Welcome Statement from Verde Valley Medical Center Internal Medicine Residency
Choosing where to train is one of the most important decisions of your medical career, and I want you to know exactly what makes Verde Valley Medical Center the right place to make that decision.
We're a three-year Internal Medicine Residency Program based in the rural landscape of Cottonwood, Arizona, sponsored by Midwestern University and fully accredited by the ACGME. What started in 2010 as a small program with four residents has grown, deliberately and carefully, into an 18-resident program that welcomes six new residents each year. We've kept that growth measured on purpose - it's what allows every resident here to be known personally by faculty and program leadership, rather than becoming one face among many.
That personal scale shows up most clearly in how we teach. I don't believe volume alone makes a great physician; relationships do. Each of your subspecialty rotations will be conducted one-on-one with an attending, so you're getting direct, focused mentorship rather than competing for attention in a crowd. Our core inpatient rotations are ward-based and run by an experienced, stable group of hospitalists who will push you toward real clinical independence - you'll always have supervision, including a hospitalist on-site through every overnight block, but you'll also be trusted with genuine responsibility for your patients as you progress. Alongside this, you'll build a longitudinal outpatient panel through our resident-run continuity clinic, serving as the primary physician for your own patients over the full three years of training.
We designed the program to flex around your goals, not the other way around. Some of our residents’ head into fellowship; others move into hospital medicine or outpatient primary care. As Program Director, part of my role is actively cultivating relationships with partner institutions and training sites so that whichever path you choose, you have real exposure and real support to get there. Our graduates have pursued fellowships in Infectious Disease, Allergy and Immunology, Cardiology, Gastroenterology, Endocrinology, Rheumatology, and Nephrology, and our residents present case reports each year at the American College of Physicians' state chapter meeting.
Day to day, you can expect a curriculum built to keep you sharp and connected: daily noon lectures Monday through Friday, roundtable conversations where residents can raise concerns directly with faculty and leadership, journal club, dedicated research mentorship, multidisciplinary grand rounds, and tumor board review. We take board preparation seriously too - third-year residents attend a program-funded Board Review Course, on top of ongoing question review throughout training. You'll also get hands-on simulation training through our partnership with MWU and access to NAH's high-fidelity simulation lab.
Outside the hospital, you'll find a genuine small-town rhythm - hiking, open space, a real sense of community - with a bigger city never more than a short drive away.
We participate in ERAS for the National Allopathic Match, and I'd encourage you to reach out with any questions as you consider your options. I'd love the chance to welcome you here.
Warm regards,
John Mougin, MD
Residency Program Director
Internal Medicine Residency Program, Verde Valley Medical Center