Family Medicine Residency – Big Stone Gap
Lonesome Pine Hospital
Message from the program director
Welcome! Thank you for your interest in Lonesome Pine Hospital’s Family Medicine Residency Program. Our Family Medicine Residency Program is dedicated to educating compassionate and competent Family Medicine Physicians who are prepared to improve the health and wellbeing of individuals and their communities. Our physicians will focus on service to rural and underserved communities and be fully prepared to provide high quality care in all settings.
Ashley McGuire, D.O.
Lonesome Pine Hospital Family Medicine Program Director
Location
Our residency program is based out of Big Stone Gap, a small community in the beautiful Appalachian Mountains of Southwest Virginia. Our unique location allows residents to train in rural community settings, as well as urban settings across the service area of Ballad Health. Living and working in the Tri-Cities area, which includes Northeast Tennessee, allows our residents to experience a variety of training opportunities, four distinct seasons, thriving communities and abundant options for indoor and outdoor recreation and entertainment.
Our residents
Meet the current program residents. Here's what some of them have to say about our program:
“Our program sets a strong foundation in family medicine but allows you to focus on your career goals with great mentorship from the faculty and staff, which always have your best interests in mind.”
– Dr. Laura Hernandez-Cruz, PGY-3
“I love this program because a residency program is only as good as its people--and the people here are a family, watching out for one another and doing the good work we are called to do”
– Dr. Jeff Carter PGY-3
“This is the best place to be trained to become a family physician. The program mainly focuses on rural communities, but it also fully prepares you to practice in all settings. This place feels like home, surrounded by highly competent faculty, supportive colleagues, knowledgeable peers, and friendly staff. It has the perfect work-life balance, which means I can come home and spend time with my family. And not to mention the breathtaking views of the mountains which help relax your mind from the daily hustle.”
– Dr. Mufish Shaikh, PGY-1
Benefits and salary
Ballad Health offers competitive pay and benefits for residents.
Curriculum
Our 36-month training program includes core rotations in both outpatient and inpatient settings, primary care and specialty care. Inpatient and critical care training occurs at Bristol Regional Medical Center, a 288-bed facility that offers level II trauma care, ICU, critical care and a variety of acute services.
The curriculum allows you to design your residency training so it aligns with your career goals, whether your plans are for fellowship, hospitalist medicine or outpatient medicine. Some graduates of our program have gone on to attend fellowship training in emergency medicine, geriatrics and sports medicine.
Nearly 70% of our program’s graduates have been retained by Ballad Health in either a hospital or outpatient setting.
Rotation sites
As a resident, you will work in a rural setting for primary care training, while also gaining invaluable experience from larger hospitals.
- Lonesome Pine Hospital
- Norton Community Hospital
- Holston Valley Medical Center
- Bristol Regional Medical Center
- Ballad Health CVA Heart Institute, Bristol
- Charleston Area Medical Center, Charleston, W.V.
- East Tennessee Recovery
- Appalachian Orthopaedic Associates
- Mountain Empire Older Citizens
- Ballad Health Medical Associates ambulatory sites
- Watauga Orthopedics
- Meadowview ENT
Medical school affiliations
Lonesome Pine Hospital serves as a core site for the medical students of Lincoln Memorial University DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine and the University of Pikeville Kentucky College of Osteopathic Medicine.
Students who would like to secure an audition rotation with Lonesome Pine Hospital Family Medicine Residency Program must complete the Audition Rotation Application.
Shadowing opportunities are available.
Additional program information
- Continuity – Continuity training for patients of all ages, from birth to geriatrics, as well as obstetric patients, occurs longitudinally across all 3 years of training. Residents will establish a panel of pediatric and adult patients they follow during course of their residency. Residents will have OB continuity patients they follow throughout all stages of pregnancy, including delivery and post-natal care.
- Home visits – Residents will provide home visits for qualified patients of our Family Medicine Residency Clinic.
- Volunteer opportunities – A variety of community volunteer opportunities includes sports physical clinics, congregate meal services, free community-based clinics and health fairs. Our community partners include The Health Wagon and Mountain Empire Older Citizens.
- Robust didactic curriculum – Resident didactics is held every Tuesday morning from 8 a.m.–noon and is required for all family medicine residents. Didactic curriculum includes AAFP board review series, Journal Club, morbidity and mortality review, billing and coding practices, physician wellness, patient safety, OMT, etc.
- Physician mentor program – Each resident are paired up with a core faculty member upon entering the program. Physician mentors provide support for residents throughout their training, including research, quality improvement projects, board preparation, work life balance and more.
Accreditation
The Lonesome Pine Hospital Family Medicine Residency Program is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).
Availability
6 positions per year
Criteria for eligibility
Traditional/medical student eligibility
- Three letters of reference written within past 2 years
- Dean’s letter (MSPE)
- COMLEX/USMLE step 1/2/PE or CE
- Medical school transcript (LCME/COCA)
- Curriculum vitae (CV) and/or personal statement
- All applications will be reviewed, but preference will be given to those who have graduated from medical school within the past 8 years and have relevant clinical experience within last 2 years.
- Applications will only be accepted through ERAS
- ECFMG certificate (if applicable)
- Application end date is last week of December (TBD)
- NO visas can be sponsored at this time
Criteria for transfer resident eligibility
- Three current letters of reference from preceptors aware of clinical skills (must be current – within two years – with preference for the most recent)
- Dean’s letter (MSPE)
- Passing scores from COMLEX/USMLE step 1 and 2 (preference for step 3) and CE or PE
- Medical school transcript
- All applications will be reviewed, but preference will be given to those who have graduated from medical school within the past 8 years and have relevant clinical experience within last 2 years.
- Curriculum vitae (CV) and/or personal statement
- Program director’s letter, which must include:
- All rotations completed pass or fall (evaluations will be required for all failed rotations)
- Status/standing in the residency training program
- In-service exam and/or in-training exam scores
- Most recent family medicine milestones review
- Completed Verification of Training form (if applicable)
- ERAS documentation
- ECFMG certificate (if applicable)
To apply
Applicants for the Lonesome Pine Hospital Family Medicine Residency Program must use ERAS to apply. Our program ID is 2216120C0.
Contact information
If you have any questions, please contact the Lonesome Pine Family Medicine Residency Program Office at (276) 679-7457.
Contact Amanda Hall by email at Amanda.Hall@balladhealth.org or by mail at the following address:
96 15th Street, NW
MAB #1, Suite 106
Norton, VA 24273