Doctors in Delnor's new family medicine residency begin making rounds

GENEVA – The new family medicine residents are well into their first rotations at the new Northwestern McGaw Family Medicine Residency at Delnor Hospital in Geneva, officials announced in a news release.

The new training program is designed to recruit family medicine physicians to the area, because as the population continues to grow and age in the Fox River Valley, so does the need for more primary care doctors.

Medical residents are qualified, licensed physicians who have completed medical school and are receiving training in a specialized area.

“We believe new doctors who train in our local community will develop strong connections to the region,” Maureen Bryant, president of Northwestern Medicine Delnor Hospital, stated in the release. “And many will choose to establish their practices here ensuring access to primary care physicians for generations to come.”

The first group of eight family medicine residents began treating patients in July, under the guidance of a faculty physician, at the new Delnor Family Residency Clinic, 298 Randall Road, Geneva, the release stated.

The Delnor Family Residency Building provides exam rooms and instructional space that a typical clinic does not have. It is the only residency program in the western suburbs with the program sponsor and clinic in the same location, the release stated.

Residents also see patients at Delnor Hospital, the inpatient pediatric unit at Central DuPage Hospital in Winfield, and they make house calls.

By 2021, the program will grow to 24 residents.

“Family medicine is an essential component of the overall health delivery system and is often the most personalized care that patients receive,” Dr. Deborah Clements, chair of Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and Family and Community Medicine stated in the release.

“We recruit residents to the program with the goal of retaining them as future primary care physicians in the region,” Clements stated in the release.

Accessible and high-quality primary care services are vital to a community. In areas where there are more primary care providers per person, death rates for cancer, heart disease, and stroke are lower and people are less likely to require hospitalization, according to the American Association of Family Physicians, the release stated.

Location was one of the major reasons Dr. Evan Hale, a native of Princeton, chose the Delnor program.
 
"My goal is to remain in the area and ensure patients have access to the full continuity of care that a family medicine physician offers," Hale stated in the release. "A family medicine physician is the quarterback of your health care team. He or she knows your whole history, not just a snapshot and will care for you and your family from birth to death."
 
Dr. Shaheen Jadidi, a native of Wilmette, says he was impressed by the rich history and tradition of family medicine in the TriCity area.
 
"I didn't want to leave the greater Chicago-area, and I knew within a minute of visiting the Delnor campus this was the perfect program for me," Jadidi stated in the release. "With the Northwestern University affiliation, world-class physicians and the gorgeous new clinic, this is a dream come true for me."