SPORTS MEDICINE AND MUSCULOSKELETAL CARE OF PATIENTS
Care of musculoskeletal injuries is central to the experience of a family physician. The curriculum
is designed to provide residents with extensive skill in caring for all range of patient
needs. Residents learn how to care for straightforward fractures, identify need for orthopedic
consultation, master physical diagnosis, and aspirate and inject joints. The diversity of
experiences include sports medicine, orthopedics, physical and rehab medicine, podiatry,
comprehensive care of chronic pain, and trauma medicine. The experience occurs during
two separate rotations during residency as well as longitudinally in the Family Practice Center.
EMERGENCY MEDICINE
 The Emergency (ER) rotation is designed to train residents to rapidly evaluate acute
problems using focused histories and physical exams. Residents gain experience managing
multiple patients with a wide spectrum of acute medical and surgical emergencies.
Sutter Medical Center offers a busy level II ER with approximately 30,000 patient visits per
year. Seven full-time MDs, twelve part-time MDs, many of whom are double boarded in
Family Medicine and Emergency Medicine, staff the department. Physician’s Assistants also
work within the department. A full range of diagnostic modalities is available, from MRI to
angiography. Memorial Hospital offers similar capacity, is the trauma center for the North
Bay region, and provides residents with experience in trauma resuscitation.
Residents do one 4-week rotation in the ER in the first year and a second rotation in their
second year. Throughout residency they also admit and manage more complex patients
passing through the ER. Residents seeking additional experience in emergency medicine
may choose to use some of their elective time during the second and third years to sharpen
their emergency room skills.
PROCEDURES TRAINING
 Procedures training takes place in both block time and in Family Practice Center clinics.
Residents learn the full range of routine outpatient procedures under direct supervision.
Family medicine faculty assist the residents in learning colposcopy, flexible sigmoidoscopy,
nasopharyngoscopy, vasectomy, LEEP, endometrial biopsy, and other minor surgical procedures.
SPECIALTY EXPERIENCES
Residents have ten weeks of dedicated exposure to specialty areas. Core experiences occur
in dermatology, cardiology, and surgical sub-specialties with additional time spent in areas
such as endocrinology, nephrology, and rheumatology. Residents work with a wide variety
of teachers in their subspecialty training. Educational experiences are in the Family Practice
Center or offices of the community specialists dependent upon the best possible mix of
teaching and breadth of clinical material.
CARE OF OLDER PATIENTS
Our program’s geriatric curriculum has been expanding since a fellowship-trained geriatrician
joined the faculty in 1994. Learning opportunities are incorporated into clinical activities in
inpatient and outpatient settings. Participation in a multidisciplinary team occurs at Transitional
Care Unit meetings. Residents follow patients at local long-term care facilities and
home visits are encouraged. The geriatrics rotation in the second year is designed to complete
the experience. Each resident will be able to perform a complete geriatric assessment,
manage common geriatric problems and will be knowledgeable in the use of various
community-based programs for the elderly.
WOMEN’S HEALTH
Two rotations are devoted to women’s health. The rotation offers residents experiences
in reproductive health, reproductive rights, ultrasound skills, gynecologic conditions,
menopause, breast care, domestic violence, and family planning. The residency curriculum
recognizes that primary care of women requires more than care of the reproductive organs.
The rotations and longitudinal experiences provide residents with the skill to recognize
differences of multiple disease processes between men and women.
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