Site information
Site Director
Sandpoint Women's Health
423 N. 3rd Street
Suite 210
Sandpoint, ID 83864
Contact
Sharon Beeman (credentialing)
Office: 208-265-1102
Fax: 208-265-1277
Kim Bledsoe (clinic manager)
Office: 208-263-2173
Introduction
Sandpoint Women's Health is a single specialty OB/GYN group practice located in Sandpoint, Idaho. There is also a Tuesday satellite obstetrics clinic in Bonners Ferry, Idaho, 40 miles to the north of Sandpoint. The clerkship is designed so that the student spends most of their time at the Sandpoint site where all physicians participate in medical student education.
Dr. Kristin Algoe is the site coordinator. Our clinic is the only OB/GYN practice serving the town of Sandpoint. We work closely with family practice and specialty physicians in our town. Together we provide women's health services to Sandpoint and the surrounding area, including Bonner and Boundary Counties. Sandpoint Women's Health is an established WRITE site and two students participate in that educational program each year.
Sandpoint is in the tip of the Idaho Panhandle, 65 miles south of the Canadian border. Nestled on the northwest shore of 43-mile long Lake Pend Oreille at an elevation of 2,070 feet, it is surrounded by the Selkirk and Cabinet mountains and has a population of 8,900. Sandpoint provides medical services to approximately 60,000 people in the surrounding counties.
Credentialing
Please submit all paperwork* to:
- Sharon Beeman
Credentialing Specialist
Bonner General Hospital
P.O. Box 1448
Sandpoint, ID 83864
*Paperwork must be submitted no later than two weeks before the start of your clerkship.
Directions
From Spokane proceed to Coeur d'Alene on I-90 east, then north on US 95 from Coeur d'Alene to Sandpoint. Follow the road as it winds through town and take a left onto west Cedar Street, then turn right onto North 3rd Avenue. Our address is 423 North 3rd Avenue #210.
First Day of the Rotation
Plan to meet Kim Bledsoe at 8 a.m. at Sandpoint Women's Health. Please contact her at least two weeks before rotation for further details:
Email: kim.bledsoe@bonnergeneral.org
Office Number: 208-263-2173
Housing
For this required clinical clerkship students will be contacted by Kim Bledsoe at kim.bledsoe@bonnergeneral.org or (208) 263-2173.
The UW SoM WWAMI Student Travel web site is managed by the GoWWAMI team and is the best resource for students who have questions about travel and reimbursement.
Pagers
Pagers are not required for this rotation; however, students are expected to use their cell phones as they would a pager.
Clinic Milieu
Our clinic is very busy and our practitioners see a wide range of OB/GYN patients. Our clinical and office staff enjoy working with medical students, and we will do our best to help you. Teamwork is an important part of our success as a practice, and we welcome you to our team. Expect to work with each of the physicians at some point during your rotation. This is a clinical site where independence and good clinical and interpersonal skills are required. Remember there are no residents at our clinic site. Our patients are used to seeing their attending physicians and are used to a high level of personal care and a private office setting. Our experience has been that our patients are very accepting of medical students if a high level of professionalism and a professional, respectful demeanor is displayed at all times.
Students are expected to dictate or write up clinic patient visits in which they are involved. We are using EMR. Learning appropriate documentation is an important part of providing good care. Strengths of our rotation include the opportunity for plenty of hands-on obstetric experience, although this may require a somewhat flexible approach to call. We have an average of 30-35 deliveries a month. Many of these can occur at nights or on the weekends. If students wish to be involved with a large number of deliveries they may need to make themselves available when these occur. There is plenty of opportunity to assist at surgery. Again, we have no residents, and therefore medical students can get plenty of direct hands-on experience with assisting at surgery. Our goal is by the end of your six-week rotation you will have a realistic sense of the scope and rewards of private practice obstetrics and gynecology in addition to meeting the objectives of clerkship. Regardless of your future chosen specialty we hope your experience in Sandpoint will be a valuable part of your overall medical education.
Hospital
Bonner General Health is a Critical Care Hospital and has 25 patient beds, 4 ICU beds, and averages 1,700 admissions a year. There are approximately 3,500 surgeries, approximately 300 deliveries. There are approximately 70 Providers on staff at Bonner General Hospital. Students receive hospital access by completing the required hospital paperwork. The clinic is attached to the hospital by skywalk. The in-patient OB/GYN census ranges from 0-6 patients in-house at any one time.
Extracurricular Activities
Sandpoint offers many activities. Sandpoint's lakes, mountains and rivers make for excellent recreation in all four seasons. Sandpoint is also known for its music, arts and culture. There is a thriving arts community and many live musical performances available on a regular basis throughout the year. Additional attractions include swimming and boating on Lake Pend Oreille, Schweitzer Mountain Resort, museums, sleigh rides, fish hatcheries, antiques, and the Panida theater. Downhill skiing at Schweitzer Mountain Resort, which is nine miles from town, runs from approximately Thanksgiving through early April.
Weather Trends
Winters are wet with lots of snow and rain. The weather can be very cloudy, although sunny days appear regularly. The average temperatures in the winter are in the 20s and 30s. Summers are warm and sunny with very little rain. Rarely do summer temperatures exceed 90 degrees.