OHSU's Cascades East Family Medicine Residency is the second family medicine residency to be developed in Oregon, and accepted its first residents in July 1994. The program is administered by OHSU's School of Medicine and co-sponsored by OHSU, Sky Lakes Medical Center in Klamath Falls, and the Oregon Area Health Education and Training Center (AHEC) program.

The purpose of the Oregon AHEC system is to improve health access and health status for rural, minority and under-served persons living in Oregon by developing training programs for health professionals in settings which serve those populations. Accordingly, our program involves a mutually beneficial educational relationship between the hospital, OHSU, AHEC and rural health care providers.

The program currently has eight residents per year for a total of 24 residents. Both full-time family medicine faculty and community physicians from many specialties are committed to teaching in the program. While most rotations occur in Klamath Falls, residents spend some time in other Oregon communities, including Portland, the resort community of Bend and three rural communities: Burns, Reedsport and Lakeview.

Our program trains residents to become full-service family medicine physicians who provide comprehensive care to their patients. We have a strong emphasis on maternal-child health, with the option of an obstetrical training track. Additionally, our busy inpatient medicine service offers ample experience in both hospital medicine and intensive care. Our program includes required rotations in community medicine and rural medicine. We seek to attract and train residents who will be lifelong learners and teachers in medicine while maintaining well-rounded lives.