Why Choose Our Program

Educational Approach & Innovation

We pride ourselves on educational innovation with an emphasis on exposure to diverse clinical cases and learning experiences tailored to the individual needs of each resident.

Key innovations include:

• POCUS elective
• Administrative leadership elective
• Individualized support for board preparation
• A unique, narrative-based resident evaluation system
• A growing and active Women in Medicine group
• Scholarly activity support

Clinical Experience & Case Mix

• We are a small community-based residency within a larger hospital system.
• Our hospital serves as a referral center for four critical access hospitals, resulting in a wide breadth of pathology and clinical acuity.
• Our hospitalists and internal medicine residents take the lead on patient care, developing strong critical reasoning and procedural skills.
• Our academic hospitalist team structure is designed to support resident-led services prioritizing education, teaching, autonomy and skills building.

Resident Engagement & Leadership Opportunities

Our residents are recognized as essential members of the Samaritan system and have an active role in both residency and hospital leadership.

Residents collaborate directly with leadership teams on:

• Quality improvement initiatives
• Program development
• Operational decision-making
• Advocacy efforts, including compensation and work conditions

This involvement provides residents with a deep understanding of how hospital systems function, empowering them to be effective leaders and engaged physicians wherever they practice.

Many graduates remain at Samaritan as faculty or return after fellowship training.

Scholarly Activity

Samaritan fosters a strong culture of academic inquiry through close partnerships with Oregon State University and the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific Northwest (COMP-Northwest). These collaborations provide residents with meaningful opportunities to engage in research and scholarly activity.

Our dedicated research team — including experienced biostatisticians and research specialists — supports residents at every stage of the research process, from study design through publication. Residents also receive financial support to present their work at regional and national conferences.

Each year, Samaritan hosts an annual Research Symposium in collaboration with COMP-Northwest and Oregon State University, offering residents a platform to showcase their scholarly work. Our residents regularly present at major national meetings such as CHEST, ACP, ACC, AGS and SGIM, and consistently contribute to the literature through case reports and other publications.

Mentorship & Support

Each resident is paired with a dedicated faculty mentor upon entering the program.

Mentorship includes:

• Regular formal and informal meetings
• Career planning and goal setting
• Research and project facilitation
• Support for personal growth and work–life integration

Mentoring relationships evolve as residents’ interests and goals develop.

Evaluation & Feedback Approach

• We emphasize individualized learning, curiosity and growth.
• Traditional Likert-scale evaluations are not used.
• Instead, we prioritize narrative feedback using an Intent–Action–Impact framework to promote meaningful reflection and development.
• Residents work with a smaller, consistent group of attending physicians, allowing for personalized feedback and longitudinal coaching.