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Sells Indian Health Service Clinic

Susan HausserSells IHS

Site Coordinator: Susan Hausser, MD

1 Student per period

P.O. Box 548
Sells, AZ 85634
(56 miles west of Tucson on Ajo Highway 86)

Housing: available adjacent to the hospital; request in advance (or commute/car pool). Meals provided at the hospital.

Mileage: compensation not provided by FCM

Residency: No
100% with attending

Hospital Affiliation*:
Sells IHS Hospital (same building as clinic)

Daily # of FP Patients: 250

Patients Population Profile:
Tohono O'odham and a few other Native Americans (occasional Spanish speakers)

  • Inpatient ward rounds at Sells IHS Hospital (optional)
  • Four 10-hour days Tuesday-Friday; Monday am session in Tucson
  • Ten FP doctors, 3 Internists, 3 Pediatricians (some able to carpool) and other primary care specialists

Flex-time Activities:

  • ER each Friday am
  • Additional evening ER (optional)
  • Rural home visits with public health nurses
  • Jail clinic
  • Santa Rosa/West Side rural clinic
  • Field clinics

Insurance Spectrum:
Primarily population-based single payer IHS system although many patients are also on AHCCCS. Some are enrolled in HMOs or PPOs through their employers in addition to their IHS services.

Specific Site Info:
All program participants need to be informed of the Special Provisions of the Tucson Area Indian Health Service Agreement with the University of Arizona Health Sciences contracting office, requiring background checks for any student performing a rotation at this site.

Outpatient department of 34 bed hospital serving 20,000 Native Americans

Comments from Dr. Hausser:

"Working in a community with a unique culture and history is endlessly interesting, challenging and rewarding. The multi-generational family ties allow me to develop relationships with patients that are often enriched by knowing other members of their family. Students generally find this site to be very stimulating, offering a volume and spectrum of clinical challenges that may be different from what they have previously experienced. I have an interest and training in colposcopy. Other member of the staff have developed skills in such areas as rheumatology, orthopedics, sigmoidoscopy, endocrinology, maternal/child health and emergency medicine."

Comments from Students:

"Dr. Hausser is a very competent physician, and time permitting, she always let me develop my own differential and treatment plan. She was always constructive in her comments. She was very interested in student progress."

"Dr. Hausser's greatest strength is her dedication to her patients."

Location http://www.fcm.arizona.edu/index.cfm/1,134,394,0,html

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