Des Moines, IA, medical center addresses need for family doctors

The residency program at Des Moines, IA-based Broadlawns Medical Center offers a training ground for family doctors as both Iowa and the country faces a critical shortage in family medicine. Participants in Broadlawns' program encounter a diverse population with a wide range of healthcare needs, said Larry Severidt, director of medical education and the family medicine residency program at Broadlawns. The focus is to provide doctors with intense training in a broad base of skills, and if these doctors work in rural areas they'll know how to deliver babies, how to care for critical patients, how to manage an emergency room, and more, Severidt said.