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Family Medicine moves into new digs on Trident Campus  The MUSC Department of Family Medicine residency program completed its move to North Charleston this month with the opening of the University Family Medicine building on the campus of Trident Medical Center.   The new 23,000 square foot facility —which also includes a 200-seat conference area named Trident Community Center—was showcased in a grand opening ceremony held Thursday, July 22.    University Family Medicine arose from the need to give family medicine residents exposure to the broad scope of patients they will likely treat in their own future practices.   “Medical cases seen in an academic medical center like MUSC often arise from referrals and are not representative of the patients they will see in their future practices,” said Family Medicine chair William Hueston, M.D. “Moving the residency program to Trident allows them to gain experience early in the course of a patient's illness and manage the patient in a community hospital setting.”    The clinic's North Charleston presence also expands primary care access for underserved populations in northern Charleston and southern Berkeley and Dorchester counties.   “We've been providing care to patients in downtown Charleston for the past 29 years. This is an opportunity to expand these services to other underserved patients in the Tri-county area,” said Barry Hainer, M.D., Family Medicine medical director.    Since February 1997, one class of residents has moved each year from the Family Medicine Center on Calhoun Street, downtown to North Charleston. Earlier this month, the transition was completed when third-year residents made the move. Faculty and residents began seeing patients in the new building on July 12.   With 18 exam rooms, the new building houses 36 residents, support staff and faculty.    The new practice is electronically linked to the Family Medicine Center on Calhoun Street to allow access to computerized patient records at both sites, and teleconferencing for education purposes.    In addition to seeing patients at University Family Medicine, residents perform their inpatient family medicine and obstetrics and gynecology rotations at Trident Medical Center.   Trident Community Center, a 4,000 square foot conference area located on the second floor of the new building, also arose from this collaboration between MUSC and Trident Health System. Complete with state-of-the-art audiovisual equipment, the center will expand community outreach and physician and resident education in the Tri-county area. Programs ranging from fitness, nutrition, women's health topics and support groups to continuing medical education will be offered each month.   While the residency program ambulatory clinic is moving to University Family Medicine in North Charleston, the Department of Family Medicine will continue to operate the Family Medicine Center on Calhoun Street.  The Family Medicine Center has been converted to a faculty practice which will continue to serve current family medicine patients as well as faculty and staff.   Family Medicine at a glance Established on Feb. 2, 1970, the  MUSC Department of Family Medicine was one of the first academic departments of family practice in the country. The MUSC Family Medicine Residency Program has graduated 291 family doctors, and more than half of these physicians now practice in South Carolina. The Department of Family Medicine now operates clinical sites in downtown Charleston, West Ashley and North Charleston that provide services for nearly 60,000 patient visits per year.