Curriculum

The SIU Family Medicine Residency Program-Carbondale offers its residents an unopposed residency staffed by full-time medical faculty in an up-to-date community hospital. Our graduates are well trained to practice anywhere, although our particular mission is to prepare our residents for smaller communities. There they may be asked to provide total obstetrical care, to resuscitate newborns, to assist at general surgery, and to manage in a humane and competent manner a range of family medicine problems.

The SIU Family Medicine Residency Program-Carbondale, administered by Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, is associated with Memorial Hospital of Carbondale, a secondary-level community hospital serving Carbondale and the surrounding population. Some tertiary care is also provided here since the nearest university hospitals are in St. Louis, Missouri (100 miles away), and in Springfield, Illinois (180 miles away).

Graduate physicians entering the SIU Family Medicine Residency Program-Carbondale since its inception in 1974 have come from medical schools throughout the United States and abroad. Residents completing the program have entered a variety of practices, including solo and group practices, missionary work, and faculty positions at residency programs. The local region has a strong demand for family physicians; many residents have remained in Southern Illinois.

Program Curriculum

Required rotations for all residents are distributed throughout the three-year program. All residents who are not ACLS certified are required to complete this course within the first six months. Residents have weekly office hours in one or more of the family medicine centers and provide continuity of care to an assigned number of families. Residents also provide periodic teaching of physical exam skills to medical students. Second-year residents are also assigned to geriatric training that consists of following several nursing home patients monthly.

Educational Conferences

Below are the educational conferences that are provided throughout the year.

Weekly Monthly Quarterly Yearly

Didactic (1/2 day)
Scheduled Topics:

  • Journal Club
  • Morbidity and Mortality
  • Assigned Core Topics
  • Balint Group
  • EBM Outpatient
  • Faculty/Community Physician Presentations
  • Chart Rounds
  • FP Essentials
  • Population Health
  • Clinical Data Integration

Sports Medicine Topics

Ethics Training
  Resident Meetings EMR Training Sleep Deprivation
  Core Presentations Practice Management Resident Fatigue and Patient Safety
  Nursing Home Rounds Geriatric Topics  
  Family Medicine Board Review    
  OMT Workshop    


First Year

Family Medicine Clinic
2 half days per week		  
Family Medicine Orientation 1 block
Family Medicine Service (Inpatient) 4 blocks
Night Float 2 blocks
Obstetrics 2 blocks
General Surgery 1 block
Community Medicine/Psychology 1 block
Emergency Department 1 block
Peds (Inpatient) 1 block


Second Year

Family Medicine Clinic
3 half days per week		  
Family Medicine Service (Inpatient) 3 blocks
Pediatrics (Outpatient) 1 block
Pediatrics (Inpatient) 1 block
Sports Medicine/Orthopedics 1 block
Surgery/Ophthalmology 1 block
Radiology/Orthopedics 1 block
Geriatrics 1 block
OBGYN 1 block
Family Medicine Preceptorship and Practice Management 1 block
Ambulatory Care/Practice Management/CQI 1 block
Faculty Development or Elective 1 block


Third Year

Family Medicine Clinic
4 half days per week		  
Family Medicine Service 3 blocks
Electives 4 blocks
Faculty Development (or Elective) 1 block
Emergency Department (Herrin & Carbondale) 1 block
Ambulatory Care / Community Medicine 1 block
Ambulatory Care / Practice Management / CQI 1 block
Dermatology / Practice Management 1 block
GYN 1 block


Available Electives

  • Anesthesiology
  • Cardiology
  • Endocrinology
  • Health Service
  • Hospitalist
  • Maxillofacial and Oral Surgery
  • Neurosurgery
  • Nuclear Medicine
  • Oncology
  • Pathology
  • Physiotherapy
  • Plastic Surgery
  • Radiology
  • Sports Medicine
  • Other advanced medical and surgical subspecialties as approved
  • Away/International Rotations available during 3rd year