Sections

• Mission & Vision

• About Our Program

• Our Community

• Program Highlights

• Unique Educational Opportunites

• Medical Student/Observer Rotation

• Eligibility Criteria

The Southern New Mexico Family Medicine Residency Program (aka Memorial Medical Center Family Medicine Residency) was established in 1996 and since then has placed over 60% of its graduates in New Mexico and West Texas.

Our program trains clinicians to provide community-focused care through the lens of health equity and social justice.

Here, you can focus on why you came to medicine: 

1. to care for your community

2. to reduce health disparities

3. to increase opportunity for everyone to live their fullest lives

Why Apply?

• Focused on health equity and social medicine

• Unopposed Program – No competing residencies for inpatient/critical care with experienced and dedicated full time faculty

• Full spectrum training including Hospital Medicine, Obstetrics, and Pediatrics.

• Integrated Inter-professional Education (Pharmacy, Behavioral, Social Sciences)

• ACGME accredited

We believe that the health of a nation is built on the foundation of primary care, and we are dedicated to making this foundation strong for our community by training highly skilled family physicians.

The Southern New Mexico Family Medicine Residency is dedicated to providing residents with a well-rounded, full spectrum medical education. Our three-year Family Medicine residency program is sponsored by Memorial Medical Center of Las Cruces, a LifePoint hospital, and is the only community based, unopposed, three-year Family Medicine residency in New Mexico. We offer a strong and varied experience including border health, health policy, integrated behavioral medicine, obstetrics, pediatrics and rural medicine. We are committed to improving the health of the community we serve and to educating residents to be prepared to work in any environment.

Our residency is a community-facing program in which residents and faculty work to address the needs of our community and to support the incredible work our community partners do.

Our Asylum Seeker Clinic is a partnership with local faith-based and government organizations to provide care for asylum seekers coming to our community on their way to stay with family members across the United States as they await their asylum hearings.

We take pride in our partnership with Lynn Middle School. Home to one of our community school programs, which are partnerships between the school and community organizations that create hubs located there, our goal is to provide a variety of resources for students and their families. Our residents participate with the school to share public health information (especially now, during the COVID-19 pandemic), talk with kids about being a doctor, hang out with students at lunch, give hands-on workshops, and collaborate with teachers to create lessons.

In the Mobile Integrated Health program, our residents ride along with the Las Cruces Fire Department team that visits people who frequently call 911 in an effort to address their needs before they become emergencies. The residents provide medical care when needed and support the mobile integrated health team in connecting people to social service agencies and other resources that they need.

Residents and faculty can become members of the Doña Ana Wellness Institute (DAWI), a county-wide collaborative that includes representatives from health care agencies, social service agencies, city and county government, public services, and New Mexico State University. DAWI's goal is to make Doña Ana County the healthiest county in the nation by working "upstream" to address policies that impact the health of our communities.

When we call New Mexico the Land of Enchantment, we aren’t kidding. Plain facts, between the big open sky and dramatic natural landscapes, there is something to captivate every mind. There are roughly 25 hiking trails for the outdoor explorer, even more if you leave the city, since Las Cruces is a days’ drive in most directions to state and national parks and monuments like White Sands and Organ Mountain Desert Peaks, in all totaling closer to 45 trails nearby. The sun shines 340+ days a year, which means no snow and beautiful sunsets almost every evening.

Social life strikes the balance between industrious and laid back. At a population just over 100,000, our growing community is hardworking but there’s still plenty of space for rest and relaxation between us across our widespread city and her surrounding farmlands.

Our downtown area is home to a weekly farmer’s market as well as an active night life, which makes it a fun and versatile area. 87 local parks are spread throughout city spaces and residential areas, each one unique with activities for everybody, as well as 18 tennis courts, and 4 golf courses.

Las Cruces is also home to several educational facilities, among them New Mexico State University, a robust local land grant college with statewide presence and 12 agriculture research and science centers. Our city is also home to an ever-growing collection of community programs and institutions, such as the 4-pronged Las Cruces museum system featuring local history, scientific research, and artistic expression, and the Hadley Sports Complex, boasting numerous recreational activities including baseball and soccer fields, a skate park and BMX course, and a well-beloved dog park.

We are certain that our home, lively and beautiful, is the place where your career can flourish.

Integrated Behavioral Medicine

The Southern New Mexico Family Medicine Residency Program provides collaborative, multidisciplinary clinical care services, with a strong emphasis on behavioral medicine. Our residents learn from and work closely with our behavioral health providers and trainees. We have a three-tiered program which includes Social Work, Psychology, and Prescribing Psychology. 

Our social work team help support our community in addressing social, financial and systemic challenges. Our psychology team help with mental health diagnosis, testing, and behavioral management of both mental health and chronic medical conditions such as diabetes and hypertension. Our prescribing psychologists provide medication management, CBT and other counseling interventions, and consultation to the medical team.

Residents complete both longitudinal and one-month intensive behavioral health rotations, which includes working closely with these healthcare disciplines in addition to inpatient psychiatry. Our clinic exposes residents to hands-on experience working as a part of an interdisciplinary team and prepares them to address the behavioral, psychological, and social needs of their community in conjunction with their integrated healthcare team. 

Social Medicine 

The Southern New Mexico Family Medicine Residency Program places social medicine at the center of its training model. Through both focused and longitudinal experiences, residents learn how, as physicians, they can address health equity issues in their own communities. 

Specifically, residents participate in four social medicine-focused rotations – community medicine, care of marginalized populations, border health, and health policy. Each of these rotations gives residents an opportunity to understand the uniqueness of the communities in which they work and recognize the challenges that communities and particular groups of people within those communities face every day. Going beyond providing medical care, these rotations train residents to be responsive to community needs in a variety of ways from mentoring youth to collaborating with legislators to develop “healthy” health policy. 

 In addition to specific rotations, the residency program also weaves health equity into all components of the curriculum – from general surgery rotations to didactic education. Our interprofessional Health Equity Action Team (HEAT) coordinates the curriculum development and community experiences.

Medical School Rotations

• Medical Student rotations (4 to 6 weeks) are available to any medical student at any stage of training.

• Rotation availability varies with the time of year. All rotations are on a first come first served basis. The busiest time of the year is October thru February, so inquire early.

• The educational component will vary depending on the student’s educational level. In general the student will spend mornings in the hospital (Memorial Medical Center) on the Family Medicine Service and afternoons in clinic at the Family Medicine Center on the MMC campus. The rotations are hands-on, and students can expect to participate in both inpatient and outpatient work-ups, and surgical procedures. Applicants will be working with a resident at both sites. Responsibility will increase based on year of training and demonstrated skill level.

• Room and board is not available at this time.

• Requirements for these rotations include an institutional medical malpractice policy (provided by the medical school), updated immunization information, and clearance where appropriate by the Human Resources Department.

Our residency program is conducting virtual interviews for the 2022-2023 interview season following the recommendation of the AAMC. As the AAMC notes, virtual interviews improve equity by eliminating the cost of travel and thus opening up the possibility of interviewing to those who may have financial constraints. Virtual interviews also can reduce applicants’ stress and anxiety by making interviews easier to schedule during clinical rotations and other educational experiences. Finally, virtual interviewing reduces the environmental impact of large numbers of flights and other fossil fuel burning travel.

NRMP Program #1203421577

To be eligible for a training position at the Southern New Mexico Family Medicine Residency Program, all physicians must meet the following criteria:

1. Your application must be submitted through the Electronic Residency Application System (ERAS).

2. Be a graduate of an LCME-accredited medical school in the United States or Canada or an AOA accredited osteopathic school in the United States;

3. The Medical School that the Physician has graduated from must appear on the list of medical schools recognized as “approved” by the Medical Board of California;

4. Graduates of international medical schools must hold a currently valid ECFMG certificate or possess a full and unrestricted license to practice medicine in the State of New Mexico, or have completed a Fifth Pathway program in an LCME-accredited medical school.

5. Physicians who are not U.S. citizens must have a valid work authorization on a J-1 visa. All J-1 Visas are sponsored by the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates. This requirement is consistent with the AAMC guidelines for Graduate Medical Education programs. Eligibility for training at SNMFMRP does not guarantee future eligibility for granting of an unrestricted professional license by the New Mexico Medical Board.

6. Physicians must be eligible for employment as verified by the US Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG) and the Government Services Administration (GSA). Individuals on the OIC/GSA Exclusion List will not be considered for hire.

7. Physicians must take and pass Step II of the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) before beginning residency at the SNMFMRP and Step III must be successfully completed by the end of the second year of training (PGY2) in order to be considered for PGY3 positions.

8. Physicians must be eligible to receive a New Mexico Training License with the expectation that all requirements of the New Mexico Practice Act related to professional behavior, care of patients, and assurance of competency are adhered to while in training.

9. Physicians must be graduates of an approved medical school in the last five years.

10. Successful clearance of a Background Check, including fingerprints; and

11. Successful clearance of a drug screen.

Please note that meeting any or all of the aforementioned criteria does not guarantee an invitation to interview, nor an offer to fill a position.