Mountain Vista Medical Center Family Medicine Residency Program

Mountain Vista Medical Center Family Medicine Residency

The Mountain Vista Family Medicine Residency is a suburban, community hospital-based program, and our mission is to train learners from diverse backgrounds into world class physicians who will provide evidence-based, high-quality care, who will be passionate about caring for patients and partnering with them on their health, and who will be lifelong learners. We hold firm to the idea that each patient is made up of mind, body, and spirit, and the three are interrelated to compose a person’s health.

While our program focuses on preparing for life in an outpatient setting, there are plenty of opportunities to train in the inpatient realm. We provide a supportive learning environment, and faculty who are genuinely interested in helping you grow in your personal and professional life.

Graduates of the Mountain Vista FM program typically practice in an urban/suburban environment and boast a first time 100% pass rate on their Family Medicine Boards since the inception of the program. We are a former AOA program with ACGME initial accreditation pursuing continuing accreditation and osteopathic recognition.

Our Mission

The Mountain Vista Family Medicine Residency Program strives to foster an educational environment conducive to training learners from diverse backgrounds and develop them into independent and excellent family physicians highly skilled in providing comprehensive and patient-centered care. Our residents are trained specifically to meet the needs of the community in the east valley of the Phoenix metro area.

Program Aims

Provide Excellent Family Medicine Teaching Leading to Graduates Who are World Class Physicians
Integrate Technology and Evidence-Based Medicine into All Aspects of the Curriculum
Provide High-Quality, Compassionate Patient Care for Our Local Population
Encourage and Model an Environment of Active Inquiry to Produce Physicians Who Can Adapt to an Ever-Changing Medical Landscape
Ensure That Core Competencies Are Cornerstones of Teaching Strategies

Program Director

Benjamin Ihms, DO

Program Director’s Welcome

Welcome and thank you for your interest in the Mountain Vista Family Medicine Residency Program! I believe these are exciting times to be a physician. Medicine is constantly changing and now, more than ever, the world needs excellent family medicine physicians. Should you end up training with us here in sunny Mesa, Arizona, you will find caring and brilliant faculty who will mentor you, strong residents who will support and encourage you, and a supportive institution that really values you. We work in a beautiful and happy environment with friendly people and great views of the Phoenix Valley. As the residency program director, my goal is for your education to be excellent in every facet. I strive to provide a learning environment in which you can reach your maximum potential as a family physician. You will be stretched, but together we will grow both professionally and personally.

Dr. Ihms is board certified in Family Medicine/OMT. He is passionate about mental health, sports medicine, weight loss, and diabetes. But really, he loves all aspects of medicine. Got a giant abscess that needs draining? Bring it on. Cholesterol is out of control? Let’s go. Feeling bad about some toenail fungus? He’s ready. Medicine is his passion. His other love is education, and he was previously a high school and junior high teacher and taught math, English, and orchestra. Being a program director is a wonderful combination of medicine and education, and he loves what he gets to do every day. As far as his personal life goes, he married his high school sweetheart, who is strong, talented, and gorgeous, and they have three children who are all above average, and he has two dogs – a beautiful Rhodesian ridgeback and a mini labradoodle who looks like a mop. When not doing medicine, teaching, or hanging out with his family, he plays nerdy board games, basketball, and his latest passion is solving Escape Rooms.

Scope of Training

Family Medicine Residents will undergo training and provide patient care in both broad hospital training and continuity of care for patients of all age groups, and residents are expected to adapt their skills to fit the needs of the community. Training is provided for common procedures in the outpatient setting including joint injections, vaginal deliveries, cryotherapy, osteopathic manipulation, biopsies, IUD insertion and removal, suturing, and toenail removal. Residents will learn to interpret EKGs, spirometry, and laboratory studies. Additionally, they will train to provide acute, chronic, and preventative medical care encompassing the broad scope of Family Medicine.

Resident training is guided by the ACGME six core competencies: Medical Knowledge, Patient Care and Procedural Skills, Interpersonal & communication Skills, Professionalism, Patient Based Learning & Improvement, and Systems Based Practice.

Training at Mountain Vista Medical Center includes the following specializations over 36 months:

CORE TRAINING:

Continuity Clinic
Hospital Medicine/Subspecialty Medicine
Pediatrics (inpatient & outpatient)
Geriatrics
OB/GYN & Women’s Health
Community Medicine
Sports Medicine
Emergency Medicine
Surgery
Diagnostic Imaging
Dermatology
Osteopathic Medicine
Electives (Heme/Onc, Wound Care, Podiatry, Nephrology, Hospice, Urology, and more)

Curriculum

We follow the standard ACGME curriculum for family medicine residency programs. Furthermore, we are known for our strong didactics which occur every Thursday afternoon and include hands-on workshops, case conferences, and board review. We incorporate quarterly osteopathic training provided by Midwestern University faculty. Residents also participate in monthly tumor board and grand rounds.

Didactic Curriculum:

Board review
Core Family Medicine Topic Review
Procedure workshops
Journal Club
OMT
Obstetrics
Women’s health
Pediatrics
Practice Management
Mental Health
Wilderness/Sports Medicine
Grand Rounds
Tumor Boards
Morbidity and Mortality
AAFP review
Clinical Cases

The majority of the rotational experiences are provided at Mountain Vista Medical Center, or ambulatory clinics located nearby. The majority of the pediatric experiences are provided through Phoenix Children’s Hospital.

Ambulatory Continuity Clinic

Resident trainees will be scheduled in the ambulatory continuity clinic for a half-day as a PGY-1, two half days as a PGY-2, and two full days as a PGY-3. Trainees will each develop their own panel of patients who they will follow throughout the three years of residency. The residency continuity clinic is conveniently located immediately adjacent to Mountain Vista Medical Center.

Rotation Block Schedule

Blocks	PGY1	PGY2	PGY3
Block 1	Anesthesia/Radiology	Internal Medicine Block Nights	Elective
Block 2	Internal Medicine Block Nights	Elective	Elective
Block 3	Cardiology	Emergency Medicine	ENT/FM
Block 4	Emergency Medicine	Family Medicine/Outpatient	Family Medicine/Outpatient
Block 5	Family Medicine Outpatient	Family Medicine/Outpatient	Family Medicine Inpatient
Block 6	Family Medicine Outpatient	Family Medicine Inpatient	Family Medicine Inpatient
Block 7	Family Medicine Inpatient	Family Medicine Inpatient	Family Medicine Inpatient
Block 8	Family Medicine Inpatient	Neurology	Geriatrics/Geriatric Psychiatry
Block 9	General Surgery	Obstetrics	Gynecology
Block 10	Intensive Care Unit	Pediatric Newborn	Health Systems Management
Block 11	Obstetrics	Pediatric UC	Pediatric ER
Block 12	Pediatric Outpatient	Sports Medicine	Pediatric Outpatient

Benefits & Resources

Salary & Benefits

Program	2023-2024 Salary	PTO/Wellness Days
PGY1	$62,610	15/5
PGY2	$64,525	15/5
PGY3	$67,335	15/5

Education Funds

Education Funds	$1000
Research allowance	$675
Conference Travel	$1500

Uniform Allowance

$80

Insurance Offered

Health Insurance	Employee Assistance Program
Dental Insurance	Disability Insurance
Vision Insurance	Professional Liability

Paid Dues & Fees

ABFM
ACOFP
COMLEX level 3 or USMLE 3
Arizona Medical Board Training Permit for each year of training
Medical Board License

Educational Resources

MWU:
24-hour library access with professional librarian
State of the art simulation Center
AMA GME competency-based online modules
CANVAS distance education modules
Well-being Index
Rosh Review
Behavioral Health
Scholalry/Research support
IRB/Statistician

Participating Sites

Phoenix Children’s Hospital

Resident Composites