Southern Colorado Family Medicine Residency
Located in Pueblo, CO since 1975, our program provides robust full-scope family medicine physician training. Our faculty prepares residents for many areas of medical care, including underserved outpatient clinic environments, inpatient adult medicine service, inpatient pediatric service, and OB service with deliveries and cesarian sections.
Contact
Join our program
Southern Colorado Family Medicine (SCFM) has been training resident physicians for over four decades and many of the primary care physicians in our town trained in our program. Our faculty team has a passion for comprehensive family medicine and seeks physicians who cherish learning underserved family medicine in an unopposed environment. Our program offers an individualized approach to training family medicine physicians with many tracks, procedures, and high-volume inpatient and obstetrics (OB) care that creates a unique training environment. We are a diverse team of professionals who thrive in a positive, educational, and fun environment providing high-quality patient care around the clock.
Program AIMS
- Produce competent full-scope family physicians.
- Train physicians to be experts in meeting their community healthcare needs.
- Produce physicians who will improve the quality of health care in their communities.
- Implement a curriculum that is flexible and sensitive to the needs of our residents and community.
- Train physicians to provide primary care in an underserved population with emphasis on social determinants of health.
- Mentor physicians on becoming members of a multidisciplinary team and caring for patients in the hospital, outpatient, continuity clinic, and nursing home settings.
- Promote the discovery and dissemination of knowledge important to clinical practice.
"We are a compassionate team providing quality family-centered health care to the Southern Colorado community. We seek to build relationships across the lifespan, partner with St. Mary-Corwin to serve those in need, and train well-rounded physicians. We will lead through excellence, collaboration, innovation, and scholarship."
Questions about our program and training opportunities
1008 Minnequa Avenue
Medical Arts, Suite #115
Pueblo, CO 81004
Program Coordinator/Nancy Hamilton: 719-557-5872
Administrative Fax: 719-557-4780
Southern Colorado Family Medicine Resident Application
Southern Colorado Family Medicine does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, disability, creed, religion, sexual orientation or veteran status in admission and access to, and treatment and employment in, its educational program and activities.
Meeting the following recommendations does not guarantee an interview. Being interviewed does not guarantee being ranked for the match.
General Application Information
All applications (allopathic, osteopathic, international and SOAP must be made on ERAS. As a participant in NRMP, we do not offer positions outside the "match." Priority is given to applications completed by November 5.
1. Completed ERAS applications include the Dean's Letter (if available at time of application), Transcript, Personal Statement including reference to applicants desire to train in family medicine, and association with Colorado, 3 Letters of Reference including at least one from a Family Medicine Preceptor, and all USMLE/COMLEX scores. Passing USMLE/COMLEX 2 and CS/PE, scores are available in ERAS by February 1.
2. We look for physicians committed to practicing in the Southeast CommonSpirit Health system service area (southeast Colorado, southwest Kansas, northern New Mexico).
3. We look for physicians who can receive an unrestricted medical license by the state of Colorado and a DEA license at the beginning of the second year of residency.
4. We look for applicants with 3 years or less between medical school graduation and start of residency. Individual exception may be made in the case of US Military personnel honorably separating from military service, with active medical service as general medical officers or flight surgeons during their active duty.
5. Invitations for interviews will be sent electronically through ERAS. Interviews will be held through January.
6. If you have previous residency training, a letter of reference and/or an evaluation from the Program Director is also required.
International Applicants
SCFM is unable to sponsor or accept anyone requiring sponsorship for a visa. SCFM does not offer positions outside the match.
7. All of the information in the General Application Information section applies.
8. Applicants must have an ECFMG certificate prior to January 31 of the year in which they desire to start residency.
Once a week, resident physicians rotate in our Migrant Clinic in Avondale, CO and provide care to a predominantly Spanish-speaking farming community. Our resident physicians also rotate in our weekly outreach clinic at the Colorado Health Neighborhoods needle exchange in Pueblo and work with an underserved high-risk population. All these clinics are part of the continuity experience.
- Injections, including joint and trigger point injections
- Obstetrics and Gynecology Birth control, including implant and IUD Endometrial biopsy
- Colposcopy Loop electrosurgical excision procedure
- Ultrasounds, including abdominal and musculoskeletal
- Skin biopsies, including punch biopsies and excisions
- Osteopathic manipulative medicine
- Acupuncture Suturing skills
- EKG reading
- Cryotherapy
Over half of our graduates stay in Colorado and serve in rural areas after their residency. We have graduates each year who choose fellowships in many areas of family medicine. Some graduates also pursue hospitalist work, private practice, and full-scope family medicine. With an individualized education and diverse skill set developed during training, our graduates are prepared to practice anywhere in the world.
- PGY-1 residents will spend 1-2 half days/week
- PGY-2 residents will spend 2-4 half days/week
- PGY-3 residents will spend 3-5 half days/week
Our program offers tracks in osteopathic manipulation therapy, surgical or nonsurgical OB, and colonoscopy. In addition, many residents have taken part in a sports medicine track during training.
In collaboration with Valley-Wide Health and with San Luis Valley Hospital, residents spend their first year in Pueblo and second and third year in Alamosa, CO.
Faculty
Location Information
Our program is located on campus at St Mary-Corwin Hospital and offers complete family care. A safety net clinic in the Pueblo community, we offer care to patients with all insurance types and provide full-scope care for OB, pediatrics, and many onsite medical procedures. Onsite behavioral health and case management services are also available to our patients.
Residents rotate with specialist in a 1:1 setting at St. Mary-Corwin Hospital as well as Parkview Medical Center in Pueblo, CO.
Pueblo, CO information
Pueblo, CO is a 40-minute drive south of Colorado Springs. It has an arid climate, few snowy days, and over 350 beautiful days of sunshine a year. It is a town of 150,000 people with affordable homes and family activities, and many outdoor opportunities, including 100 miles of paved bike paths, water sports like kayaking and fishing, and mountain adventures.
Pueblo is also home to small local theaters, a symphony, fine restaurants, and shopping.
About Ashley Abrahamson
Ashley was born in Naples, FL but primarily grew up in Charlotte, NC. She has always enjoyed playing sports, traveling, and exploring. During her undergraduate studies, she worked as a CAN in Oahu prior to starting medical school.
Why she chose this program
Ashley chose to attend residency at SCFM because it has many unique opportunities such as acupuncture, integrative medicine, and international medicine. She also appreciates the strong focus on osteopathic manipulation treatment and wellness education within the program.
Special interests
Holistic care, osteopathic manipulation treatment, community care, integrative medicine
About Zachary Barlow
Zachary grew up in a small-town bordering Yosemite National Park in California. Through his experience growing up in an assisted living facility that his family operated out of their home and the year he spent in Ethiopia doing humanitarian work, he decided to pursue medicine to provide care to rural disenfranchised communities in the U.S.
Why he chose this program
Zachary wanted a full-spectrum family medicine program with strong OB training, surgical/procedure experience, and the flexibility to tailor the curriculum to areas of interest. It was a huge plus that this program is so close to many of the outdoor activities that he enjoys.
Special interests
Obstetrics, including surgical obstetrics, psychiatric care, ethics, whole person care, procedures
About Katelyn Deveraux
Katelyn is a Colorado native who absolutely loves everything this state has to offer. She is married with two kids, three dogs, and now 17 chickens.
Why she chose this program
Katelyn chose this program because it trains for full-spectrum family medicine. Residents get the opportunity to make the residency what they want and are supported throughout their endeavors.
Special interests
Rural functional medicine, breastfeeding medicine, osteopathic manipulation treatment, women's health
About Cara Donnelly
Cara is an avid dog rescuer with a passion for watching movies at the cinema and reading any fantasy or romance novel. She enjoys hiking and kayaking and loves listening to vinyl records with her music savvy fiancé, Brad.
Why she chose this program
Cara is thrilled to be a part of SCFM. She moved from Kentucky with her fiancé and dogs in tow to make a home in Colorado and they all fell in love with the mountain lifestyle and the community. Cara thinks the program is dynamic with a full-spectrum curriculum, which is one of its strongest attributes outside of the people.
Special Interests
Obstetrics (operative and nonoperative), hands-on procedures, osteopathic manipulation treatment, pediatric and newborn medicine
About Grace Kim
Grace grew up in Colorado Springs where she enjoyed hiking, horseback riding, tennis, and skiing. After her undergraduate studies in California, she returned to Denver to work as an EMT.
Why she chose this program
Grace is excited to train at SCFM because of the program’s broad-scope training that will also foster her passions for osteopathic manipulation treatment. She loves that this program promotes a strong since of community and allows her to stay in beautiful Colorado.
Special interests
Osteopathic manipulation treatment, full-spectrum care, establishing relationships with patients
About Tysen Nickle
Tysen was born and raised in northern Utah in a close-knit, blue-collar family. Growing up, he developed a love for people and the outdoors. He and his wife love skiing, snowshoeing, hiking, and backpacking.
Why he chose this program
Tysen chose SCFM for its quality rural training and opportunity with osteopathic manipulation treatment. The faculty are also supportive of residents adapting their experience to their passions.
Special interests
Serving Spanish-speaking populations, osteopathic manipulation treatment, sports medicine, pain medicine
About Elizabeth Wolfe-Meyer
Elizabeth is from a rural area and has always enjoyed school and learning. These passions drew her to family medicine and allowed her to continue her studies while serving a rural community.
Why she chose this program
Elizabeth decided on SCFM because of the rural training program and the full-spectrum training. She loves that she can live in the environment she enjoys while continuing her hands-on training.
Special interests
Obstetric care, addressing health disparities, rural medicine
About Johnathan M. Emahiser
Johnathan is a father to two young sons who keep him young. He spends his evenings skateboarding with his family, studying, or hiking when he has the time.
Why he chose this program
Johnathan’s biggest priority when selecting a residency was opportunities for involvement in the community. His passion is homeless outreach, and he is very eager to work with SCFM to care for his new neighbors, regardless of status.
Special interests
Osteopathic manual treatment, behavioral medicine and counseling, obstetrics
About Julie Funfrock
During Julie’s undergraduate, she worked as a home health aide and spent time learning and researching in various countries. These experiences had an enormous impact on her and led her to pursue medicine. In her free time, she loves spending time with her family as well as hosting potlucks, game nights, and endless card games.
Why she chose this program
Julie chose SCFM because she wants to train with a program that has many opportunities in full-spectrum family medicine and works with an underserved patient population. While looking for a residency, it was important to her to be a part of a medical community that values teamwork in a supportive environment where everyone is encouraged to become the best physician possible. Julie is grateful to learn from such an amazing group of physicians and to serve the community of Pueblo to the best of her abilities.
Special interests
Obstetrics, fertility awareness, pediatrics, osteopathic manipulation treatment
About Spencer Hegerhorst
Spencer grew up in a small town in Oregon where he learned to love the outdoors. When he is not learning medicine, he can be found hunting, fishing, camping, or hiking.
Why he chose this program
Spencer chose SCFM because of the emphasis the program places on rural, underserved populations. Coming from a small town, he has always known he wanted to practice rural medicine and SCFM has all the tools to help him achieve that goal.
Special interests
Rural medicine, emergency medicine, wilderness medicine
About Naman Jain
Naman enjoys singing and songwriting, cooking, and traveling in his free time. He speaks five languages, has been to nine countries, and dreams of getting his pilot’s license.
Why he chose this program
Naman is looking forward to offering his osteopathic and clinical skills to an area where there is great need. Also, he wants to become certified to do colonoscopies and c-sections as part of providing holistic care to his patients.
Special interests
Holistic and preventative care, osteopathic medicine, pharmacologic management, biotechnology
About Kamal Lazar
Kamal was born in Sri Lanka and migrated with his parents to the United States when he was 18. Oregon has been his second home since 2007 and is where he completed his higher education and medical school. During his undergraduate years, he had the opportunity to volunteer on a medical mission to Arusha, Tanzania, which was pivotal in pushing him to pursue a life in medicine.
Why he chose this program
SCFM was Kamal’s first choice when ranking residency programs. He wanted to serve in a diverse community where socioeconomic hardships are prominent. The faculty, residents, and administrative staff are amazing, and they are another huge reason he wanted to train with SCFM. He hopes to draw from his life experiences to serve and connect with his patients to provide the best care he can offer.
Special interests
Osteopathic manipulation treatment, global health, pediatrics, adult neurology
About Blake Reichert
Blake grew up in Minnesota, but once he moved to Colorado for his undergraduate education, he never left. Blake likes to participate in the many activities that beautiful Colorado offers.
Why he chose this program
Blake is excited about the broad, full-scope training at SCFM. Through this program he will be able to learn more about rural medicine, women’s health, and a multitude of other areas to prepare him to give the best treatments possible.
Special interests
Rural medicine, substance use treatment, geriatrics, women’s health
About Hunter Ries
Hunter was born and raised in northeast Ohio. She is excited to be in Pueblo as he loves being outdoors and staying active. A lot of her free time is spent playing volleyball, reading, and trying new recipes in the kitchen.
Why she chose this program
Hunter has taken a few trips to Colorado in her life, and they were always over too fast. She knew she could see herself living there long-term. SCFM had everything that he was looking for in a program; with options to continue her osteopathic manipulative therapy training and work closely with many high-risk pregnancy patients as well as bond with the close-knit group in the program.
Special interests
High-risk obstetrics, outpatient procedures, osteopathic treatment, inpatient pediatrics
About Lexie Skelton
Lexi spent her early childhood in Colorado Springs, and while she loved growing up in Indiana and the Midwest, she knew she had to return to the Rockies. She loves hiking, skiing, DIY projects, global missions, investing in her faith, and snuggling with her fur babies.
Why she chose this program
Lexi chose to further her medical education at SCFM for the full-spectrum practice opportunities, comradery between attendings and fellow residents, and of course all the natural beauty and community to be found in Pueblo.
Special interests
Obstetrics, pediatrics, adult medicine, surgical and procedural, outpatient medicine
About Antony Aranyos
Antony grew up on the space coast of Florida, where he served his community as a youth camp manager and then middle school science teacher. His love for science persisted into medicine as he sought an even greater platform to teach and develop habits for a lifetime.
Why he chose this program
SCFM provided Antony with truly full spectrum training in an underserved community with limitless opportunities, including scope training, cognitive behavioral therapy and sports medicine at the Olympic center. Pueblo also provides easy access to unplug outdoors on the hiking and mountain biking trails.
Special Interests
Rural medicine, sports medicine, colonoscopy training, teaching/academic medicine, OMT
About Isabella De Castro
Isabella is a nature enthusiast who grew up in Brazil and is excited to explore the beauty of Colorado. She is passionate about animal rescue and is proud to have found loving homes for four adorable sibling puppies within the residency program.
Why she chose this program
Isabella was drawn to this program due to its full-spectrum curriculum and the chance to serve underprivileged communities. SCFM also stood out because of its outstanding faculty and residents, who create a supportive environment where the residency experience is tailored to individual passions and interests.
Special interests
Health equity, immigrant health, integrative medicine
About Minh Di Le
Minh grew up in Vietnam and immigrated to the United States as a teenager. He has lived in Texas previously and is now enjoying his residency and the beautiful landscapes of Colorado. He has a fiancée and a parrot pet that are the joys of his life. Outside of medicine, he enjoys reading fantasy and detective novels, open-world sci-fi video games, Star Wars, Harry Potter, hiking and swimming.
Why he chose this program
Minh chose SCFM for its high-quality full-scope family medicine curriculum and its friendly, supportive environment among the faculty, staff, and residents. He is also excited to learn in-depth about various procedures including colonoscopy, OMT, and delivery.
Special interests
Colonoscopy, OMT, obstetrics, rural medicine, behavior health
About Tina Liu
Tina grew up in Wisconsin and loves all things cheese (On Wisconsin!). She recently adopted a puppy whose siblings were also adopted by co-residents. She loves having puppy play dates and their company at didactics.
Why she chose this program
Tina appreciated the easy-going feel of the program and was able to bond well with residents and faculty. She also wanted to live somewhere with mountains.
Special interests
Preventative care, lifestyle medicine, OMT
About Ryan Lofthouse
Ryan was born and raised in Utah, is married, and has three kids and an Australian Shepherd that keep life interesting. He enjoys basketball (Go Utah Jazz!), open world video games, board games, hiking, watching all things Marvel and Star Wars and reading fantasy and science fiction.
Why he chose this program
Ryan chose SCFM due to its high quality full-scope family medicine curriculum and the positive, friendly culture amongst the residents and faculty. He is excited for the opportunity to gain experience in various procedures including colonoscopies and c-sections as well as additional honing of OMT skills all while working with a group of people who clearly enjoy what they're doing.
Special Interests
Obstetrics, addiction medicine, behavioral health, rural medicine
About Jamie Roemer
Outside of medicine, Jamie loves to stay physically and socially active. She loves playing all sports, especially basketball and golf, and her friends and family are always a top priority.
Why she chose this program
Jamie chose SCFM for multiple reasons. The location allows her to stay in the southwest, work with underserved populations and Spanish speaking patients. Also, the program fosters a friendly environment to people of all backgrounds and puts resident’s training and wellbeing first.
Special interests
Family medicine, emergent and urgent care, health equity
About Tyler Daniels
Tyler grew up in a small town in Florida and later moved to Mississippi, where he developed a strong interest in rural medicine and primary care. Tyler is passionate about serving rural/underserved communities and improving access to quality medical care. In his spare time, he enjoys going to fun events and new restaurants with his wife, as well as exploring the vast wilderness areas of Colorado and climbing its highest peaks.
Why he chose this program
Tyler chose SCFM-Alamosa Rural Track because he felt it would prepare him for the challenges he will one day face as a rural physician. The program is best of both worlds with a “1+2” longitudinal curriculum model and the excellent residents/faculty he has the opportunity to work with in both Pueblo and Alamosa. Spending his intern year in a larger rural setting will give him an excellent knowledge base and unique experiences before moving to the smaller community of Alamosa. He hopes to learn the intricacies of rural family medicine and go on to serve a rural community following graduation.
Special Interests
Rural medicine, emergency medicine, sports medicine, wilderness medicine, colonoscopy/endoscopy
About Josh Nichting
Josh spent the majority of his childhood growing up in Waukee, Iowa before attending the University of Iowa for both his undergraduate and medical degrees. He made his first ever trip to Colorado for a snowboarding trip at age 14 and has been coming back to the Rockies ever since. He enjoys living in Pueblo with his wife, snowboarding, watching (and travelling for) college football, the occasional video game, and visiting his in-laws in nearby Colorado Springs.
Why he chose this program
Josh chose to continue his medical education at Southern Colorado Family Medicine for the high-quality education in full-scope family medicine, including procedural opportunities like colonoscopy. He loves the culture of the training program, where faculty and residents are all friends, and sometimes even like a family. He is enthusiastic about taking care of a broad, intersectional community throughout Colorado's front range.
Special Interests
Whole life care from pediatrics through geriatrics, hospital medicine, endoscopy, rural medicine
