UW Cheyenne Residency Administrator Receives National Award

Pamela MacMillan, the residency coordinator at the University of Wyoming’s Family Medicine Residency Program in Cheyenne, was part of a team that recently received the President’s Award from the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine (STFM).

MacMillan and her colleagues on the STFM’s Competency Based Medical Education (CBME) Task Force were recognized for helping shape medical residency education, the period when physicians gain experience and prepare for the remainder of their professional careers.

“The STFM CBME task force has played a key role for STFM and the family medicine discipline by initiating, implementing and leading CBME work at a critical time for residency programs and faculty,” MacMillan says. “New American Board of Family Medicine outcome attestation requirements that took effect in July 2023 have accelerated the shift toward CBME in family medicine residency programs.”

The new model emphasizes outcome-based learning, ensuring that residents demonstrate specific competencies before progressing. It’s a major shift from traditional time-based training and is designed to better align with the evolving needs of patients and communities.

“I am so proud of Pamela’s individual growth and development over her 20-plus years of being an administrator in our program,” says Evan Norby, the residency program director. “Her level of commitment to the program and the education of our program’s resident physicians is highly valued by me. I am pleased to see her get this national recognition award so that others can see these attributes that I get to see on a daily basis.”

For over 30 years, UW’s Family Medicine Residency Program at Cheyenne has been dedicated to meeting the health care needs of the region, says Beth Robitaille, the designated institutional officer for UW’s Graduate Medical Education Program.

“We are proud of the scholarly activity and contributions of our Graduate Medical Education faculty, residents and staff,” Robitaille says. “As an unopposed program, our residents benefit from exceptional hands-on training and personalized mentorship from both faculty and outstanding community physicians. At the heart of our mission is a strong commitment to delivering high-quality primary care and preparing well-rounded, ‘best all-around’ family physicians to serve the people of Wyoming with excellence and compassion.”

Patrick Hardigan, dean of UW’s College of Health Sciences, says MacMillan’s award “highlights the vital role our team plays in advancing competency-based medical education, which better prepares residents to meet the evolving needs of our communities. Pamela’s dedication over more than two decades reflects the excellence and commitment that define our Graduate Medical Education Program, and I’m thrilled to see her work honored on this national stage.”

To learn more about the Cheyenne residency program, visit www.uwyo.edu/chyfammed/.

About UW’s College of Health Sciences

The College of Health Sciences trains health and wellness professionals and researchers in a wide variety of disciplines, including medicine, nursing, pharmacy, speech-language pathology, social work, kinesiology, public health, health administration and disability studies. The college also oversees residency and fellowship programs in Casper and Cheyenne, as well as operating a speech/hearing clinic in Laramie and primary care clinics in Laramie, Casper and Cheyenne.

With more than 1,600 undergraduate, graduate and professional students, the college is dedicated to training the health and wellness workforce of Wyoming and conducting high-quality research and community engagement, with a particular focus on rural and frontier populations.