For Cosimo Storniolo, MD, teaching has been an important and much-loved part of his career. So when news broke a couple years ago that Samaritan Health Services would launch its own residency programs, he jumped at the opportunity to be part of the educational system.

“I’ve taught most of my career and I was so excited to be part of the residency programs,” says Storniolo. “It’s such a huge plus for the hospital and our community to be sponsoring residency programs, not to mention a medical school.”

Storniolo cares for patients at Samaritan Internal Medicine – the outpatient setting in Corvallis that’s taken on the role as the “Continuity Clinic” for the residency program in internal medicine. As a continuity clinic, residents see patients over time – a three-year period – in order to gain practical knowledge of the ongoing care of an adult population. 

“The residents really become our partners,” says Storniolo. “They see patients independently and consult with us. It’s so far beyond being a student.”

And according to Storniolo, the benefit of this partnership for the patient is tremendous.

“It’s almost like the patients get two doctors instead of one,” he says. “There is more time with the resident and more than one set of eyes looking at each case. The patients have welcomed them. We as physicians have welcomed them. It absolutely improves the level of care all around.”

In addition to the immediate benefit of patient care, Storniolo believes the promotion of primary care as a specialty choice for young doctors, and the integration of those physicians into our communities, will have long-lasting effects on the health of our communities.

“There is a real need for primary care physicians and it’s our hope that many of these residents will not only pursue primary care as a career, but stay in the area to practice,” he says.

As for his personal teaching methods, Storniolo says he’s utilized skills he gained in a faculty development course at John Hopkins University years ago. Some of his mentoring goals include promoting independence, using the Socratic method of letting residents come to their own conclusions, and modeling good patient-physician interviewing style and relationships.

“I trained in New York in a very urban setting,” says Storniolo. “You don’t need to train in a metropolitan area to be a great doctor. The hospital here is a regional center and has a great variety of cases – including high acuity. And we have a wide mix of patients in the outpatient setting. There are lots of great teachers here with time to teach. I’d say in many cases, training in a community like ours in preferable.”