The Rural Medicine Fellowship is a 12 month/13 “block” post-residency program that provides specialty training in emergency and acute care topics such as trauma, ortho trauma, critical care, stabilization, EMS and life flight experience, and related procedures. The goal is to train broad-spectrum family physicians to provide quality advanced level care to children and adults in a rural, under-served, or isolated community. Training takes place between both major hospital systems in beautiful Boise as well as in our surrounding communities. Specific training includes procedures such as central lines, airway management and intubation, chest tubes, thoracentesis/paracentesis, laceration repair, conscious sedation, fracture/dislocation management, and bedside ultrasound. Surgical OB experience is available for up to 16 weeks of the year depending on our OB Fellows elective schedules. The fellow will maintain a continuity clinic 2 half days per week.
One fellow will be selected each year. Applicants must have completed a 3-year ACGME accredited Family Medicine Residency and be board certified in Family Medicine. At this time, we are not able to sponsor visas for the fellowship. The fellowship starts approximately the last week of July, which varies by academic year. Please submit the following to apply:
- A copy of your CV
- Concise personal statement detailing the following:
- Reasons for pursuing additional training in Rural/ Emergency Medicine
- Future career goals
- Specific interest in this program
- Letter of support from your Program Director
- Two additional letters of reference, preferably from Family Medicine faculty
- Current list of procedure and bedside ultrasound numbers (OK if approximate)
- Picture
The application window for the 26-27 academic year is now closed.
Email applications to:
Amy Atondo, Fellowship Program Coordinator.
Subject Line: Rural Medicine Fellowship Application
Amy Atondo
Fellowship Coordinator
P: (208) 514-2500 x1074
AmyAtondo@fullcircleidaho.org
777 N Raymond Street Boise, ID 83704
- Salary estimate $80,459 (’26-’27 Academic Year)
- Twenty-two (22) days paid vacation per year. (View Family Leave Policy)
- Educational funds in the amount of $1500 for related CME.
- Health, Dental, Vision, Life Insurance options for fellow and immediate family.
- Disability Insurance for fellow.
- Malpractice Insurance and Workers’ Compensation Insurance.
- Time and funding included for ATLS if not already completed, however completion before start of program highly encouraged.
- Butterfly Ultrasound provided if one not already possessed.
- Licenses and dues: Idaho board of medicine, DEA, board of pharmacy, AAFP membership.
General Overview:
Fellowship is divided into 13 four week blocks starting approximately the last week of July.
The breakdown of blocks is as follows, with some flexibility:
- 1 month orientation/foundations
- Includes anesthesia (airway), RT, ortho trauma, trauma, POCUS self study
- 2-4 weeks peds ER
- 2-4 weeks ortho trauma, option for longitudinal curriculum
- 2 weeks ICU nights
- 2 weeks EMS/life flight
- 12 weeks St. Als EM: approx twelve 8-12 hour shifts monthly
- 12 weeks St. Lukes EM: same as above (options at both for 24 hour shifts depending on site)
- 8 weeks rural rotation
- 8-10 weeks elective
- Longitudinal POCUS curriculum (includes didactics, simulation)
- Weekly continuity clinic (2 half days/week)
- Up to 16 weeks optional surgical/high risk OB training
Goals and Objectives:
- Train a broad-spectrum, board-certified family physician with skills necessary to provide high quality pediatric and adult emergency medicine services in a rural, under-served, or isolated community
- Train for advanced bedside ultrasound skills in order to better identify acute, life-threatening conditions from illness or trauma
- Gain advanced emergency procedural skills such as placement of central lines, airway management, complex laceration repair, chest tubes, etc.
- Gain comfort in management of orthopedic and non-orthopedic traumas
- Participate in and promote the education of family medicine residents through ultrasound training, didactics, and procedural supervision
- Note: This fellowship does not lead to additional board certification
Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center (SARMC)
St. Alphonsus in Boise is the region’s only Level II Trauma Center as well as a Level I STEMI and Stroke Center. The St. Alphonsus medical centers in Ontario and Baker City are also level IV trauma centers. “St. Als” will be the site of the majority of rotations including 3 months of community ER, 2 weeks of ICU nights, and additional opportunities such as trauma/neuro emergency call, anesthesia/airway management, and teaching opportunities on the resident FM inpatient service.
While the hub of community EM rotations will be in Boise, additional experiences in our surrounding communities will include:
- Eagle (30 minutes from Boise)
- Garrity (25 minutes from Boise)
- Nampa 12th Ave (40 minutes from Boise)
- Ontario, OR (level IV trauma center, 1 hour from Boise)
- Baker City, Oregon (2 hours from Boise)
Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise, Idaho, is part of Saint Alphonsus Health System. With four hospitals and a variety of medical clinics, we serve the full range of the healthcare and wellness needs of the people in southwestern Idaho, eastern Oregon and northern Nevada.
St. Luke’s Children’s Hospital (SLCH)
St. Luke’s Children’s Hospital (SLCH) in Boise is the primary site for inpatient pediatrics and pediatric subspecialty training. It is the only Children’s Hospital in Idaho and is the most geographically isolated children’s hospital in the continental US. It has a huge geographic catchment area that includes a population of well over 1 million people. SLCH has more than 200 skilled pediatricians and pediatric specialists who provide state-of-the-art, high quality care. SLCH has pediatric specialists in virtually every pediatric medical and surgical specialty, and has an outstanding staff of over 400 nurses, therapists, and other dedicated pediatric caregivers in all pediatric disciplines. SLCH has a busy 61 bed neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and a 12+ bed pediatric intensive care unit (PICU), and is certified as a level 1 pediatric trauma center.
All children should have access to the highest quality health care services available, regardless of their condition or their family’s ability to pay. Like all children’s hospitals, St. Luke’s is committed to high quality, cost-effective clinical care, and advocacy for children and families, education, and research.
Location & Contact Info
190 E. Bannock St.
Boise, ID 83712
208-706-KIDS (5437)
Directions/Map
Visit Website
St. Luke’s Medical Center (SLMC)
For more than 100 years, St. Luke’s Medical Center Boise Campus has been committed to serving the needs of a growing region. Founded in 1902 as a six-bed frontier hospital, St. Luke’s Boise is now Idaho’s largest health care provider, and the flagship hospital of St. Luke’s Health System.
St. Luke’s Boise is known for its centers of excellence in cancer, heart, and women’s and children’s care. Among its many services, it is home to St. Luke’s Heart, St. Luke’s Cancer Institute’s largest clinic, St. Luke’s Center for Minimally Invasive Surgery, and St. Luke’s Children’s Hospital, the only children’s hospital in Idaho.
Known for its clinical excellence, St. Luke’s Boise has been nationally recognized for quality and patient safety, and is proud to be designated a Magnet hospital, the gold standard for nursing care.
Full Circle Health The clinic experience throughout training will be at one of the 5 clinics of Full Circle Health. Final clinic location will be determined by December 2022 as we are expanding both our Raymond and Emerald St locations.
Full Circle Health Sites
Full Circle Health – Raymond Clinic
The Raymond clinic has been the home location of our residency since 1983. All interns spend their first year as Raymond providers, and 6 upper level residents in each class also stay there for their full 3 years of residency. Raymond is divided into three clinical teams by hallway as part of our PCMH initiative and is our largest clinic. Patient mix is broad and exciting. Procedural support is strong at this clinic and it houses many specialty clinics including sports medicine, rheumatology, and dermatology. All our colonoscopies and EGDs are done here. Although it is an older clinic, it underwent significant remodeling in the last few years. Attending support is a mix of core residency faculty and part-time community preceptors. This clinic offers a vibrant mix of patients and learning options.
Full Circle Health – Emerald Clinic
Our Emerald clinic is located across the street from our Raymond clinic. It offers a mix of broad primary care and multiple specialty clinics. In addition to faculty and resident Family Medicine clinics, Emerald houses our Wellness Center (a Ryan White funded HIV clinic), TB clinic, viral hepatitis clinic, PrEP clinic, transgender clinic, and refugee services including both refugee screening and primary care. Emerald Clinic additionally houses our 340b pharmacy which opened summer 2013 which will include a rotating PGY-1 Community-Based Pharmacy Resident as they complete their electives required learning experiences. Two R2s and two R3s are empaneled at Emerald each year. Attending support is mainly by the family medicine faculty who see their own patients at Emerald. This clinic offers broad training in family medicine with a specialty/infectious disease bent.
Full Circle Health – Idaho Street
The Idaho Street location is our newest clinical space, having recently relocated to a new spot in downtown Boise. The patient mix has historically had emphasis on pediatrics, obstetrics and women’s health, but now has broad patient panel reflective of Full Circle Health patients, including rapidly increasing geriatrics and multiple languages. In addition to the continuity clinics, there are dedicated OB clinics on Monday and Wednesdays, gynecology clinics on Mondays and a pediatrics clinic each day. There is a musculoskeletal focus with OMT, FDM and Integrative medicine/acupuncture specialty clinics housed here. All Full Circle Health residents are able to experience these clinics. Two R2s and two R3s are empaneled at Idaho Street each year. Attending support is mainly by the family medicine faculty who see their own patients at Idaho St, but many other faculty members often rotate through.
Full Circle Health – Meridian Clinic
Our Meridian clinic is located approximately 8 miles west of Boise, near the St. Luke’s Meridian hospital. The patient population is varied and comes from both suburban (Meridian / Nampa area) and outlying rural towns. Our Spanish speaking population is growing thanks to the work of our Promotora (community health worker) staff. We have a core Meridian OB patient panel that desires delivery at St. Luke’s Meridian giving residents an additional source of OB volume. Our pediatric volume is high due to the demographics of the location in addition to the presence of a pediatrician on our staff. Procedures are abundant and the clinic faculty embraces teaching. Two R2s and two R3s are empaneled at Meridian each year. The Meridian clinic offers residents the opportunity to practice on a single multidisciplinary team. In the Summer of 2020, our second pharmacy location opened next door to the Meridian clinic.
Full Circle Health – Kuna Clinic
The Kuna clinic offers a broad spectrum primary care in the rural town of Kuna, Idaho. No residents are empaneled at this site, but several of our faculty see their own patients there. The Kuna clinic provides care for diverse patients in a supportive, patient-centered, clinically-excellent environment and strive to make healthcare accessible and equitable to the underserved and vulnerable populations in our community.
Full Circle Health – Nampa South
Our Family Medicine Residency training program is dedicated to becoming your patient centered medical home. We provide excellent patient care along with offering superb clinical training for medical residents who are becoming Family Medicine Physicians. At Full Circle Health you will be cared for by a medical team consisting of a physician and a resident physician who will be your primary care providers in conjunction with a mid-level provider (PA, NP, and CNM), psychologist, dietician, clinical pharmacist, community health workers, and care managers. We are a tight-knit team that enjoys teaching and caring for those that need us.
Location & Contact Info:
Full Circle Health – Nampa South
215 East Hawaii Avenue, Suite #140
Nampa, ID 83686
208-514-2529
Directions/Map
Visit Website
Full Circle Health – Nampa North
Located in the campus of the St. Luke’s Nampa Medical Center, this clinic will be where half of each residency class will experience their continuity panel. Fellows will have continuity clinic here as well. Both residents and fellows will have access to an inter-professional team including pharmacists, psychologists, dieticians, and community health workers.
St. Luke’s Nampa Medical Center demonstrates their commitment to the city of Nampa and the growing population of Canyon County. The new 87-bed hospital offers a fully equipped emergency department, family suites for new mothers and their babies, a newborn intensive care unit (NICU), children’s services with outpatient sub-specialists, additional heart and orthopedics services, and an intensive care unit.
Location & Contact Info:
Full Circle Health – Nampa North
9850 W St Lukes Dr., Suite #329
Nampa, ID 83687
Directions/Map
Elizabeth (Liz) Atnip, MD (she/her)
Rural Medicine Fellowship Director
Associate Program Director – Boise
Dr. Atnip was born and raised in Hershey, Pennsylvania (sweetest place on earth!). She attended Penn State University for both undergraduate and medical school, and then headed west for broad spectrum residency training at Full Circle Health. During her time here, she fell in love with teaching and Boise, so decided to stay on as faculty after graduating in 2018. She completed a 2 year remote fellowship in Integrative Medicine in 2020 and additionally has training in acupuncture. Her top joys in medicine are inpatient medicine/ICU, OB, and lifestyle medicine. Outside of work she enjoys playing music, reading, running, cooking, gardening, and spending as much time as possible with her husband, Josh, and her two boys.
Summer Szumski, DO
Rural Medicine Fellowship 2024-2025
Nathan Ord, MD
Rural Medicine Fellowship 2023-2024
