Inpatient | Outpatient | Longitudinal | Special Learning

ELECTIVES

• Focused OB experience in Ghana and Nicaragua
• Rural healthcare across the globe, from Alaska to Zimbabwe
• Community-oriented primary care in Guatemala, Mexico, and Nepal
• Integrative Medicine
• Additional abortion training
• Intensive vasectomy training
• Additional sub-specialty experiences at local, university based, national, or international sites: cardiology, neurology, orthopedics, HIV, rheumatology, endocrinology, critical care medicine, emergency medicine/trauma, gynecology, sports medicine, dermatology, etc.
• Indian Health Service sites in California and elsewhere
• Outpatient cancer prevention, screening skills
• Module development for colposcopy training at the residency
• Geriatric medicine in Australia
• Family therapy and hypnosis training
• Maternity care with nurse-midwives at a birthing center
• Preventive medicine and patient education
• Osteopathy
• Hyperbaric medicine
• Cardiology and oncology including folk beliefs and remedies in Vietnam
• Hospital and clinical experience in Japan and India
• Spanish immersion courses in Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Spain
• Acupuncture training in China

CROSS CULTURAL TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES

Santa Rosa offers opportunities to work with many different ethnic and cultural groups. The patient population of the Family Practice Center is diverse, serving individuals and families from Latin America, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Eritrea. Residents receive training in issues of cross-cultural medicine through interactive clinical training, community activities, and didactic sessions. Additionally, the residency has received grant funding for continued excellence in developing of cultural competency in our residents.

HIV TRAINING

Sonoma County is unique in that it has a very high prevalence of HIV patients for a nonurban setting. Also unique is the remarkable community response to the HIV epidemic. The residency has been an important part of this response since the beginning and remains on the “cutting edge” of HIV management. The residency and local public health department work together to involve community physicians as the primary care providers for HIV patients.

PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT GROUPS

Weekly resident personal and professional development groups serve as the central component of resident well-being. Each class of residents currently has its own group facilitated by a psychologist experienced in medical socialization and group process. Facilitators help provide a secure, confidential, and supportive atmosphere in which residents can reflect with their peers on the stresses of residency.

BALINT TRAINING

Balint training is a group process that explores the physician-patient relationship by using a case presentation format. During their second and third years, residents participate in Balint group twice a month. The Balint group is led by trained Balint leaders who help the residents reflect on problematic interactions, develop empathy for their patients, and increase their understanding of what the physician/patient relationship can be.

RESIDENT PARTICIPATION IN GOVERNANCE

Residents meet monthly to discuss curriculum, logistics, and program and committee work. This is followed by a meeting of faculty and residents to facilitate communication. Four Administrative Chief Residents, selected by their peers, meet weekly with the Program Director to discuss residency issues in addition to attending curriculum, faculty, and cabinet meetings. In addition, a Chief Resident for Curriculum plays a critical role in curriculum development and review. Other resident participation on committees and working groups is also encouraged.

INNOVATIVE DIRECTIONS

The Santa Rosa Family Medicine Residency has been innovative in a number of areas.
These include:

Our Interaction with Local Community Clinics

The residency is committed to training physicians that are likely to go into medically underserved areas. The program provides experience in a local community clinic that serves a large Latino population. Exposure to this system of care will help residents learn how these clinics manage their patient populations. In addition, the program recognizes the value of the National Health Service Corp, has a long history of support for placement of graduates in medically underserved areas, and welcomes applicants who are NHSC scholars.

Abortion Training

Santa Rosa has a comprehensive training program for all residents in first trimester abortion. We are the first Family Medicine program on the west coast to offer abortion in the outpatient Family Practice Center where residents routinely see patients. In addition, we collaborate with a local Planned Parenthood, to provide a higher volume experience, and didactic teaching about values clarification and complications. We train residents to do aspiration procedures and medication abortions.

Family Nurse Practitioner Education Program at Sonoma State University

Nurse practitioner students from Sonoma State University periodically do some of their field training at the Family Practice Center. Residents may choose to precept these students as an R3 if they wish.

Research

Although research is not required of faculty or residents, residents are encouraged to participate in a research project and are supported in scholarly activity. Opportunities for peer-reviewed publication are available to interested residents. Some time and resources are provided to complete the leadership project. The emphasis is on community and skill development.

Provide Innovative Training in Chronic Disease Management

All residents get training in the chronic care model, using a disease registry (computerized database enabling clinical decision support as well as proactive care) for chronic disease management. In addition, residents learn to organize and co-facilitate group medical visits for patients with diabetes. Recognizing the primacy of patient self-management in chronic illness, the residency provides specific training for physicians to support patient behavior change.

MEDICAL STUDENT CLINICS

The medical student same day clinic provides students with a true family medicine experience. The clinic population provides exposure to a wide variety of ages, populations, and medical presentations. The clinic also provides short term continuity for medical students while in Santa Rosa. Third year residents and residency faculty teach students in the clinic.