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Trident Family Medicine Residency Program
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Frequently Asked Questions
 Q.
Is your program a community-based or university-based program?
A. The
program is community-based and affiliated with a medical
university. Our program started in 1970 at MUSC as one of
the first Family Medicine programs in the country. In 1997,
we moved to Trident Hospital, a private hospital in North
Charleston. This move has been great for the program.
It has
allowed us to have all the benefits of an unopposed community-based
program (we are the only residency program at Trident) so
we are not competing with other residents for patients,
procedures, etc. However, we are strongly affiliated with
the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) and do a
number of rotations there, so we continue to be able to
reap the benefits of a large medical university: a large
library, research opportunities if you are interested, and
the benefit of qualified sub-specialists. This "hybrid"
community/university based system is one of the most unique
and appealing aspects of our program. |
| Q.
How often is call? |
| A.
Call during your 1st year is comparable to most other residency
programs. In most rotations in your 1st year (Inpatient Medicine
-5 months, Inpatient Pediatrics -2 months, OB -2 months),
call is Q4-5. ER, Peds ER, and the Orientation month have
no call. In your 2nd and 3rd years, the call schedule gets
even better. We have recently instituted a night float system.
Every resident does 2 two week stretches (Monday through Friday)
of night float a year. On top of that, we also are responsible
for, on average, 1-2 weekend days a month. Because we have
a large number of residents, it is usually no problem to trade
calls if you need a specific day off. |
| Q.
Do residents moonlight? |
| A.
Residents are allowed to moonlight in their 2nd and 3rd years,
and most take advantage of the opportunity to make extra money
and gain extra experience. A number of opportunities exist
in the area including urgent care and local Emergency Rooms. |
| Q.
What do residents do in their free time? |
TEAM
FAMILY MEDICINE |
A.
Probably the most
popular places in Charleston to hang out are on one of the
many beaches in the area. Sullivan's Island, Isle of Palms,
Folly Beach, and Kiawah Island are just a few minutes drive
from anywhere in Charleston. Many of the residents have
boats and enjoy fishing, shrimping, water skiing,or just
cruising the waterways of the Lowcountry. Downtown Charleston
is popular as well. Great restaurants, cool bars, good bands,
sight-seeing the historic downtown area, and shopping on
King Street and at the Market are just a few of the things
that make downtown such a unique and exciting place to be.
There
are also a number of parks for jogging, sports, and picnicking.
Many residents enjoy the numerous golf courses and tennis
venues in the Charleston area. Charleston also has professional
hockey, soccer, and baseball teams. These are just a few
of the many reasons that Charleston has been consistently
ranked as one of the most desirable cities to live.
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| Q.
What kind of cultural activities are in Charleston? |
| A.
Historic Charleston is filled with a wide array of cultural
activities including the Gibbs Museum of Art, the Dock Street
Theatre, the Charleston Symphony, the Robert Ivey Ballet,
the U.S.S. Yorktown, and Fort Sumter. A number of national
and regional musical acts frequently make a stop in Charleston.
But, without a doubt, the biggest cultural event in Charleston
is the Spoleto and Piccolo Spoleto Festival that occurs annually
in May and June. During the festival, downtown Charleston
hosts hundreds of events ranging from operas to plays and
art exhibits to blue-grass music. |
| Q.
Where do most residents live? |
| A.
All over Charleston. Residents live in Mount Pleasant, West
Ashley, James Island, North Charleston, downtown, or at one
of the beaches. There are a number of great neighborhoods
in all areas of the town, and if you have kids, good schools
are not hard to find. Traffic is not too bad commuting to
work; for most of us, the commute is against traffic. Depending
on what area of town that you live in, the commute ranges
from a couple of minutes to no more than 20 minutes. |
| Q.
Do any residents buy homes? |
| A.
Currently about half of the residents in the program own homes,
and the other half rent. Many of the local banks give great
deals on mortgages to residents -no money down and low interest
rates. |
| Q.
What about food? |
| A.
We get free food while working at Trident. -all the ice cream
that you can eat. When we are at MUSC, we have a meal allowance
that gives us a certain amount of cash for each night we are
on call. |
| Q.
Is parking convenient? |
| A
.Both at MUSC and Trident, the walk from the parking lot to
the hospital is just a couple of blocks. It is free, well
lighted, and safe. |
| Q.
How much vacation do you get each year? |
| A.
Three weeks of paid vacation is included each year. We are
also allowed one week of Continuing Medical Education (CME)
each year that does not count against personal vacation. Click
here to learn about other benefits. |
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