A unique internal medicine residency program that blends experiences of training at an urban tertiary care center, MHMMC in Portland, and MaineHealth Stephens Hospital in Norway.
Listen to what RIMM resident, Dr. Sam Ferguson, has to say about his experience at MaineHealth Stephens Hospital.
- Founded in 2017 as the first rural internal medicine residency track in the U.S.
- One resident per year (3 in total), identified through a separate Match process.
- Unique urban-rural block schedule format that blends clinical learning opportunities at both an urban academic tertiary care center (MaineHealth Maine Medical Center) and a rural critical access health system (MaineHealth Stephens Hospital).
- Full integration of rural pathway residents into MHMMC’s categorical IM residency program, including all teaching conferences and residency events (including orientation, retreats, wellness programs, and simulation).
- Training for rural primary care with an increased scope of practice.
- Dedicated rural curriculum focusing on leadership, teaching, and rural population health.
- Flexibility to develop the clinical and procedural skills that meet your future practice goals.
- Rural research opportunities through the MaineHealth Institute for Research
- 100% graduate placement in rural practice.
Our Goals
- To better meet our society’s healthcare needs by addressing rural physician workforce shortages and rural health disparities, with a particular focus on Maine’s rural communities.
- To provide an innovative training model which prepares internal medicine residents for practice in a rural community.
The Rural Internist as Generalist and Specialist
In addition to preparation for office and hospital-based general internal medicine practice, RIMM Pathway residents will have the opportunity to gain advanced training in the evaluation and management of specific medical conditions often managed by medical subspecialists in more urban areas.
Procedure Training for the Rural Internist
RIMM Pathway residents will have the opportunity to gain additional experience in the procedures that meet their individual career goals and the needs of their future rural community.
Rural Population Health and Rural Health Disparities
RIMM Pathway residents will develop the skills necessary to assess and improve the health of rural populations within their practice and community.
Teamwork and Leadership in Rural Practice
RIMM Pathway residents will learn the skills needed to effectively partner with a multi-disciplinary care team, while also developing the skills required to become a healthcare leader in their future community.
Lifelong Learning and Teaching in Rural Practice
RIMM Pathway residents will gain the skills essential to being a lifelong learner and teacher while practicing in a rural setting.
- First rural internal medicine residency pathway in U.S.
- Resident continuity clinic based in the rural setting.
- Shared EMR (Epic) between MaineHealth Stephens Hospital and MHMMC.
- Shared teaching faculty between MaineHealth Stephens Hospital and MHMMC.
- Shared didactics with MHMMC via videoconferencing.
Urban-rural (X+Y) block schedule format that alternates rotations between urban (MHMMC) and rural (MaineHealth Stephens Hospital) settings:
Year Rural (MaineHealth Stephens Hospital) Urban (MHMMC) PGY-1/PGY-2 Continuity Clinic
Procedures
Rural Hospital Medicine
Rural Emergency Medicine
Rural Geriatrics
Rural Specialty Clinics
Inpatient General Medicine
MICU
Inpatient Cardiology/CICU
Inpatient Hem-Onc
Inpatient Renal Transplant
Sub-specialty Consults
Neurology
Night Float
PGY-3 Continuity Clinic
Procedures
Rural Hospital Medicine
Rural Emergency Medicine
Rural Specialty Clinics
Electives
Inpatient General Medicine
MICU
VA sub-specialty clinics
Medicine Consult
Electives
- Resident continuity clinic panel based at MaineHealth Stephens Hospital.
- Representative breakdown of RIMM rural continuity clinic weeks:
- Continuity clinic: four half days
- Specialty clinics: two half days
- Procedures: one half day
- RIMM curriculum modules: one half day
- MMC Academic Half-day: one half day
- Flex time: one half day
- Shared didactics with MMC via blend of videoconferencing and in-person learning.
- Advanced procedure opportunities: non-invasive cardiology (treadmill stress testing, EKG, ABIs), dermoscopy and skin biopsy, pulmonary function tests, endoscopy, joint aspiration/injection, POCUS.
- RIMM curriculum modules for leadership, teaching (culminating in MITE Clinical Teaching Certificate), addiction medicine (including X-waiver training), population health, and QI/PS (culminating in Lean Six Sigma White Belt course).
- Rural research opportunities available through Northern New England Clinical and Translational Research Network.
MaineHealth Stephens Hospital, a MaineHealth member organization located in Norway ME, serves as the rural teaching site for the RIMM pathway. Norway is a community of 5000 people located 45 miles to the north of Portland in the foothills of the White Mountains. The surrounding area of Oxford County has a population of approximately 57,000 people.
Teaching sites at MaineHealth Stephens Hospital include a 25 bed critical access hospital with 4 bed ICU, Primary Care | MaineHealth Stephens Hospital, a patient-centered medical home practice of six board-certified internal medicine physicians, and the MaineHealth Bob & Sandy Bahre Health Center. MaineHealth Stephens Hospital has been named a Top Rural Hospital by the Leapfrog Group.
The physicians at MaineHealth Stephens Hospital have a long and valued history as medical educators and healthcare leaders in Maine. For over 30 years MHMMC Internal Medicine residents have rotated through MaineHealth Stephens Hospital as part of their PGY-2 Rural Medicine rotation. Since 2011 the site has also been home to 3 TUSM - Maine Track medical students for the longitudinal integrated clerkship (LIC). MaineHealth Stephens Hospital physicians have served in leadership roles within MaineHealth and the Maine Chapter of ACP.
As a MaineHealth member, MaineHealth Stephens Hospitalshares an integrated electronic health record (Epic) and telehealth platform with Maine Medical Center.
2024
Rachel Heuer, MD: PCP and hospitalist, Barrett Hospital and Healthcare, Dillon, MT
2023
Gunnar Huffman, DO; Rural Primary Care, MaineHealth Stephens Hospital, Norway, ME
2022
Adriana Nadeau, MD: Rural Primary Care, MaineHealth Stephens Hospital, Norway, ME
2021
Shane Kirkegaard, DO: Rural Primary Care, Pocahontas, IA
2020
Sam Ferguson, DO: Rural Primary Care, MaineHealth Stephens Hospital, Norway, ME
Housing is provided for RIMM residents and TUSM-MHMMC third year medical students at a housing complex located in downtown Norway adjacent to MaineHealth Stephens Hospital.
Transportation costs for travel between MaineHealth Stephens Hospital and MHMMC is supported.
Applications for the RIMM program will be accepted only through the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) Application. No paper applications will be accepted. Our code for the National Resident Matching Program is: Rural Internal Medicine Maine Pathway (NRMP code 1236140M0). Applicants may apply to both the RIMM program and categorical IM program, or just the RIMM program alone. While invitations to interview will be extended separately for the RIMM and categorical IM programs, applicants may interview with both programs on the same interview day. The combined RIMM & Categorical IM interview days will include dedicated informational sessions and faculty interviews for each program.
Rachel Heuer
Hometown: Minnesota
Undergraduate: University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
Medical School: University of Minnesota, Duluth Campus
Interests/hobbies: biking, hiking, cross country skiing, cooking, reading
Medical interests: rural primary care, procedures, women's health, public health, advocacy
What did you do before medical school: nursing assistant at a nursing home and hospital and bench research on the genetic drivers of glioblastoma
Worst job: picking rock from the corn and soybean fields on my family farm
Why Maine medical center: The RIMM program is unlike any other in the country and is truly what drew me to Maine Med. I was interested in a rural internal medicine program that focused on primary care and would be flexible in allowing me to have significant outpatient procedural training. The RIMM program has all of this and the added benefit of having access to the largest tertiary care center in Maine - Maine Med in Portland. Although I had never been to Maine before match day, the faculty and staff were so genuine during the interview and Maine has easy access to all of the outdoor activities I enjoy.
Yusuf Ebrahim
Hometown: Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Undergraduate: University of New Hampshire
Medical School: Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth
Interests / Hobbies: spending time with family, piano, computer and tabletop games, woodworking, programming, learning math
Medical interests: rural medicine, global & refugee health, end-of-life care, point-of-care ultrasound, medical procedures, medical education, intersection of medicine and computing
Favorite Book: usually whatever I am currently reading...a favorite is The Earthsea Cycle!
Why Maine Medical Center: I felt inspired by the people at the program. Although I had not been to Maine Medical Center prior to residency, it was clear during my interview that the culture was a friendly one that reflected a sincere and remarkable degree of curiosity and integrity with regards to patient care and the teaching of medicine. And there is room to delve into and explore a wide variety of interests and projects throughout your training here. The unique rural internal medicine program is a huge plus for me as well, as it strongly suits my interests and provides the perfect blend of training, between learning at a large academic hospital and living in and caring for a rural community at a critical access hospital. And living in Maine is wonderful.