Welcome to the University of Illinois Dixon Rural Training Track. We are here to offer a unique and rewarding experience for medical school graduates who are looking for training in Family Medicine that is different than the traditional residency experience.
As you can see from our mission statement, we prepare physicians to work in rural, small town and underserved areas. You will learn from physicians who are doing full spectrum family medicine, including inpatient work, office procedures, delivering babies and assisting in surgery. The faculty physicians care for patients in Dixon and the surrounding communities, demonstrating for the residents the unique features of practicing in a small town. You will be part of the community.
Community healthcare goes beyond the office. Many Dixon physicians get involved in the community by serving as county health board members, volunteering at the homeless shelter, building houses with Habitat for Humanity and coaching sports teams. Residents have participated in some of these activities too.
Our residents spend the first nine months of the program at UW Health SwedishAmerican Hospital in Rockford, Illinois, approximately 45 minutes northeast of Dixon. You will be working closely with the residents from the University of Illinois College of Medicine Rockford Family Medicine Residency Program. During this time, you will be completing rotations such as obstetrics and ICU, which require a higher volume of patients for a good learning experience. Our first-year residents travel to Dixon an average of one day each week to see patients at Town Square Family Health Center. The end of your first year and second and third years are spent in Dixon completing a variety of traditional and longitudinal rotations. You will also see nursing home patients at least every two months and make home visits for your patients who are unable to come to the clinic. Residents take call from home during the second and third year.
After practicing in the Dixon area for 25 years, I can tell you that serving a community as a physician is an extremely rewarding profession. Every day is different and exciting. Working in a rural hospital gives the residents experiences they would not get elsewhere. I would love to share these experiences with you.
Gregory Reckamp, MD
Program Director
Dixon Rural Training Track Family Medicine Residency