Welcome to MetroHealth Department of Family Medicine.

I am thrilled you have chosen to explore the many opportunities that exist for you within our program.  I am proud to share some of the details which make our department unique and which can provide for you an exciting, comprehensive training experience. 

We are a public teaching hospital, nationally recognized for excellence in providing comprehensive care to all people - regardless of their ability to pay.  The hospital supports 12 residency training programs along with a host of fellowships, which enhances the training experience for residents of family medicine.  Additionally, we are affiliated with Case Western Reserve University offering expanded opportunities in research, international health and faculty development.

The MetroHealth Family Medicine Residency is a dually accredited MD/DO training site.  We offer a DO specific track with oversight by Dr. Joseph Baker, Director of Osteopathic Medical Education.

Valuing our special commitment to the community, the Department of Family Medicine provides patient care in a number of community health center sites.  These community health centers are scattered throughout the Cleveland area and each serves a slightly different patient population.  A portion of our residents maintain their continuity practices at the MetroHealth Broadway Health Center - an urban neighborhood clinic site.

We also cherish the rich, multi-cultural mix of our patient population.  At MetroHealth, our patient population sometimes seems like a microcosm of our world.   We care for people from Puerto Rico, Mexico, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and many African and Asian nations  - not to mention the rich mix of people who make up the "native" Cleveland community.  We respect and value the differences we find among our patient population.  Our lives are enriched by the diversity of our patients' backgrounds and experiences.

At the core of every department is the faculty.  We are excited and honored to provide both hospital and community faculty who are not only skilled clinicians, but also offer a stimulating and exciting mix of interests.  Our faculty represent national leaders in geriatrics, obstetrics, and patient education.  Other faculty strengths include the areas of community health and international health.

A multidisciplinary team approach to patient care is at the heart of our philosophy of residency training.  Our goal is to train physicians who are patient-centered and have an understanding and appreciation of the family and community systems that shape our patients' lives.

We believe in progressively empowering our residents in the training process.  They enjoy a great deal of autonomy in patient care and decision-making under the guidance of an engaged faculty. We have developed an interactive learning model for residency training - one in which both resident and faculty develop together.  The inpatient service is an excellent example of this model. Our residents have a strong voice in the program.  The chief residents act as junior faculty, serving on a number of departmental and hospital committees and attending faculty meetings.  The opinions and concerns of all residents are addressed at a monthly resident-faculty meeting - the agenda of which is set by the residents.

I hope this gives you a sense of the exciting heritage of education and service at MetroHealth, and the opportunities that await you at MetroHealth's Department of Family Medicine!  We welcome the special talents and interests you will contribute to our family.

Best wishes,

Aphrodite Papadakis, MD
Residency Program Director
Department of Family Medicine
MetroHealth Medical Center