Family Medicine Clinical Rotations - Allen Hospital
Message from the Central Iowa Family Medicine Residency Program Director
Welcome to the UnityPoint Health – Des Moines Family Medicine Residency Program, now with tracks at Iowa Lutheran Hospital in Des Moines and Allen Hospital in Waterloo. Our Iowa Lutheran Hospital track has trained high-achieving family medicine physicians for over 50 years. In July of 2021, we added the Allen Hospital training track to our program and look forward to many years of success in Waterloo. Our program has a history of training residents for a wide range of careers. In the past five years we have had graduates practice in the following settings: rural full-scope family medicine, outpatient clinic, faculty positions, hospitalist medicine, emergency medicine, urgent care and direct primary care. Our graduates are consistently and highly recruited by multiple health systems across the Midwest.
Our Des Moines track trains primarily at Iowa Lutheran Hospital, a 225-bed community-based hospital within UnityPoint Health, the largest hospital system in the state of Iowa. This permits our residents to enjoy a small hospital atmosphere while still reaping the benefits and stability of a large hospital system. In addition to Iowa Lutheran Hospital, our Des Moines track residents benefit by rotating at other UnityPoint Health hospitals without having to leave town. These hospitals include Blank Children's Hospital, a dedicated pediatric center, and Iowa Methodist Medical Center, a level one trauma center and home to Central Iowa's largest birthing center. Our East Des Moines clinic completes over 25,000 patient visits per year and allows for a broad mix of pathology across a diverse patient population. UnityPoint Health – Des Moines currently leads the region in market share for every service line. This allows each resident to tailor his or her education with the assurances that the needed patient experiences and procedural opportunities will be attainable.
Our Waterloo track primarily trains at Allen Hospital. Allen Hospital was founded in 1925 and is now a 204-bed hospital that is recognized as a leading hospital for the Cedar Valley catchment area. For more than 40 years, Allen Hospital has provided training for family medicine residents but in 2021 became the primary site for our Waterloo track. Allen Hospital provides patient care in all service lines and offers the diversity in patients and pathology needed for a successful, well-rounded residency experience. The Waterloo track also includes our new Family Medicine Residency Clinic located at the larger UnityPoint Clinic – Prairie Parkway location. Prairie Parkway is a 90,000 sq. ft., three-story campus located on 20 acres in the growing Pinnacle Prairie area of Cedar Falls. This clinic represents a new care model that offers patients and families a "one-stop shop" for coordinated, comprehensive and patient-centered health care services.
Our two-track system has allowed us to innovate and change the way medical education is delivered. We are now able to share best practices across regions, lean on experts located at each track for lectures and education opportunities and better use health care dollars during these unprecedented times. In addition to being located in two regions, our program is also affiliated with the University of Iowa which gives our residents access to the resources and perks that come with an academic affiliation.
The best part of our program is the people. We have worked over many years to build a collegial atmosphere where everyone can learn in a non-threatening environment. Our faculty will look for ways to improve your medical knowledge and shape your education, all while focusing on wellness.
Please browse our website and reach out with any questions. Thank you for considering entrusting us with your education. Together, we can enhance our program and continue our successful tradition.
Best,
Alexandra Hubbell, DO
Message from the Associate Director – Allen Hospital - Waterloo Track
Welcome to the Allen Hospital Waterloo Track of the UnityPoint Health Central Iowa Family Medicine Residency Program. Family medicine residents have been trained at Allen Hospital for the past 42 years. In 2021, these positions joined the Central Iowa Family Medicine Residency Program in Des Moines. This collaboration allows us to improve continuity and coordination of care, as we aim to encourage family medicine physicians to build their medical practices in local communities. As an unopposed training site, residents have access to the breadth of patients seen at the hospital.
Allen Hospital is a 204-bed, not-for-profit hospital and the busiest in the Cedar Valley. It serves as a referral center for a 10-county service area and is a market share leader in most service lines. Allen Hospital offers the diversity in patients and pathology needed for a successful, well-rounded residency experience.
Located in a growing area of Cedar Falls, Iowa, UnityPoint Clinic Family Medicine Residency – Prairie Parkway is minutes away from Allen Hospital. In addition to the residency program, the Prairie Parkway building houses therapy services, a pharmacy and a broad spectrum of primary care clinics including family medicine, pediatrics, OB/GYN and an LGTBQ clinic. The proximity of these specialty clinics is optimal for resident rotational experience and convenient for patients.
In addition to training in these state-of-the-art facilities, residents also have the option of rotating at the other hospital and clinic sites affiliated with the Iowa Lutheran branch of the program in Des Moines. This includes Blank Children's Hospital and Iowa Methodist Medical Center. We are affiliated with the University of Iowa, which grants residents access to their Hardin Medical Library and other resources.
We are excited to welcome new residents into the UnityPoint Health family and look forward to learning more about you. We strive to provide a collegial environment that prepares residents for a rewarding career as a family physician. Thank you for taking the time to explore our website; please reach out to us with questions. At UnityPoint Health, we rely on all our team members to provide the best care for our patients. As a resident, we want you to know how much you matter to this world.
Best,
Adam Froyum Roise, MD
About Our Program
The Allen Hospital track of the Central Iowa Family Medicine Residency Program in Waterloo, Iowa, offers an unopposed, community-based environment, with a focus on treating patients and their families. Residents have trained in Allen Hospital for over 40 years, and the Prairie Parkway Residency Clinic was added in 2021 to continue this legacy. We tailor our program to meet your individual needs, while providing a full range of family medicine services. We will help you prepare for the ever-changing, real-world clinical environment.
Practice Facilities
UnityPoint Clinic Family Medicine Residency – Prairie Parkway is located on the Prairie Parkway campus in Cedar Falls. Constructed in 2017, the building is the clinic and administrative space for the residency program. As one of several primary care clinics under the same roof, the residents are integrated into the environment of practicing family physicians. Here you'll learn how to manage and care for patients in a modern clinic.
Average Time Spent at Clinic
- First-year resident: 5 hours per week
- Second-year resident: 10 hours per week
- Third-year resident: 15-20 hours per week
UnityPoint Clinic Family Medicine Residency – Prairie Parkway Includes:
- Clinic space for residents and faculty physicians to work side-by-side
- Ample didactic and resident workspace
- Well-established Epic Electronic Medical Record in use since 2005 (clinic and hospital)
- Workspace for each resident, equipped with a personal computer
- Reference library
- Osteopathic manipulation tables
Co-located at UnityPoint Clinic Family Medicine Residency – Prairie Parkway are:
- Full-time clinical pharmacists and pharmacy residents
- On-site outpatient pharmacy
- Physical, occupational and speech therapy for children and adults
- Laboratory and technicians
- Radiology and technicians (including mammography, bone density and ultrasound)
- OB/GYN, endocrinology, pediatric, internal medicine and family medicine colleagues
The hospital has 204 staffed beds and specializes in cardiovascular care, maternity services, emergency and trauma treatment, chemical dependency treatment, behavioral medicine, general surgery, critical care, older adult services and home health care.
Other community clinics and organizations in which our residents participate include:
- Black Hawk Grundy Mental Health Center
- University of Northern Iowa Athletic Department
- Patient care at several area nursing homes
- Home visits
- Substance use treatment, including MAT therapy
- UnityPoint LGBTQ Clinic
- Black Hawk County Public Health Department
Curriculum
- Emergency Medicine (8 weeks)
- Family Medicine Ambulatory (8 weeks)
- Family Medicine Inpatient (8 weeks)
- Night Float (8 weeks)
- Obstetrics/Gynecology (8 weeks)
- Surgery (4 weeks)
- Behavioral Medicine (2 weeks)
- Cardiology (4 weeks)
- Community Medicine (4 weeks - 2 weeks longitudinal)
- Elective (4 weeks)
- Elective - Away (4 weeks)
- Family Medicine - Inpatient (4 weeks)
- ICU (4 weeks)
- NICU (2 weeks)
- Night Float (4 weeks)
- Obstetrics/Gynecology (8 weeks)
- Orthopedics (2 weeks)
- Pediatrics (4 weeks)
- Psychiatry (2 weeks)
- Sports Medicine (2 weeks)
- Ultrasound (2 weeks longitudinal)
- Community-Based Practice (4 weeks)
- Dermatology (2 weeks)
- Electives (14 weeks)
- Electives - Away (4 weeks)
- Family Medicine Inpatient (4 weeks)
- Gastroenterology (2 weeks)
- Nephrology (2 weeks)
- Night Float (4 weeks)
- Obstetrics/Gynecology (4 weeks)
- Orthopedics (2 weeks)
- Otolaryngology (2 weeks)
- Pediatrics (4 weeks)
- Pulmonology (2 weeks)
- Urology (2 weeks)
- Allergy
- Casting
- Developmental Pediatrics
- Endocrinology
- Gynecology
- High Risk OB
- Hospice
- Infectious Disease
- Office Cardiology
- Oncology
- Pain Management
- Palliative Care
- Pediatric Cardiology
- Perinatology
- Pharmacy
- Podiatry
- Rheumatology
- Wound Care
These are a few options available.
Every Wednesday afternoon we have educational conferences that include topics from the following areas:
- Cardiology
- Pediatrics
- Geriatrics
- OB/GYN lectures and conferences
- Practice management/coding specialist presentations
- Psychiatry
- University of Iowa Visiting Professor Lectures
- Electronic medical records
- Pharmacology
- Medical subspecialties
- Ancillary services
- Resident-led Journal Club
- Resident Balint sessions to help us examine the emotional content of the doctor/patient relationship
- Jeopardy™-like board review
Recent break out topics have included community medicine, chronic pain, domestic violence and human sexuality.
Stipend and Benefits
The annual stipends for the respective levels are as follows (Effective Academic Year 2025-2026):
- R1 - $65,487
- R2 - $67,111
- R3 - $68,735
Housing Allowance
$5,200 housing allowance each year. The allowance is added to each resident's paycheck throughout the year.
Transition Allowance
$750 relocation allowance is given to all incoming residents.
Paid Vacation
All residents receive 20 days of PTO per year.
Health Insurance
Residents may choose from two health insurance plans that best suit their individual needs. An annual health insurance bonus that partially funds the cost of a single-coverage health and dental insurance premium is given to each resident.
Life Insurance
The program provides group life insurance equal to the resident's annual stipend at no charge to the resident.
Resident Liability Coverage
General and professional liability coverage is provided for residents enrolled in the residency program through a combination of commercial insurance and self-insured retention. Coverages are no less than $1,000,000 per occurrence and $5,000,000 aggregate per policy year. Liability coverage remains in place permanently for any occurrence that takes place during a resident's training period at UnityPoint Health – Waterloo.
Short and Long-Term Disability Coverage
Short and long-term disability coverage is provided to residents. Short-term disability coverage (STD) is used when the resident is away from work for at least seven (7) days due to a non-work-related illness or injury. STD pays 60% of weekly earnings for a maximum of 26 weeks with no waiting period. Long-term disability insurance coverage ensures that residents will receive a minimum of 60% of their monthly salary if they are disabled due to illness or accident, on or off the job, following a 90-day qualifying period.
Residents are allocated five CME days per year and $2,400 over the three-year period to attend approved medical meetings, purchase textbooks or educational software.
Classes
- Basic Life Support
- Advanced Cardiac Life Support
- Neonatal Resuscitation
- Pediatric Advanced Life Support
- Advanced Life Support in Obstetrics
- STABLE
- Free Parking: All residents may park in a reserved area of the hospital parking facility at no charge.
- Meal Stipends: A meal stipend is provided while on duty
- Paid Licensure: Fees for the Iowa resident license are paid by the program.
- Lab Coats: Free lab coats are provided to all residents.
- Fitness Center on premises
- Employee Assistance Center
- Specialty Society Membership Benefit
Key Faculty
Alexandra Hubbell, DO
Program Director
Adam Froyum Roise, MD
Associate Program Director
Jeremy Cordes, DO, PharmD
Faculty Physician
Brianna Jewell-Newton, DO
Faculty Physician
First Year Residents
Second Year Residents
Third Year Residents
Strengths of Our Program
"I look up to our faculty at the Allen hospital Family Medicine Residency branch immensely. They are always willing to help, always show a genuine interest for our patients, the residents and our well-being, and the program. They give just the right amount of counselling and guidance and promote independent learning, assessments, and decision making.” – Oskar Wallen
"Work environment at UPH is supportive, collaborative, and has a strong focus on teamwork. Faculty Doctors are extremely approachable and always offer invaluable guidance while encouraging independent decision making, UPH is an awesome place to grow and learn as a resident and the environment is ideal for refining skills as a physician in a positive atmosphere.” – Raja Abdullah
"Working in an unopposed residency provides you with the opportunity to see a wide breadth of patients while being the primary provider for them. You are able to assess and treat patients as a whole and work directly with attendings. This allows you to understand the progression/complications of disease states and how to manage each step. It also allows you to build relationship with the patients you see.” – AJ Schmalfuhs
"I chose this program because I felt I knew I could really grow and be challenged. I felt the small size of the program would allow me to be able to work with the attendings on a more personal level. On my interview the attendings felt very personable, and in person they are even more so. Always accessible and there to encourage and challenge you. The residents have a strong comradery and encourage each other constantly. Additionally, Cedar Falls is a good mix between small town and large city. There is always something to do but it's not too busy or populated. It's a quick drive from multiple popular tourist cities.” — Maria Paula Reales
"Residency is going to be difficult no matter where you go but I believe that our program is supportive. A supportive environment is essential to help with stress and lessen the mental burden. We have Wellness Wednesday's where we do fun activities as a group not related to residency to help with balance. Personal and family wellness are promoted, and we check in on each other after difficult rotations.” – Meagan Etchemendy
"Our program gives us the opportunity to work directly with a variety of specialists on our hospital service and directly on rotations. The culture is very much one of collaboration and attendings are happy to approach teaching through the context of Family Medicine in a way that benefits your future practice. Being an unopposed program, we often have the opportunity to work directly with the attendings themselves, allowing for better educational opportunities.” – Dominic Allan
Application Process
Residents are selected through the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS®), a program of the Association of American Medical Colleges. Applications to our residency programs are only accepted through ERAS.
To be considered eligible for application to the Central Iowa Family Medicine Residency Program, the candidate must meet all academic criteria established below. The program director has the prerogative of presenting an applicant who would not otherwise be eligible but whose qualifications are felt to merit consideration.
The selection committee reviews all material and interviews a select group of qualified applicants. Interviews to fill the available positions will be conducted in October.
Applicants with one of the following qualifications are eligible for appointment to accredited residency programs:
- Graduate of medical schools in the U.S. and Canada accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME).
- Graduate of medical schools in the U.S. and Canada accredited by the American Osteopathic Association (AOA)
- Graduate of medical schools outside the U.S. and Canada who meet one of the following qualifications:
- Have received a currently valid certificate from the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates.
- Have a full unrestricted license to practice medicine in a U.S. licensing jurisdiction.
- Graduates of medical schools outside the U.S. who have completed a Fifth Pathway program provided by an LCME accredited medical school.
To be eligible for a resident license, an applicant shall meet all the following requirements as found in Chapter 10 of the Administrative Rules of the Iowa Board of Medical Examiners:
- Fulfill the application requirements.
- Be at least 20 years of age.
- Hold a medical degree from an educational institution approved by The Board at the time the applicant graduated and was awarded the degree.
- Educational institutions approved by The Board shall be fully accredited by an accrediting agency recognized by the board as schools of instruction in medicine and surgery or osteopathic medicine and surgery and empowered to grant academic degrees in medicine.
- The accrediting bodies currently recognized by the board are:
- LCME for the educational institutions granting degrees in medicine and surgery; and
- AOA for educational institutions granting degrees in osteopathic medicine and surgery.
- If the applicant holds a medical degree from an educational institution not approved by the board at the time the applicant graduated and was awarded the degree, the applicant must hold a valid certificate issued by ECFMG or have successfully completed a fifth pathway program established in accordance with AMA criteria.
Must meet all of the following:
- Preference given to those with recent training:
- Currently attending medical school training and eligible for graduation by the start of the residency year, or be a recent medical school graduate.
-or- - Been in training in an accredited internship or residency program within the past year.
- Currently attending medical school training and eligible for graduation by the start of the residency year, or be a recent medical school graduate.
- Must have received passing scores on USMLE or NBOME Step 1 and be eligible for the Step 2 exams.
- Must be fluent in written and verbal English language.
ERAS® Application
Applications are only accepted through the Electronic Application Service (ERAS®), a program of the Association of American Medical Colleges.
Learn More About Our Residency Program
We invite you to learn more about the Allen Hospital track of the Central Iowa Family Medicine Residency Program. Here, you can grow in a program with a strong academic center, a pleasant and flexible working environment and a diverse patient population. If you have any questions about our program, please contact us at (319) 222-2762 or reach out to Breann.Minikus@unitypoint.org.
Family Medicine Residency Program - Waterloo Track
5100 Prairie Parkway, Suite 205
Cedar Falls, IA 50613
Hospitals and Clinics in the Cedar Valley
Allen Hospital
Allen Hospital is a 204-bed, not-for-profit community hospital serving Iowa's Cedar Valley. Allen Hospital is an affiliate hospital of UnityPoint Health, which cares for one of every three patients in Iowa.Henry and Mary Allen settled in Waterloo in the early 1860s. They prospered here for 40 years before moving to California in 1900, but they never forgot their friends and neighbors back home.
After Mary died in 1913, Henry resolved to do something lasting in her memory. Henry promised the citizens of Waterloo 80 acres of prime land and $200,000 to found a non-sectarian hospital open to all, regardless of circumstance. Allen Hospital was dedicated on Mary's birthday in November 1924 and opened in February 1925.
Today, Allen Hospital is the busiest hospital in the Cedar Valley and cares for more inpatients, outpatients, emergency patients and cardiac patients than any other hospital in its 10-county service area.
UnityPoint Clinic Family Medicine Residency - Prairie Parkway
UnityPoint Clinic Family Medicine Residency – Prairie Parkway is the continuity clinic for the Allen track of the residency program. The clinic provides full scope primary care and family medicine services to patients in all stages of life – newborns to pediatrics, pre-natal care and obstetrics, all the way to geriatrics.Here, residents learn how to manage and care for office patients in a productive and efficiently managed clinic. The 10 exam rooms provide ample space for residents and full-time family physicians to practice. Several community family physicians also staff the clinic on a regular basis, providing more diversified training to residents.
The average time spent in the clinic by a first-year resident is five hours per week. Second year residents spend an average of 10 hours per week in the clinic, and third year residents average 15 to 20 hours per week. Each resident has a workspace and is provided with a laptop computer. We have fully implemented Epic as our web-based electronic medical record.
Conveniently located on 20 acres in Pinnacle Prairie, the area's fastest-growing retail center, the Prairie Parkway campus provides patient-centered, coordinated, comprehensive care in one location. The facility offers a full range of services in a 90,000-square-foot anchor building. Prairie Parkway also houses a laboratory and lab technicians, occupational, physical and speech therapy for children and adults, a retail pharmacy and radiology services, including bone density, mammography and ultrasound.
Life in the Cedar Valley
Family Medicine Residents will love living in the Cedar Valley!
The Cedar Valley area in Northeast Iowa includes a total population of about 250,000. The area is home to one of three Iowa Board of Regents universities, a four-year private college, innovative public and private Pre-K and K-12 schools and nationally recognized historic downtown districts.Life in the Cedar Valley is enhanced by an extensive system of recreational trails and bicycle paths, numerous municipal and state parks, golf courses, a variety of museums, music and cultural festivals and a state-of-the-art performing arts center. The Cedar Valley is within a day's drive of all major Midwest markets, with direct commercial flights to and from Chicago.