March 27, 2008

Litchfield Family Practice Center Honored by SIU Med School

The Litchfield Family Practice Center and its family practice physicians who serve as preceptor teachers for Southern Illinois University School of Medicine have been honored by SIU’s Department of Family and Community Medicine (FCM).  The physicians have been recognized for the contributions they’ve made in educating its medical students.

Drs. Jerome Epplin, Roger Wujek, Philip Johnson, Tim Ishmael, A. Elaine Fisher and Dan Wujek of Litchfield Family Practice Center have been recognized by the FCM department in Springfield.  The group received a “Center of Excellence” award from SIU for having served as a preceptor site for its School of Medicine since 1977.  SIU is recognizing a handful of sites each year for providing its students with a broad experience in the family medicine specialty and serving as strong models for a good family medicine medical practice.

“The Litchfield physicians and staff have provided an excellent teaching experience for our preceptorship program and have consistently received very favorable student feedback,” says Dr. Amber J. Barnhart, associate professor of family and community medicine.  “We depend on wonderful, experienced physicians like these for opportunities for our students to develop their medical knowledge in an office setting while working under the watchful eye of the supervising physicians.”

Since its beginning in 1981, nearly 2,000 SIU medical students have participated in the program, which is offered by the School’s Department of Family and Community Medicine.

SIU School of Medicine is a public medical school established in 1970 and focused on the health care needs of downstate Illinois.  An international leader in medical education, the school is based in Carbondale and Springfield and is specifically oriented to educating new physicians prepared to practice in Illinois communities.  Since opening, more than 2,100 physicians have graduated from its program.  Its Web site is www.siumed.edu.