About the Omak Program

Get to know our Program

Mission & History

Mission:

Embrace the abundance of rural life and practice through improving the health of Okanogan County

Vision:

To create a vibrant and thriving residency training program that strengthens the medical community of Okanogan County

Values:

• Collegiality
• Respect
• Rootedness
• Diversity
• Social Justice
• Compassion

History

Tacoma Family Medicine was founded in 1978 and continues in a strong tradition of developing physicians to practice full-spectrum family medicine with diverse and underserved populations. As a long-time host of a Rural Family Medicine Fellowship, Tacoma Family Medicine has devoted itself to training physicians for rural practice as well as for work with urban underserved communities.

Family Health Centers, with a primary mission to provide high quality health services for all residents of Okanogan County, was initially founded in 1985 to serve agricultural workers in Okanogan’s apple, cherry and pear orchards. Rootedness in social justice and community-oriented care led to the expansion of Family Health Centers to include six medical clinics, four dental offices, two pharmacies, integrated behavioral health services, community health workers and peer counselors in clinic and outreach settings, and collaboration with a broad array of community partners to address structural and social determinants of health and to reverse historic disparities in access to resources for healthy living.

With an increasing number of students from the University of Washington, Pacific Northwest University and Washington State University Schools of Medicine and rural rotations with residency and fellowship programs across the WWAMI region, Family Health Centers positioned itself as a novel training site for rural family medicine education. Tacoma Family Medicine recognized value in creating a longitudinal rural residency track in Omak and, together with Family Health Centers and Mid Valley Hospital, established the Omak Rural Training Program in 2021.

Tacoma Family Medicine, Family Health Centers and Mid Valley Hospital are excited to open recruiting for the inaugural 2026 class of Omak Rural Training Program Family Physicians.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Tacoma Family Medicine provides full spectrum care for all communities in need. The TFM clinic serves patients from many diverse communities with half (½) of our patients identifying as Black, Latinx, Multi-Racial, Asian, Pacific Islander and American Indian/Alaska Native. The most frequently spoken languages in clinic, besides English, include Spanish, Cambodian, Vietnamese and Russian. Our patient population includes individuals with diverse cultural, professional, ethnic, national, religious, gender, sexual (LGBTQIA+) and disability identities. The vast majority of our patients utilize public insurance.

We recognize that health disparities primarily exist because of systemic oppression and racism which influence an individual’s social determinants of health and health concerns.

We believe that increasing the intersectional diversity of the physician workforce is an evidence-based approach that can help eliminate health inequity. Our goal as a residency is to not only produce family physicians that are dedicated to working with underserved populations but who are also themselves as diverse as our patients. We invite and highly encourage individuals from all intersectional backgrounds to apply to our exceptional residency.

Family Health Centers, long known as “The Farmworkers’ Clinic” in Okanogan County, has expanded its mission to serve all communities in Okanogan County, with the recognition that injustice, racism and oppression, and their related health impacts, affect many populations in Okanogan County. As a Federally Qualified Health Center, at least 51% of our Board of Directors receive services from Family Health Centers and we facilitate an active Community Advisory Board that assists in identifying and prioritizing opportunities for improved services. Without neglecting its roots, Family Health Centers strives to also be the healthcare provider of choice to members of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, people who identify as LGTBQIA+, and people whose cultural, religious, ethnic, or national backgrounds have included oppression, discrimination or historic barriers to healthcare and resources for health. As we endeavor to better serve vulnerable populations, our attention to diversity strengthens our services to all patients.

Mid-Valley Hospital and Clinic work to strategically allocate scarce resources to best serve the communities, increase trust and build stronger community partnerships. Its Community Health Improvement Plan provides strategies and examples of ongoing initiatives that address the identified needs. Strategies emphasize clinical and community partnership development and improved coordination.

Mid-Valley Hospital handles diversity, equity, and inclusion by providing outcomes in the number of patients, employees, and any policies that provide measurable outcomes based on their Health Priorities for 2020 through 2023.

Health Priorities FY2020-2023

The top five priorities:

1. Access to Care (Behavioral and Physical Health)
2. Affordable Housing
3. Chronic Disease
4. Education
5. Substance Use

Overarching theme for addressing health priorities:

1. Reduce barriers to care
2. Improve care coordination
3. Focus on health outreach and education

Tacoma Family Medicine and Puyallup Tribal Health Authority Collaborating Residencies

Tacoma Family Medicine (TFM): Established in 1978, TFM is accomplished in providing full spectrum training for communities in need. Approximately 25% of TFM graduates begin practice in rural sites.  It has rigorous training in OB as a maternal transport center and level 4 NICU, trauma as a level 2 trauma center, and adult inpatient and ICU experiences. There is a unique 120 bed pediatric hospital, MaryBridge that gives excellent pediatric training with Family Medicine residents as first line caregivers.  You will be one of the 10 first year resident team during your first year, which will provide a great foundation in acuity and volume to start your residency.

Puyallup Tribal Health Authority Residency (PTHA): Tacoma Family Medicine has cared for the Puyallup Nation patients for more than 30 years on the resident inpatient services. TFM collaborated with the startup of the PTHA residency and has integrated our inpatient resident staffing with their 4 residents per year.  PTHA brings the riches of learning from and caring for indigenous people. As the second largest minority population in your second and third years in Omak are associated with the 12 Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, this is great cultural training. The combination of resident numbers supports vibrant inpatient panels, and spreads the load of night float, and gives flexibility for wellness in covering sick leaves and contingencies. PTHA are great partners.

• Colville Tribes Website
• A brief history of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation
• Native-Land.ca

Medical Students

Family Health Centers and Mid Valley Hospital have a long history of providing meaningful experiences for rural rotations for medical school and residents.  The community has invested in a fourplex for housing of visiting medical students and residents through generous grant support from Premera. Rotating medical students and residents experience excellent Family Medicine rotations provided by an engaged community of Family Physicians, specialists and other health care providers in Omak. Visiting students and residents obtain a broader community perspective and a refreshing view of rural life. Medical students from University of Washington, Pacific Northwest University and Washington State University Schools of Medicine are some of those coming to Omak.  There will be an opportunity in the second and third years of residency on site at Omak for teaching medical students.

WWAMI Network of Family Medicine Programs

Family Health Centers and Mid Valley Hospital have historically provided medical student and resident rural rotation opportunities. Family physicians, specialists and other healthcare providers have long formed a collaborative community of care that is collegial, interdependent, and focused primarily on excellence in care for individual patients as well as the broader population. Students and residents find this setting refreshing, especially for primary care, where educational opportunities are less fragmented and offer experiences that are broader in scope than many obtained in more urban environments. As such the University of Washington, Pacific Northwest University and Washington State University Schools of Medicine have established regular rotations and clerkships with Family Health Centers, Mid Valley Hospital, and their partners.

The Omak Rural Training Program is a member of the WWAMI (Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho) Network of Family Medicine Programs coordinated from the University of Washington. This nationally respected network of Family Medicine residencies works to foster excellence in Family Medicine Education. The WWAMI Region Family Medicine Residency Network is a group of 32 core family medicine residency programs and 10 rural training tracks/programs, related to each other through university affiliation and located within the WWAMI region – Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho. Omak rural training program is the tenth in the network.

This network benefits you with free access to the University of Washington Health Sciences via the internet, faculty development training for your Family Medicine faculty to augment their excellent clinical skills with facile teaching skills, and networking opportunities with other residents such as the annual chief resident conference. The Network and our sister programs have provided technical assistance to create a strong foundation of the Omak Rural Training Program to propel the program to the forefront of Family Medicine Education.