’s three years of training. It is a great reminder of the “family” we have in Family Medicine
• Residency Graduation and Awards Banquet: The evening following graduation, all of the residents and their families are invited to a formal banquet to celebrate the graduating residents and the accomplishments of the residency over the last year. It’s a great night to dress fancy and spend time reflecting on the huge gains of another great year!

"Off the Cuff"

• Ultimate Frisbee -Started in 2003, this Thursday afternoon tradition has withstood the test of time. What a great way to get some good Georgia sunshine and toss the disk with some friends! We can be pretty competitive, but this is meant to be an inclusive event for all residents and students who are interested in getting some of the best exercise ever. We even get the faculty out there and take ‘em to school!
• Thursday night “Officers Call” -An informal gathering of residents, faculty, and their families at a local restaurant or someone’s home. Good food, good beverages, and good times. All are invited and we typically do it every week!
• Races We have a lot of folks who love to run. With Columbia, Charleston, Atlanta, Savannah, Charlotte, Athens, and of course Augusta nearby we typically can find a fun race to run on any given weekend!
• Clinic Lunch: The nurses seem to ALWAYS find reasons to celebrate. Birthdays, retirements, or just because they want too are all reasons that we have random parties at work. It makes for a great atmosphere with our awesome nursing staff.
• Cookouts, hangouts, family dinners -There are innumerous “hang-out” times that are thrown together at the last minute for various reasons. Residents and faculty alike open their homes in order to fellowship and break bread. Some of the best memories are made in intimate, small environments.

Our Faculty

Our faculty boast numerous accomplishments both in and out of the residency. But what is even more impressive is their commitment to drop everything and teach you anything, anytime, anywhere. They will serve as outstanding advisors, desirable role models, and indelible mentors. Students continuously rate their experience at EAMC among the very best rotations with the impressive faculty at the forefront of their comments.

We have over 20 board-certified faculty who are both active duty and civilian physicians. Many of our military and civilian faculty have been deployed to various worldwide locations giving them first-hand experience of the challenges and joys of military medicine. Our civilian faculty, who nearly all have prior military service, give stability to a teaching environment that is not immune to the high deployment tempo of their military colleagues (we like to call them “sabbaticals”). All military residency programs must answer this challenge. This is our answer.

The large number of faculty not only affords copious practice styles in which to observe and emulate but also gives us the unique position of allowing nearly 1:1 resident/faculty academic advising and mentoring. We feel that this provides a more personal atmosphere of professional development. Fellowship trained faculty abound with 1 sports medicine, 1 obstetrical, and 5 faculty development fellows. We also have 3 pediatricians on our teaching faculty and one med-peds faculty member which help offer even more perspectives for our residents to learn from.