Built around the realities of rural practice, our program offers three years of full-spectrum training. Challenge yourself, broaden your experience, and build the skills and confidence to care for your future community.
Everyday life here
With many specialty services hundreds of miles away and the nearest non-critical access hospital more than 150 miles away, you'll learn to make thoughtful decisions with the resources at hand. Build the confidence and resourcefulness to lead in rural practice.
Learn alongside experienced faculty and shape your education around the practice you envision. Explore electives that match your interests, with ongoing training in behavioral health, quality improvement, and addiction medicine woven throughout residency.
Meet someone new and run into a familiar face—all in the same day. Spend your free time at Lake Oahe, in local parks, or at community events, or head to the Black Hills or Sioux Falls for a weekend getaway.
Build independence with experienced family physicians ready to guide and support you. From year one in Sioux Falls through years two and three in Pierre, you'll have people to turn to as you learn and grow.
Hands-on learning
Learn airway management, chest tube placement, joint injections, suturing, slit-lamp exams, and casting in the simulation lab before putting those skills to work with patients. You'll build practical skills you can carry into rural family medicine.
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Program traditions
Enjoy three program-funded days at an area resort, retreat, or activity you choose with your fellow residents. Take time to unwind, enjoy each other's company, and make memories away from the clinic.
Gather Monday through Thursday at noon, with lunch provided. Learn alongside fellow residents through teaching across specialties, scheduled grand rounds, journal clubs, and quality-improvement sessions.
Connect with your community through radio and television appearances, health fairs, and sports sideline medicine. Share what you know, support local families, and get to know your neighbors.
Where you'll live
Pierre is the kind of place where you can meet someone new and run into a familiar face in the same day. Stay local or take a weekend trip to the Black Hills or Sioux Falls.
After year one in Sioux Falls, you'll spend years two and three in Pierre—enjoying Lake Oahe, downtown entertainment, and a welcoming community for you and your family.
See it for yourself
Join us in clinic, at noon conference, and in the resident workroom. Get to know our people and daily routines, and ask residents what training here is really like. We'd be glad to answer your questions.