About the Program

Welcome to the Residency Training Program in Family Medicine at the Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center. Here you will encounter a quality educational environment that includes direct patient responsibility and a large and varied patient base. You will also benefit from the supervision of our board-certified physician faculty.

We are located in an academic center with many other residency programs, and have won national recognition for the quality of our research in clinical family practice, health screening, and education. In addition, we are nationally recognized for the quality of our graduate and undergraduate medical education.

The Family Medicine Residency Training Program at Kaiser Permanente, Los Angeles Medical Center was Accredited in 1972 (the first in Southern California). There has been only one Residency Director since the program’s inception, Dr. Jimmy Hara. He also served as Kaiser Permanente’s Regional Director of Graduate Medical Education. Based in a managed care system that sponsors four other FP Residency Programs, the program has full-time family physician academic faculty who are veteran clinician/teachers.

Strong Academic Training

• UCLA affiliated residents receive a graduation certificate from both UCLA and Kaiser Permanente
• Over 140 other resident physicians on campus with collegial relationship
• Nearly 100 medical students per year do required or elective clerkships
• Daily noon residency conferences coordinated with other residency programs
• FP Department provides primary care training for Ob-Gyn residents from KP
• Faculty are regularly invited speakers for AAFP, CAFP, CMA, and local medical schools
• Monthly half-day clinical skills and procedures workshops for 2nd yr residents

High Volume of Experience

• Over 1,000 admissions to FP Inpatient Service per year and 20-30 inpatients at any time
• Inpatient family medicine (including CCU) is taught by family physicians and not internists
• Over 200 deliveries per month; Family Practice interns can expect over 50 deliveries for two months
• Over 90,000 outpatient visits per year to FP Clinic (and a busy Sports Clinic)
• Longitudinal ambulatory pediatrics experience in 1st year insures competence by 2nd year
• Extremely busy Surgical Urgent Care experience in 2nd year

High Level of Responsibility and Community Service

• High volume longitudinal care in FP Clinic with high show rate due to prepaid system
• Longitudinal care of Skilled Nursing Care Facility patients during third year
• Community service at Los Angeles Free Clinic, Venice Family Clinic, UCLA Mobile Clinic, Hollywood-Sunset Clinic, and Asian Pacific Health Care Venture
• Participation in UCLA Lennox Health Fairs
• Sports coverage for LACC, College of the Canyons, Whittier and Occidental College
• Teaching responsibility for 3rd year residents (Free Clinics, Inpatient Chief, Geriatrics talks)

Excellent Resources and Opportunities

• All resident offices equipped with computers with and high speed printers
• All computers have access to MDconsult, Ovid, PubMed, KP Clinical Guidelines, and Cochrane
• All required rotations (except Free Clinics) are at Kaiser and no need to “farm out”
• A single closed drug formulary which includes most medications (including HIV RTIs and PIs)
• Multiple pharmacies on campus and all computer linked with other KP pharmacies
• Computerized appointment service, messages, medication refills, labs, imaging, transcriptions
• Opportunities for research (encouraged, no longer required) with statistical and editing support
• Educational stipend to attend educational meeting in 3rd yr
• Free of clinical duties to allow attendance at UCLA FP Refresher Course at end of 3rd year

Additional Highlights

• Excellent camaraderie among house staff and full time academic faculty (with high morale)
• Faculty with adjacent offices and open door policy and easy accessibility
• All major medical and surgical disciplines available and accessible to house staff
• All households are provided the “Healthwise Handbook” allowing for high quality primary care
• Multi-ethnic population with diverse socio-economic base
• Outstanding performance by graduates on American Board of Family Practice exams
• Excellent preparation to go onto sports med, adolescent med, or geriatrics fellowships
• Great job opportunities within Kaiser Permanente system upon graduation
• Many of our graduates have gone onto leadership positions in managed care and academia