Welcome to the Rush Copley Family Medicine Residency Program- my name is Lauren Cordes, and I am the Chief Resident for the 2025-2026 academic year! Not only am I honored to work alongside such amazing residents, staff, and faculty, but I am also thrilled to tell you about our program and why I love it so much.
Our program is small but mighty- we are a 4/4/4 unopposed program- meaning 4 residents in each class, but no other residency programs in this hospital, so we don’t have to compete for learning opportunities. It really allows us to develop strong relationships with our core faculty as well as with the various specialists. These strong relationships grant residents the ability to receive up to date training in multiple specialties and to provide consistently excellent and evidence-based care to our patients. We have strong in-patient training, managing a rounding list consisting of our FMC patients and community patients, and rotating through the various specialties on site. The culture at Rush Copley is very warm and welcoming, not only are the attendings enthusiastic about teaching, the rest of the staff on this campus are excited to work with residents. One of the first things I noticed about this hospital is that people are truly happy to be working here, which is why many of our graduates often stay on as attendings once residency is over.
In addition to our fabulous attendings, we also strive for academic success with our didactics, which allows us to become more well-rounded in both in-patient and out-patient settings. Every Wednesday afternoon our residents gather for lectures that assist in expanding our knowledge with hands-on training, journal club, and guest lectures. Residents also practice their teaching skills by presenting topics and patient cases as part of our regular didactic schedule. Furthermore, residents participate in annual Quality Improvement projects to make changes to our clinical processes to better serve our surrounding communities. This last year we saw great success in improving diabetes control, colorectal cancer screenings, and breast cancer screenings for our patients.
Another one of our program’s greatest strengths lies in our hospital system- if a specialty is not offered at Rush Copley, we are able to find it at the Rush Downtown campus. This allows residents to receive training in areas that align with their personal and professional goals. Some of the rotations that residents have completed in the past include psychiatry, gender affirming care, and addiction medicine.
This program has so many excellent opportunities for learning and growth in a variety of settings. As part of our out-patient training, we learn how to manage our own panel of patients in clinic as well as at nursing homes. Many of our patients have been established with our residency clinic for many years and build strong relationships with residents, often cheering us on as we advance through the years. Our patient population is diverse, and we strive to provide safe, effective, and inclusive care at every visit.
There is no denying that residency is hard, we are therefore extremely invested in promoting wellness within our program. To help achieve this we have incorporated resident to resident mentorship, monthly resident wellness events, and annual residency retreats. These activities are coordinated by our Wellness Chief and assisted by representatives from each class. As we are such a small program, we also develop strong relationships with each other. We often make plans outside of work- celebrating achievements and birthdays, trying out new restaurants and cafes, and attending fun events together. The atmosphere of support that the residents have created for one another has been truly wonderful. Additionally, faculty are always seeking ways to improve our program and often make changes based on feedback from residents, making residents feel empowered in their day-to-day work.
Our hospital is located on the east side of Aurora, IL, which is the second most populous city in Illinois. It borders Naperville, where many of our residents live, constantly ranking as one of the safest and most enjoyable places to live in the country. There are always events and fun restaurants in the area to visit, but if city life is more your speed, we also have easy access to Downtown Chicago, located about an hour away.
There is so much more I could say about this program, but hopefully this has given you a good introduction of who we are. If you would like to know more about our us and our application process, our hospital, or anything else, I would love to hear from you! I can be reached by email at: Lauren_P_Cordes@rush.edu. On behalf of our program, we look forward to meeting you!
Lauren Cordes, DO, PGY-3
Chief Resident, 2025-2026