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The family medicine residency program was approved by the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) in 1988 and has recently grown to 4 residents in each year of training. The program received initial accreditation from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) on 04/01/2018 and initial recognition for Osteopathic Recognition effective 07/01/2019.
This dually accredited program currently leads eligible candidates to certification by both the Osteopathic and Allopathic boards.
The mission of the program is to train residents in a small-town and rural environment to become exceptional Family Physicians and to meet the needs of the communities of Mercer and Lawrence Counties while customizing the residency experience for each resident to meet their respective career goals. We provide quality, patient-centered care across all ages and in any clinical setting. Our program features direct, one-on-one interaction with specialists as well as a strong team of experienced, passionate family medicine faculty. Our graduates serve rural to urban communities in Western Pennsylvania and throughout the United States in fields ranging from traditional primary care, all outpatient, hospitalist, ER, and urgent care. Patient care and resident education are equal partners in the mission of the residency.
Beginning in July 2018, the Family Medicine Residency Practice moved to a new, larger office behind the UPMC Horizon — Shenango Valley campus, called Shenango Valley Family Medicine. The new office allows the residents and faculty to better meet the needs of the local community by improving access to primary care and providing a comprehensive medical home.
The first year provides incoming residents with solid introduction to the breadth and diversity of family medicine. It includes a series of inpatient rotations at UPMC Horizon (internal medicine, surgery, obstetrics, and emergency medicine), one month of inpatient pediatrics at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh.
Call during the intern year is dependent upon the rotation. On the inpatient medicine rotation, interns take in-house call during the daytime every other weekend. The rest of the intern class alternates for the other weekends. Weekend call outside of the inpatient rotation is 1 in 6 weekends. During the OB month, interns may take call up to once a week. Call can be assigned during inpatient pediatrics at times.
Residents also spend one half-day session, per week, in the Family Medicine Center.
The second and third-year curriculum offers a broader array of experiences, along with the required rotations by the ACGME, in order to achieve a greater educational experience in the depths of family medicine.
Second year residents spend 3 half-day sessions, on average, per week in the office and third year residents spend 3-4 half-day sessions, depending upon the rotation.
Additional continuity experiences in the second and third year include:
There is no in-house overnight call in our program. PGY-2 and PGY-3 residents perform in-house call until 10 p.m. on weeknights averaging 3 call nights/month. The senior resident on the service covers every other weekend until 10 p.m. on the inpatient block with the other senior residents alternating weekends. Outside of your inpatient block, senior residents average 4 weekends/year.
We are able to utilize the full benefits of our large tertiary-care system to access electives in many fields with appropriate advance planning. We strongly believe in the benefits of customizing your residency experience to achieve your future practice goals.
The continuity training experience, within the continuity of care family practice clinic, provides the resident with a training environment equivalent to that of a private practice.
The continuity training experience will develop those skills and experiences necessary to give the resident the competence and confidence to provide exceptional patient care.
The goals of the continuity training experience are to provide:
Residents are often recruited to the local community to continue the compassionate and comprehensive care they have been taught.
Options include:
Applications to set up an audition or shadowing experience will be accepted starting March 1st. Please contact the Family Medicine Residency Coordinator at UPMC Horizon via email at foltzaa@upmc.edu with your completed form and updated CV.
In the meantime, please complete the paperwork on the Medical Student Orientation page.
Shadow opportunities are available for medical students, a max of three (3) days is approved at UPMC Horizon. If you wish to shadow, please complete the paperwork on the Job Shadow page and email to foltzaa@upmc.edu.
All applicants must apply through ERAS® (the Electronic Residency Application Service. Only these applications will be reviewed. No paper applications are accepted. Applications are accepted from September 15th until December 20th. We sponsor J1 and H1B visas.
Criteria for selection for an interview:
The final selection is made by the Program Director and Faculty after review of the entire application. We receive greater than 150 applications per residency slot. Therefore, we cannot respond to inquiries regarding your application status. All applications are reviewed.
If you are selected to interview with our program, you will receive an invitation via ERAS email from our Recruitment Coordinator.
UPMC Horizon’s Family Medicine applicants will be invited to a dinner with the family medicine residents the evening before the interview day. Applicants may stay at the nearby Hampton Inn, West Middlesex, for the evening, free of charge.
Interview days will begin around 8 a.m. with applicants participating in a portion of the core didactic lectures followed by a tour of the hospital, continuity clinic, and the Shenango Valley community. After returning to the hospital, there will be a lunch followed by individual interviews with a faculty panel and the interview day will end around 1pm.
Martin G. Johns, MD
Residency Program Director
Originally from Pittsburgh, Dr. Johns graduated from Temple University School of Medicine in Philadelphia, PA. He completed his residency in Greenwood, SC in a small-town environment much like the Shenango Valley. He then worked as a hospitalist for 2 years affiliated with his family medicine residency before moving back to Western Pennsylvania. For the last several years, Dr. Johns was the Associate Program Director at the UPMC McKeesport Family Medicine Residency where he was also the Director of Inpatient Training and Medical Student education and the Co-director of Maternity Care. Along with being the Residency Program Director, he is the Medical Director of the University of Pittsburgh’s Physician Assistant Program. Dr. Johns has faculty appointments at the University of Pittsburgh, LECOM, and OU-HCOM. His areas of interest include inpatient medicine, sports medicine, office-based procedures, women’s health, and global health. Dr. Johns is board certified by the American Board of Family Medicine.
Kary Schroyer, DO
Associate Program Director
Director of Osteopathic Education
Dr. Schroyer accepted the position of family medicine residency program associate director in July 2001. Dr. Schroyer has previously served in several leadership roles at UPMC Horizon including Chief of Staff, Chairman of the Department of Family and Community Services, Chairman of the OMT Committee, and as a member of the Medical Records Committee. In addition, he has provided care to Westminster College students as their college physician. Dr. Schroyer was the co-owner of a private family practice in New Wilmington for 17 years before founding and joining Shenango Valley Family Medicine- UPMC in October 2017.
Dr. Schroyer sees patients in the areas of pediatrics, adolescents, adult medicine, and geriatrics. His areas of interest include practice management and sleep medicine. Dr. Schroyer is a recently retired lieutenant colonel in the United States Army Reserves and has completed several tours of duty, including detainee care in Iraq in 2008 and is board certified by the American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians.
Dr. Carl joined UPMC Horizon’s faculty immediately after completing her residency at UPMC Horizon in 2018. Dr. Carl is a graduate of Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine and is originally from nearby New Wilmington, PA. She practices exclusively at the Shenango Valley Family Medicine site. Dr. Carl is certified by the American Board of Family Medicine.
Timothy Fullerton, DO
Dr. Fullerton is a graduate of Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine and completed his family medicine residency at UPMC St. Margaret in 2012. He joined Primary Health Network (PHN) Mercer Primary Care in 2012 and has been working with the residency program ever since. Dr. Fullerton is board certified by the American Board of Family Medicine and has medical staff privileges at UPMC Horizon. Dr. Fullerton is a lifelong resident of Southwestern Pennsylvania. He is a current member of the American Osteopathic Academy of Addiction Medicine. His area of interests includes Preventative Care and Addiction Medicine.
Dr Liszewski grew up in western Pennsylvania, attended the University of Pittsburgh studying mechanical engineering, and worked as a mechanical engineer for IBM and Elliott Company before entering medical school at the University of Maryland in 1991. He completed his residency in Family Medicine at Latrobe Hospital, where he later was employed at the Latrobe Hospital Family Health centers and was a part-time faculty for the residency. Dr Liszewski moved to Mercer County, PA in 2007 and had a full spectrum family medicine practice in Greenville, PA until becoming a full-time hospitalist at UPMC Horizon in 2016. He became a faculty member for the UPMC Horizon Family Medicine Residency in 2019 and is the director of the inpatient residency service. Dr Liszewski has interest in sports medicine, and geriatrics, having been medical director at 2 nursing homes in the past, and is chairman of the ethics committee at UPMC Horizon/Jameson. Dr. Liszewski is certified by the American Board of Family Medicine.
Dr. Novosel is a graduate of Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine and completed her family medicine residency at UPMC Horizon in 2013. She initially practiced nearby in her hometown of West Middlesex, PA before founding the Shenango Valley Family Medicine site in 2017. Dr. Novosel is certified by the American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians.
Dr. Shipton provides family medicine services at Primary Health Network (PHN) Mercer Primary Care. He has been affiliated with PHN since July 2000 and was the former Chief Medical Officer at Primary Health Network. Dr. Shipton earned his medical degree from Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine and completed a family medicine residency at UPMC Mercy Health System, Pittsburgh. He is certified by the American Board of Family Practice and has medical staff privileges at UPMC Horizon. He is the past Chairman of the Department of Family and Community Medicine at UPMC Horizon, and past Chairman of the Utilization Review Committee. He has previously published in the American Family physician. His areas of interest include renal toxicology, infectious diseases and pharmacology.
