Family Medicine Resident Spotlight: Dr. Mitchell Moe
Mitchell Moe, MD (he/him), is a second-year resident at St. John’s Hospital Family Medicine Residency Program. We spoke about his residency program, his journey and current specialty focus, and his future endeavors.
Why did you choose your residency program?
I knew I wanted to stay in Minnesota for residency. I knew that all of the University of Minnesota family medicine residency programs were really strong. Fortunately, two of my best friends I went to medical school with were also planning to go into family medicine, so we took the whole interview season to go through and really analyze all the different programs and what our priorities were. And we all ultimately decided to choose St. John's. Fortunately, we all ended up here.
What aspects of the program do you particularly appreciate?
I really appreciate that we have a strong inpatient experience where we can pair patients one-on-one with our faculty, promoting a much better mentorship educational style. I also appreciate that we have colonoscopy training here.
How is the program preparing you for your career goals?
I think St. John's being so strong in many different areas of medicine is important. The program is preparing me for my career goals because, as I prepare to go to a very small rural practice, I will need to know a lot about many different types of conditions for my future patients. So, I am getting great training in inpatient, outpatient, procedures, and sports medicine.
What are your plans after family medicine residency?
My plans after residency are to be a full spectrum doctor in Ely, Minnesota. I eventually want to get involved with medical student education by having students come and do early clinical experiences with me. And then eventually, in the long run, I'd like to take my patients' stories, their worries, their hopes, and be able to translate that into better policy for Minnesotans.
What is a day in the life for you as a resident?
A day in the life of a resident is just something different every single day. It's a little stressful not having much stability, but also it really pushes us to be the best residents and doctors that we can be. One day, I am in the sports medicine clinic, and later that day I am following a cardiologist. I might be on call that night, having to manage a delivery, getting paged about an issue with a newborn, and getting pages from clinic patients after hours with questions that they have concerns about. So, no day looks the same.
Are there any particular highlights you'd like to mention?
One training highlight that immediately comes to mind is the colonoscopy training. It's very unique to our program that we have a faculty member who's trained in colonoscopy and who's willing to train us to do it in our future practices. So that's one aspect I'm really excited about bringing that care to my future community.
What advice would you give a prospective trainee?
To any prospective residents, I would just say that you can't go wrong with any of the University of Minnesota family medicine residency programs. They're all very strong in their own ways. I would say that if you're not really sure what you want your future practice to look like, or if you know you want it to include everything, St. John’s is a great program to come to. That’s especially true if you're someone who wants to maintain a life outside of the label of being a resident because that's something we really prioritize here.
What do you like best about learning, living, and practicing in Minnesota?
What I like about practicing and learning in Minnesota is that I have my friends and family right here. There's a very strong food scene in Saint Paul and Minneapolis with so many different options to choose from. It's a very green city, and we’re the land of over 10,000 lakes. So I can go hiking, canoeing, and skiing.
Learn more about our St. John’s Hospital Family Medicine Residency Program here.
