A Note From the Chief Residents

Congratulations on your decision to pursue family medicine as a career! Thank you for considering the Family Medicine Residency Program at MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center. We are thrilled that you are interested in our program and hope to give you an inside look at what makes it distinctive. Deciding where to apply for residency is a challenging yet exciting process, and we hope to inspire you to become the family physician you dream of being. 

MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center is a tertiary care center and Level II Trauma Center in Des Moines, Iowa. While it offers many of the resources and experiences found at a large academic center, it is small enough for residents to develop relationships with specialists and truly learn from them. Our family medicine residents take active roles on the inpatient medicine and pediatric services and gain experience in our busy Labor and Delivery and Mother/Baby units. 

Despite having three other residency programs—internal medicine, surgery and psychiatry—as well as fellows in the hospital, there is a collegial atmosphere. There is no shortage of patients or procedures for your educational experience. Our resident lounge space fosters interaction among residents from all programs and gives us opportunities to lean on one another, discuss difficult cases, and build relationships across specialties. 

Our continuity clinic is conveniently located just across the street from the hospital at Primary Health Care, a Federally Qualified Health Center. There, we care for a clinically, culturally, and socioeconomically diverse patient population. This provides us with a robust outpatient experience and additional resources to help meet our patients’ needs. 

Our attending physicians have a deep-rooted commitment to resident teaching. They value relationships with residents, make themselves readily available, and prioritize graduated autonomy. They want residents to leave the program well prepared to practice full-spectrum family medicine. 

The program also provides opportunities for residents to individualize their education. Depending on their interests, residents may pursue additional experiences in integrative medicine, point-of-care ultrasound, obstetrics, rural medicine, procedures, and other areas through structured curricula and elective time. Residents also gain meaningful experience teaching third- and fourth-year medical students in both the hospital and clinic. 

Residency is a unique time in someone’s life and medical training. This program recognizes that life continues outside of residency and strives to be supportive and flexible when challenges arise. Each resident and their education are highly valued, and the training you will receive here is excellent. 

We strongly encourage you to consider MercyOne Family Medicine Residency and would love to tell you more about our program. If you have questions, please reach out—we would be happy to talk with you! 

Regards, 

Abby Fuller, DO 
Kelsie Linderblood, DO, MS 
Chief Residents