Altru Family Medicine Residency

Altru Family Medicine Residency has proudly served the community of Grand Forks and the surrounding region since 1976. The residency educates family medicine physicians to practice full scope comprehensive medicine across the spectrum of health care. This is achieved with a commitment to provide the skills and background to care for patients in all settings, including the unique challenge of rural medicine.

The residency program has a collegial-supportive group of people who work cooperatively to educate young minds and provide care for our patients. Our curriculum has a solid foundation in hospital-based and ambulatory care, obstetrics, sports medicine, addressing social determinants of health, and point-of-care ultrasound. We offer a fellowship in surgical obstetrics to improve resident education and provide additional training opportunities beyond completion of residency.

Curriculum Highlights

Strong inpatient teaching service provides a great learning environment covering a range of topics relevant to family medicine
Busy obstetrical service working alongside attendings and fellows to deliver routine and high-risk OB care
Focus on rural care with rotations available in smaller communities in eastern North Dakota and northern Minnesota, including Devils Lake
Wide range of pediatric experience across multiple rotations in pediatric inpatient unit, NICU, newborn nursery, emergency medicine and outpatient pediatric clinic
Six blocks of elective time to gain more experience in a particular specialty or area of interest
Home visit program to help care for those that are not able to travel for appointments and care for those transitioning from inpatient to home
State-of-the-art ultrasound lab with training to help bring advanced imaging to the patient at the bedside
Teaching opportunities with medical, pharmacy and athletic training students

Learn about acting internships with our program

Resident Wellness

Resident wellness is emphasized at Altru Family Medicine Residency. Throughout each academic year, events and activities are held for residents, faculty and support staff. These include:

Ruttger’s Retreat

Every year residents and faculty enjoy a weekend in June at Ruttger’s Birchmont Lodge in Bemidji, MN. The weekend provides the opportunity to meet each other’s families, welcome the incoming first year residents and have lots of fun enjoying one of the beautiful lakes in northern Minnesota!

Resident Education

Altru residents learning a new tool.One afternoon every month the residents are excused from their normal rotations and have protected time for Resident Education. This consists of a chance to have discussion time with a resident’s own class, followed by hands on education and practice learning a new skill related to Family Medicine which include casting, IUD placement, ultrasound guided injections, and perineal repairs. Following this is a free dinner at a local restaurant shared by all the residents together.

Sports Leagues

Grand Forks offers several recreational sports throughout the year. Historically, residents have been involved in sand volleyball, basketball, and bowling.

Contact Us

If you have questions about the program or admission requirements, please contact Dr. Heidi Philpot, Program Director, or Kelsey Huttunen, Residency Coordinator at:

Dr. Heidi Philpot
Program Director
hphilpot@altru.org