The Wesley Family Medicine Residency Program graduates full-spectrum family physician leaders who provide high-quality, cost-effective, compassionate healthcare in communities of every size and location.
Our program is founded on six core principles originally described by the residency’s founder, G. Gayle Stephens, MD:
A Family Physician is a technically competent, autonomous professional.
A Family Physician considers the whole person, not simply an isolated symptom, disease state or organ system.
A Family Physician must be exposed during his/her education to a model family medicine practice to learn the virtues of wisdom, honesty and judgement.
A Family Physician cannot be trained solely in the ambulatory environment; rather, he/she must be competent in hospital care of adults and children, obstetric and intensive care.
A Family Physician must be trained with a formalized curriculum in behavioral and mental health.
A Family Physician must be reflective about him/herself. If the physician is often the therapeutic agent of greatest consequence then it becomes imperative that he/she learn his/her assets, liabilities, foibles and idiosyncrasies.
The University of Kansas School of Medicine-Wichita Family Medicine Residency at Wesley Medical Center strives to:
Most people from outside Wichita don’t know much about our wonderful city. For instance, did you know we have been named by Forbes and Money magazines as one of the best cities to live in the United States?
There are so many activities to enjoy in our city, regardless of your interests or personality, whether you’re single or have a family – we’re sure you’ll be happy here.
Wichita is a young, diverse city with a rapidly developing downtown and commerce districts. This makes for both excellent medical training and a great place to be when you’re not at work. Explore some of the links below, but also feel free to explore our city on your own, on Google or in person, and find out what we already know – Wichita is simply a wonderful place to live!
Wesley Family Medicine provides a curriculum that is broad-based, flexible and offers a number of electives to tailor residency training to residents' particular interests. Faculty have helped residents tailor their curriculum to include emphases in advanced maternity care, sports medicine, the provision of care to patients with HIV, global health and disaster response, among others. Residents can get the training and achieve the confidence needed to practice in whatever setting they desire.
All Wesley Family Medicine residents receive and maintain certification in the following courses:
See attached for 2023-2024 Curriculum List.
Wesley has the largest emergency department in Kansas and serves as a regional referral center with Level 1 trauma certification. It is also home to Kansas’ only Pediatric Emergency Department. Residents work alongside emergency medicine attendings and spend time as upper-levels, helping to perform procedures and stabilize and manage critical patients.
To make sure residents have time to orient to their new duties, their first rotation is dedicated to learning the ropes. Residents are introduced to the hospital system, community resources, the ins and outs of the Family Medicine Center, and get to start caring for their own patients. The new residents attend didactic and clinical education sessions and receive training and certification in ALSO and NRP. During this July rotation, all call shifts are double-covered (with two senior residents) to assist the new PGY1s with their transition.
First-year residents spend, on average, two half days per week seeing their own patients at the Wesley Family Medicine Center.
Residents evaluate and do work-ups on acute surgical emergencies and participate in surgeries and consultations. Operative experience is tailored to each resident’s interests. Residents gain experience in colonoscopy and EGD and in procedures like casting, suturing, splinting, and lumbar punctures. Residents also run codes, including intubation, when necessary.
Residents spend two rotations as a member of the Wesley Family Medicine Inpatient Service. Residents run codes, perform inpatient procedures and attend regular didactic attending rounds. They also round on their patients, including pediatric, adult and intensive-care-unit patients. Residents provide primary patient management, and attending physicians are present to support and teach. This rotation allows residents to greatly enhance their ICU medicine knowledge.
Working under the supervision of experienced OB and family medicine attendings allows residents to improve their skills and gain autonomy. WFM residents take care of the majority of patients delivering at Wesley’s Birth Care Center, and residents are expected to perform as primary surgeon on C-sections and to manage high-risk labors. Wesley Family Medicine also partners with Wichita’s HealthCore Clinic to provide OB care to the unemployed, underinsured and underserved persons in central Kansas and to give residents the opportunity to manage more OB cases.
While on the Newborn portion of the rotation, the family medicine resident admits and receives all newborns. Residents care for these newborns and special care nursery babies, with an emphasis on gaining experience in the rapid treatment of infants needing further support or intervention. Teaching rounds and didactics are provided regularly by the pediatric faculty, and residents receive training in circumcision techniques.
During the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) portion of the rotation, residents spend time attending consults and becoming knowledgeable in the assessment of maternal and infant risk factors and the appropriateness of transfer to a facility with a greater level of care. Working with the neonatology team, residents learn how to evaluate a complicated or premature delivery; to rapidly assess, stabilize and manage preterm, term or complicated infants; and participate in resuscitations upon delivery.
During each two-week PGY1 night-shift experience, residents will work up to five consecutive in-house call shifts, from 5:30 p.m. to 7 a.m. PGY1 residents work under the direct or indirect-but-directly-available supervision of a PGY2 or PGY3 resident, as well as the indirect (but immediately available for direct) supervision of a faculty member. During each shift, the resident will admit, evaluate, manage and care for ill adults, ill children and maternity care patients.
Residents will undertake a self-study course in preparation for the successful completion of the USMLE or COMLEX series, including meeting with a testing coach on examination strategies and completing a study/prep plan, CME, and practice tests. Residents will continue to participate in their own continuity clinic and family medicine call schedule during this rotation as well.
In addition to the longitudinal experience in the Family Medicine Center, residents are required to complete two block rotations dedicated to the ambulatory care of children. One block, Outpatient Pediatrics-1, is a required rotation in the PGY1 year and focuses on general, ambulatory concerns.
PGY1 residents complete two rotations on Wesley Medical Center’s very busy and diverse pediatric inpatient service where they are supervised by pediatric faculty. Family medicine residents respond to all pediatric code blues and work in Wesley’s state-of-the-art PICU. This rotation also allows residents to care for great numbers of pediatric oncology patients, as Wichita serves as a rural reference source for adult and pediatric oncology patients.
Residents will care for patients in various venues such as the clinic, inpatient acute care unit, nursing home and skilled nursing unit (SNU). They participate in interdisciplinary team meetings, hospice care and home visits. Residents also complete a reading list and an ABFM Knowledge Self-Assessment (KSA) related to care of the elderly.
Though all residents spend several half days each week caring for their continuity patients, the Family Medicine Center rotations are dedicated solely to caring for patients in the ambulatory environment and enhancing the resident’s understanding of practice management concepts. Residents will see patients each half day in the Wesley Family Medicine Center, which may include caring for patients from their own continuity panel, in one of the specialty clinics, in the nursing home or caring for patients being seen for acute visits.
Second-year residents spend, on average, three half days seeing their own patients at the Wesley Family Medicine Center.
Wesley Family Medicine is proud to be one of the few residencies in the nation that sets aside an entire block rotation dedicated to preparing soon-to-be graduates for their future positions. Guest lecturers include practicing physicians, medical attorneys, CPAs, financial advisors, and practice management consultants. Residents learn principles related to accounting, financial planning, licensing/credentialing, office insurance, marketing a practice, Meaningful Use, and the PCMH. Residents develop a blueprint for reaching their post-graduate goals.
During their PGY2 year, each resident will spend two blocks serving as the acting chief on the Wesley Family Medicine Inpatient Service (which is a great responsibility; chiefs oversee the WFM intern and monitor all patients, including pediatric, adult, and intensive-care-unit patients). Residents run codes, perform inpatient procedures, and attend regular didactic attending rounds.
During their PGY2 year, WFM residents expand their skills and experience as the senior resident on the maternity care service. Working under the supervision of experienced OB and family medicine attendings, and providing supervision for and instruction to the intern on maternity care, the PGY2 residents improve their skills and gain autonomy. WFM residents take care of the majority of patients delivering at Wesley’s Birth Care Center, and residents are expected to perform as primary surgeon on C-sections and to manage high-risk labors. Wesley Family Medicine also partners with Wichita’s HealthCore Clinic to provide OB care to the unemployed, underinsured and underserved persons in central Kansas and to give residents the opportunity to manage more OB cases.
During each two-week PGY2 night-shift experience, residents will work up to five consecutive in-house call shifts, from 5:30 p.m. to 7 a.m. PGY2 residents work under the direct or indirect-but-directly-available supervision of a faculty member as well as provide direct and/or indirect-but-directly-available supervision of a PGY1 resident. During each shift, the residents will admit, evaluate, manage and care for ill adults, ill children and maternity care patients.
Wesley Medical Center is home to Kansas’ only Pediatric Emergency Department. While on their Pediatric Emergency Department block rotation, residents will augment their knowledge, procedural skills and mastery of prompt assessment, intervention and disposition in caring for children presenting with acute concerns to the emergency department. They will also manage complex and uncommon presentations of disease in children who require urgent or emergent medical care, while working alongside emergency department physicians.
Though all residents spend several half days each week caring for their continuity patients, the Family Medicine Center rotations are dedicated solely to caring for patients in the ambulatory environment and enhancing the resident’s understanding of practice management concepts. Residents will see patients each half day in the Wesley Family Medicine Center, which may include caring for patients from their own continuity panel, in one of the specialty clinics, in the nursing home or caring for patients being seen for acute visits.
Third-year residents spend, on average, three to five half days seeing their own patients at the Wesley Family Medicine Center.
During their PGY3 year, each resident will spend two rotation blocks as the acting chief on the Wesley Family Medicine Inpatient Service (which is a great responsibility; chiefs will oversee the WFM intern and monitor all patients). Residents run codes, perform inpatient procedures, attend regular didactic attending rounds, and learn hospital billing. They also round on their patients, including pediatric, adult and intensive-care-unit patients. Residents provide primary patient management, and attending physicians are present to support and teach.
During their PGY3 year, WFM residents expand their skills and experience as the senior resident on the maternity care service. Working under the supervision of experienced OB and family medicine attendings, and providing supervision for and instruction to the intern on maternity care, the PGY3 residents improve their skills and gain autonomy. WFM residents take care of the majority of patients delivering at Wesley’s Birth Care Center, and residents are expected to perform as primary surgeon on C-sections and to manage high-risk labors. Wesley Family Medicine also partners with Wichita’s HealthCore Clinic to provide OB care to the unemployed, underinsured and underserved persons in central Kansas and to give residents the opportunity to manage more OB cases.
During the PGY3 night-shift experience, residents will work up to five consecutive in-house call shifts, from 5:30 p.m. to 7 a.m. PGY3 residents work under the direct or indirect-but-directly-available supervision of a faculty member as well as provide direct and/or indirect-but-directly-available supervision of a PGY1 resident. During each shift, the residents will admit, evaluate, manage and care for ill adults, ill children and maternity care patients.
Residents are allowed to request a community cardiologist with whom to complete the rotation. In helping to care for that cardiologist’s patients, in both the outpatient and inpatient settings, residents develop skills in evaluating and managing chest pain, learn about common presentations of arrhythmia and ischemia and determine appropriate indications for referral to a cardiologist. Residents also learn how to perform and interpret procedures such as stress tests, echocardiograms, cardiac catheterization, and tilt table tests.
Wesley has the largest emergency department in Kansas and serves as a regional referral center with Level 1 trauma certification. It is also home to Kansas’ only Pediatric Emergency Department. Residents work alongside emergency medicine attendings and spend time as upper levels, helping to perform procedures and stabilize and manage critical patients.
While spending time with family physicians and gynecologists, residents will develop skills in evaluating and managing gynecological symptoms, diseases and disorders as well as acquire knowledge regarding the appropriate indications for referral to a gynecologist for further management.
Depending on their interests and career goals, residents can choose to complete a rural or international medicine rotation.
Residents who choose to do a rural rotation go to locations like Dodge City, Lyons, or Plainville, Kansas, where they are teamed with a family physician. Here, residents experience life as a “small-town family doctor.” The busy experience includes practicing full-scope family medicine; time is spent in an outpatient clinic and at the medical center, where residents gain skills in emergency medicine, trauma, operative obstetrics, surgery, and more. Residents are provided with housing (which can accommodate spouse and children, if needed) and on-call meals.
Residents who wish to do an international rotation spend time abroad in the setting of their choice. Upon their return, residents are encouraged to present a conference for their peers and faculty so as to share what they experienced and learned.
During this rotation, residents will acquire and augment skills in caring for patients with diverse acute and chronic musculoskeletal concerns. In addition, residents will receive education in orthopedics on a longitudinal basis during their continuity clinic practice and through the didactic curriculum.
In addition to a longitudinal experience in the Family Medicine Center, residents are required to complete two block rotations dedicated to the ambulatory care of children. Outpatient Pediatrics-2 is a required rotation in the PGY2 year and is designed to allow the resident to have concentrated exposure to adolescent patients and patients with neurological concerns.
Under the direct supervision of an attending orthopedist, residents complete this rotation by seeing patients in the orthopedist's clinic and associated settings, as appropriate (training room, operating room).
During their PGY2 and PGY3 years, residents are allowed to choose several blocks of elective rotations to augment their curriculum. Wesley Family Medicine has structured a number of elective possibilities in various areas of medicine, including medicine-pediatrics, obstetrics, and internal medicine. If desired, faculty members may also work with residents to structure new electives. Please see the 2023-2024 Curriculum List for possibilities
One of the defining characteristics of training at Wesley is the number of procedures that fall within the scope of our practice. Wesley Family Medicine offers training in a wide variety of inpatient and outpatient procedures to better equip our residents for their future practices.
Arterial lines
Central lines
Chest tube placement
Endotracheal intubation
Multi-layer wound closure
Paracentesis
Thoracentesis
Ventilator management
Abscess Incision and Drainage
Cryosurgery and electrosurgical destruction
Lesion excision
Nail plate removal
Skin biopsy
Bronchoscopy
Colonoscopy
Esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD)
Nasopharyngoscopy
Cesarean sections (primary surgeon)
Forceps and vacuum deliveries
High-risk management and deliveries
Post-partum tubal ligation
Third- and fourth-degree laceration repair
Ultrasound
Casting
Dislocation reduction
Fracture care
Joint aspiration and injection
Splinting
Acute and chronic musculoskeletal therapy
Osteopathic exam in the hospital
Treatment of the OB-GYN patient
Colposcopy
Cryotherapy
Dilation and Curettage (D&C)
Endometrial biopsy
IUD placement
LEEP
Long-Acting Reversible Contraceptives (LARCs)
Tubal ligation
Echocardiography
Neonatal circumcision
Pediatric procedural sedation
Point-of-Care Ultrasound (POCUS)
Treadmill stress testing
Trigger point injection
Resident contracts are administered through the Wichita Center for Graduate Medical Education (WCGME). This organization coordinates the salaries and benefits for all residents in Wichita. WCGME is an equal opportunity employer.
AY21/22 Salary | AY22/23 Salary | AY23/24 Salary | |
---|---|---|---|
PGY 1 | $55,983.56 | $57,663.07 | $59,392.96 |
PGY 2 | $57,188.22 | $58,903.87 | $60,670.99 |
PGY 3 | $59,197.42 | $60,973.34 | $62,802.54 |
Residents have outstanding medical, dental, and vision benefits, and their dependents are offered health and dental insurance at a reasonable cost. Life, long-term disability and professional liability insurance are also provided for residents.
Residents receive 20 weekdays of paid time off each year. They also receive meal allowances during their on-call periods, among other benefits.
For detailed information about resident benefits, see the WCGME "Salaries and Benefits" page.
Graduation date from medical school must not exceed two years from the date the application is received in ERAS (3-year interval is accepted if resume reveals evidence of suitable, direct patient care/clinical experience)
Graduation from an approved LCME/AOA medical school or an international medical school that is recognized by the Kansas Board of Healing Arts
Must successfully pass USMLE Steps 1 and 2 or COMLEX Levels 1 and 2 examinations in no more than two attempts on each test. Scores must be available to the program, in ERAS, no later than mid-December.
Three strong letters of recommendation from physician preceptors who have observed your clinical performance
US citizenship, permanent resident status, or ECFMG certification required, prior to starting residency. (We do not sponsor visas. Applicants must be able to obtain a J-1 visa.)
Excellent medical school performance
Excellent facility with the English language – written, spoken, and idiomatic
Knowledge of and commitment to the discipline of Family Medicine
Strong interpersonal skills and work ethic
Applications are only accepted through ERAS, and all applications are reviewed in the order they are received. Timely submission of all materials, then, is encouraged.
To apply to the Wesley Family Medicine Residency Program, please know our:
To rank the Wesley Family Medicine Residency Program, please know our:
Note: Wesley Family Medicine does not pre-match. The program selects applicants solely through ERAS/NRMP.
The above are the program’s general guidelines. They are not set in stone; changes and exceptions can be made at the discretion of the Program Director.
The University of Kansas prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, religion, sex, national origin, age, ancestry, disability, status as a veteran, sexual orientation, marital status, parental status, gender identity, gender expression and genetic information in the University’s programs and activities. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding the non-discrimination policies: Director of the Office of Institutional Opportunity and Access, IOA@ku.edu, 1246 W. Campus Road, Room 153A, Lawrence, KS, 66045, (785)-864-6414, 711 TTY.
Wesley Family Medicine offers clerkship rotations for third-year medical students and sub-internship and advanced residency perspective rotations for fourth-year medical students. We are unable to provide externships or observerships.
Rotations range from two to four weeks, depending upon the student’s schedule and desired experience(s).
Students may spend time in the following areas:
For more information or to schedule a rotation, please contact Katie Kellerman, Senior Residency Program Coordinator, katie.kellerman@wesleymc.com.