Grand Itasca to host new family medicine physician residency program

GRAND RAPIDS — The University of Minnesota Medical School and Fairview are expanding rural physician training in the state with a new residency program at Grand Itasca Clinic and Hospital.

The program will train two new family medicine physicians each year.

Dr. Tim Pehl has been a family medicine physician in Grand Rapids for 24 years and is the residency program director. He said a looming doctor shortage in the United States will impact rural places the most. According to Pehl, the average age of a physician practicing in rural spaces is 58 years old.

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Grand Itasca

"We're kind of right on the edge of this precipice of not enough doctors and a whole lot of patients to be seen," Pehl said.

He said the program will specifically help the community of Grand Rapids and the patients they are already serving but is also an investment in the future.

"This is a pipeline of future physicians to stay and work here or go to other rural areas, you know, hopefully in the region," he said.

Residents will start the three-year program with one year of training at M Health Fairview Woodwinds Hospital in St. Paul, followed by two years in Grand Rapids.

Funding is from a three-year $750,000 grant through the federal Health Resources and Services Administration.

This new program will join one in Willmar as the only rural family medicine training programs in Minnesota. Lakewood Health System in Staples is also a grant recipient and is expected to be the next institution to launch a rural residency in obstetrics.

Pehl said the Grand Rapids residency program will give doctors the opportunity to experience the unique challenges that come with practicing in a rural area.

"Transportation is really tough challenge, and especially locally. I mean, we have patients that come here from International Falls. We have people who may drive an hour to see one of us. And sometimes that's a big struggle for patients," he said.

" ... Then if perhaps they need to see a specialist, that we can't provide their services here locally, a lot of times they struggle to get to Duluth or get to the Cities. So we're often managing patients with diseases that are more complex than a lot of primary care doctors are managing in urban areas."

Medical students can start applying to the residency program in September, with the first cohort set to begin in July 2026.

So what’s Pehl’s pitch to young doctors on why they should consider Grand Rapids?

"I really think that I have the best job in the world," he said. "One of the most fulfilling things for me is that I am part of the community where I practice. ... Sometimes young people talk about work-life balance, but I recently heard it described as work-life harmony.

"I don't necessarily have a clear line in my life — when I leave work and I go grocery shopping, I bump into people that I may have seen at work, or I may work along with. And it really is very fulfilling."