Medicine

Medicine is Spokane's number one business and this is reflected in the large number of physicians in the area.

Our huge referral area, known as the Inland Northwest, allows for many specialists in this community - many more than Spokane's population base would require. We have a large enough population to see many common medical problems, but in addition have many complex and unusual cases sent to Spokane for diagnosis and treatment. Physicians who locate in Spokane are often heard to comment that they didn't see the variety of medical problems in their training as they have since coming to Spokane.

Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center sponsors our program with nearby Deaconess Medical Center being a major participating hospital. Some facts about these hospitals are:

 Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center
  • 850-bed, non-profit, tertiary hospital
  • MRI, CT and PET scanners
  • Cardiac catheterization and EPS labs
  • LVAD cardiac center
  • Transplantation services
  • Designated trauma center
  • Helicopter and fixed-wing air ambulance
  • Telemedicine facilities
  • Medical library
 
 Deaconess Medical Center
  • 388-bed tertiary hospital
  • MRI and Ultra-Fast CT and PET scanners
  • Cardiac catheterization and EPS labs
  • Hyperbaric oxygen chambers
  • Transplation services
  • Helicopter and fixed-wing air ambulance
  • Telemedicine facilities
 

Our hospitals believe in supplying ancillary support to their medical staff. We have active IV therapy teams, transport teams, phlebotomists, and respiratory therapists available 24 hours a day.

Spokane is a major site for the University of Washington School of Medicine's successful, long-standing WWAMI program, which is a model of moving medical education into community settings. First-year medical students begin training here and 3rd-year medical students do core clerkships with residents on internal medicine, family medicine, obstetrics, pediatrics and psychiatry. There are two regional deans from the university in Spokane to coordinate the university's academic activities here.

In addition to this residency, Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center has one transitional year residency and several multi-year residencies: family medicine, radiology and combined UW-Spokane psychiatry.

The resident staff is involved in the more technical/complex procedures such as central line placements, arterial line placements, intubations, paracenteses and thoracenteses. Our junior residents are usually the resident performing the procedure with senior resident or attending supervision. Residents are also an integral part of the Code response team at each hospital.

The limited number of residencies in Spokane allows for hands on experience for each resident, starting at the junior resident (intern) level. You will have direct responsibility for patient care, order writing and procedures for your patients from day one. Our attending and senior resident physicians provide you with supervision, teaching and support.