Rural Training Track
Rural Training Track Overview
The Spokane Teaching Health Center’s Rural Training Track (RTT) offers Family Medicine residents the unique opportunity to train in both urban and rural environments. Designed for those passionate about serving medically underserved communities, the RTT provides the foundational first year in Spokane, followed by two years of immersive rural practice in Northeast Washington communities such as Colville or Chewelah.
Residents gain comprehensive, hands-on experience in a variety of clinical settings while developing the skills, adaptability, and confidence required to practice comprehensive family medicine in rural and frontier areas. The RTT is ideal for those seeking meaningful work, strong mentorship, and the chance to make a lasting impact in communities that need it most.
About Rural Training Track
RTT Program Aims
- Prepare residents to provide high quality, evidence- based care to patients in an underserved rural area.
- Continuously refine a comprehensive curriculum that builds clinical, surgical, and endoscopy skills while also broadening resident knowledge of population health challenges and social determinants of health.
- Help residents cultivate attitudes and habits that maintain a healthy work-life balance with a focus on personal growth and wellness.
- Facilitate resident participation in community health initiatives and local health advocacy.
- Develop resident skills for working in collaboration with a larger team of medical professionals including nursing, social work, chaplain, and other providers.
- Produce graduates capable of succeeding in a wide variety of Family Medicine subspecialty areas and practice settings.
- Provide visiting residents with well-balanced introduction to rural medicine rotation.
Why Train in Colville?
When you come to Colville, you join a prestigious legacy of rural training. You follow in the footsteps of pioneering physicians who helped to design, develop and disseminate the rural training paradigm in this country. You follow in the footsteps of trailblazing female rural doctors who broke barriers. You are integrated into a system that produces passionate, empathetic community medicine practitioners who advocate for their profession and their patients. You are exposed to a culture of excellence, teamwork, and innovation that drives you forward into your practice. You learn how to lead your community and you also learn how to listen. You develop skills to balance work life with the rest of life as you explore the great inland Northwest and the mountains and valleys of Stevens County. And when you graduate, you invariably take your place in our legacy as a highly skilled, compassionate, independent-minded, family medicine physician capable of truly broad scope practice.
Program History
Providence Northeast Washington Medical Group established the first US Family Practice Rural Training Track in 1986. We are the longest operating rural family medicine training program in the country. Since our inception, many other rural training tracks have patterned their programs on the success achieved in Colville.
Where Do Our Graduates Practice?
Over the years, the Colville program has been producing comprehensive family medicine physicians committed to improving the health of rural populations. More than 80% of Colville RTT graduates practice in rural medicine from Alaska to Montana to North Dakota. Some graduates work internationally in developing countries. About 30% of graduates practice in the North East Tri County Area.
What Type of Medicine Do Our Graduates Practice?
Data from the last 10 years show that about 50% of residents continue to practice operative Obstetrics after graduation from Colville. Many of the residents that choose not to practice obstetrics focus on rural ER and Hospitalist work in addition to clinical duties. Some graduates are performing upper and lower endoscopy as part of their comprehensive family medicine practice. Our residents have also become health system administrators, teaching faculty, and public health officers.
Caleb Holtzer
RTT Site Director
Meet Our Residents
At the heart of our Family Medicine Residency is a dedicated team of experienced, passionate educators. Our faculty members bring diverse backgrounds, clinical expertise, and a shared commitment to mentoring the next generation of family physicians. From hands-on training to long-term career guidance, they provide the support and insight residents need to thrive.
Meet Our Faculty
Our Rural Training Track faculty are experienced, community-focused physicians dedicated to mentoring the next generation of rural family doctors. They bring a blend of clinical excellence, local insight, and a passion for teaching—ensuring residents are well-prepared to deliver compassionate, comprehensive care in rural settings.
Training Opportunities
The Spokane Teaching Health Center’s Rural Training Track (RTT) program partners with community-based hospitals and clinics in Northeast Washington to deliver real-world, hands-on training in rural healthcare. These teaching sites—located in Colville and Chewelah—offer residents a unique opportunity to practice broad scope family medicine while building strong relationships with patients and communities. Each site provides access to experienced faculty, modern facilities, and a collaborative environment focused on preparing residents for the challenges and rewards of rural practice.
Sub Internship
Explore the unique challenges and rewards of rural medicine through our Rural Training Track Sub-Internship. Designed for fourth-year medical students, this rotation offers hands-on clinical experience in Colville or Chewelah, Washington, alongside dedicated faculty mentors. Gain exposure to comprehensive family medicine and get a feel for life and practice in a rural community.
How To Apply
We’re excited you’re considering the Spokane Teaching Health Rural Training Track Residency! Below is everything you need to know about applying to our program.
Application Requirements
Submit your application through ERAS and include:
- ERAS Application Form
- Personal Statement
- Medical School Transcript
- Valid ECFMG certificate by May
- 3 Letters of Recommendation
- Academically competitive USMLE and COMLEX scores (no more than 1 failed attempt)
- Official Medical School Transcript
- Dean's Letter
- Medical school graduation and/or post graduate medical education within two years
- Valid ECFMG certificate by May
- Citizenship or permanent resident status (We do not sponsor any visas)
Please note that as of October 18, 2021, all healthcare workers in the state of Washington are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 per Proclamation 21-14.1, issued by Governor Inslee on August 20, 2021. For more information please click here
NRMP/ERAS Application Inclusion Criteria
Family Medicine Residency uses the following inclusion criteria to screen ERAS applicants invited to interviews. These criteria are necessary to allow candidates to successfully gain a license to practice in Washington State, increase the likelihood of success passing the AFMB Certification Exam, and ensure their ability to qualify for equal benefits with Providence Medical Group (our resident employer). Only those applicants who possess ALL of the following criteria will be offered an invitation to interview with our program:
- US Citizen (FMRS is unable to support J-1 Visa sponsorship at this time)
- Non-US Medical School must be ECFME certified
- Minimum pass of all clerkships, including shelf copy testing (typically 2 or more failures will exclude from invitation)
- Minimum pass of USMLE Steps 1&2, and/or COMLEX 1&2 – no more than 1 fail
- Less than 2 years out of medical school
- No felonies
If You Are Selected
Applicant interviews are usually scheduled in November and December and will be conducted virtually. Ten residents per year are accepted through the National Resident Matching Program for the Spokane program, and two residents are accepted for the rural program in Colville, WA. You may apply to one or both of these programs.
We use your applications, transcripts, personal statements and letters of recommendation to select individuals to interview, whose goals and interests seem compatible with our medical residency programs.
Please apply early in September (when ERAS opens) to allow ample time to schedule interviews. We review applications immediately upon their transmittal through ERAS. Encourage those writing your letters of recommendation to send them early enough to your Dean’s Office that they can be transmitted before the middle of October.
Contact
Diane Borgwardt
Program Coordinator
Family Medicine Residency
Rural Training Track Residency
OB Fellowship