Family Medicine: From Resident to Residency Program Director

Family Medicine is the intersection of all medical specialties, one where you can get exposure to anything if you would like. If you are interested in Family Medicine, keep an open mind on all rotations during medical school to gain more experience and knowledge to better serve your future patients. This paraphrased wisdom came from Kimberly Smith, DO. She is a Family Medicine physician as well as the Program Director for the Family Medicine Residency Program at Ascension St. Vincent in Indianapolis, Indiana. Through talking with her about her academic career, it became apparent that at her core, she is passionate about Family Medicine, residents gaining as much experience as they can during their time at Ascension St. Vincent, and most importantly, meeting her patients where they are to provide the care they need in their stage of life.

Dr. Smith grew up in Eastern Kentucky, not being exposed to many primary care experiences. It was not until medical school that she would find her passion for primary care. She attended the University of Pikesville for her undergraduate studies and attended Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine in Virginia for medical school. She had considered a few different specialties, one of which was Rheumatology. However, during her rural medicine rotation, she fell in love with Primary Care. She described how excited she was about going to the clinic during this rotation and was proud of the things she was a part of every day. Dr. Smith wanted to be the person at the intersection of managing care for her patients, and Family Medicine allowed her to do that. She matched in Family Medicine at Ascension St. Vincent in Indianapolis, Indiana—the very residency program she is program director of. In Ascension's residency program at that time, she described the former third-year residents she had witnessed by stating, “If that’s what I am by third year, I am proud of that.”

During her time as a resident, she never dreamed of entering academic medicine. Two months before the end of her third year as a resident, about to graduate from the program, she discovered her interest in academic medicine and stayed post-residency as a faculty member. She remained a member of the faculty of the residency program for six years until taking the Program Director position.

Now, she has developed another passion in the field of Family Medicine in addition to academics: Women’s Health. She described how she had unintentionally developed a patient base of women in their late 30s to early 50s whom she referred to as “her people.” Dr. Smith recognized how women’s health is different and requires a different focus through different parts of a woman's life; prenatal care, post-natal care, menopause, etc. She had stated that women “deserve acknowledgment that their health is different”.

Outside of work, Dr. Smith loves traveling and hiking! She is a big fan of the Peloton craze, running, strength training, and reading/diving into a new audiobook. Out of the multiple places she has traveled to, her favorite location was the South Island in New Zealand. She has visited the Caribbean, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Scotland (Fingal’s Cave shown in the photo to the right), New Zealand, Canada, and will be planning to travel to Norway for a family vacation hiking trip!

Work-life balance can be difficult to accomplish in healthcare; however, Dr. Smith does an amazing job at this! She has separate calendars for work and home! When discussing work-life balance with her family, she described how working while having children is important to her because she wants to show her children that she is present in her family’s life and as a working physician.

Family Medicine Residency at Ascension St. Vincent Quick Q&A:

Any thoughts on COMLEX/STEP?

This residency program accepts either COMLEX and/or STEP. Dr. Smith joked, “Just take one.” Ascension St. Vincent's Family Medicine (FM) program understands both measures and scoring; no need to take both unless you want to!

Are there OMT (Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment) integration opportunities?

YES! OMT in the FM program is available to those who would like to continue using their skill. There are opportunities to participate in an OMT clinic, have OMT appointments, and even some residents help osteopathic medical students at Marian University's Tom & Julie Wood College of Osteopathic Medicine during their OPP (Osteopathic Principles & Practice) laboratory sessions.

What would you like to highlight about the program?

“The highlight of St. Vincent is the rigor we have for our patient panels. When you graduate here, you will have been exposed to a lot more than the average FM resident has been exposed to.” She continued to describe the interdepartmental collaborative teaching style St. Vincent's FM Residency provides to expose the FM residents to a larger pool of patient cases to prepare them for their own practice.

About the Author

Sydney is a second-year osteopathic medical student attending Marian University Tom and Julie Wood College of Osteopathic Medicine. She is passionate about patient advocacy, osteopathic manipulative medicine and is currently considering a field in family medicine! You will constantly hear her talking about how her life is more than medicine as she loves being a consistent full-time sister, daughter, & friend in addition to her studies!