About the Program

Welcome to the Residency Training Program in Family Medicine at the Kaiser Permanente Orange County Medical Center. Here you will encounter an outstanding educational environment that includes direct patient responsibility that is high tech-high touch with a large and varied patient base. You will also benefit from the supervision of our excellent board-certified physician faculty.

We are a cutting edge program whose enthusiastic faculty has woven diverse interests and backgrounds into an innovative and dynamic residency program. We offer an excellent ambulatory and inpatient care experience to a culturally diverse population, in a supportive and caring environment.

The Family Medicine Residency Program reflects Kaiser Permanente’s long-standing tradition of providing medical residents with the skills needed to become accomplished and compassionate physicians. Here you will find the best of all educational worlds, including direct patient responsibility and a large and varied patient base. You will also benefit from the exceptional teaching by our enthusiastic physician faculty and reap the benefits of our new state-of-the-art electronic health record system.

We are thrilled about some of our exciting recent changes. In May 2008 Kaiser Permanente opened its second hospital in Orange County, a state-of-the-art medical center in Irvine where we will move a bit of our training. Our program has begun providing limited health care for some homeless individuals nearby. Our dermatology teaching has been revised to augment our training in concert with our dermatology colleagues.

Family Medicine is a well-respected and integral part of patient care at our Medical Center. Emphasis is on the educational experience, not on menial tasks. We offer a large faculty with extensive teaching experience.

The Family Medicine residency is the only freestanding residency program in the Medical Center. Under the auspices of an experienced faculty eager to share knowledge, you will learn a unique style of ambulatory care — one you may pursue upon completing your residency with us.

Kaiser Permanente is among the nation’s largest and most highly regarded managed care organizations (one in five insured Californians is a Kaiser Permanente Health Plan member). As a member of our residency program, you will learn to practice cost-effective and caring medicine, with extensive use of information technology and chronic disease management. Procedural training is emphasized, providing competence in flexible sigmoidoscopy, colposcopy, minor surgery, treadmill, and low-risk obstetrics.

Adult Medicine

Our Family Medicine service is staffed by Family Medicine residents and attending physicians. The 2 teams consists of two interns, a second and third-year resident, and an attending physician from Family Medicine and Internal Medicine. The teams manages an average of 12 patients, including those in the intensive care and coronary care units. Each resident has on-call responsibility every fourth night.

First-year residents spend four weeks caring for patients in the ICU and CCU, gaining experience in Intensive Care, Coronary Care, Cardiology, and Neurology. Working with staff cardiologists and intensivists, you will assist in the management of critically ill patients.

Third-year residents spend four weeks studying under the tutelage of staff cardiologists and four weeks with staff neurologists. Primary emphasis is on testing and common outpatient problems.

Pediatrics

Your first year includes a four-week rotation on inpatient pediatrics at Childrens Hospital of Orange County (CHOC). In addition, two weeks in the nursery will emphasize normal newborns; however, part of your time will focus on stabilizing and resuscitating distressed newborns. Two weeks focus on ambulatory Pediatrics. First-year residents also spend two half-days each month seeing outpatient infants and children for whom they will be directly responsible throughout the three-year residency. While you are on inpatient Pediatric services, overnight call is every fourth night.

During your second year you will spend two weeks focusing on pediatrics in Kaiser Permanente Pediatric offices, two weeks in the Kaiser Permanente inpatient Pediatrics Wards as well as four weeks in the St. Joseph/CHOC Pediatric Emergency Room.

Third-year residents obtain further clinical exposure with a four-week rotation in outpatient general and subspecialty Pediatrics.

Obstetrics and Gynecology

A four-week Obstetric and three-week Gynecology rotation is required in both the first and second year of your residency. Residents work closely with innovative obstetricians, some of who are actively involved in research. At the end of your rotations, you can expect to have delivered over 50 babies (with more available if desired); in addition, you will have followed approximately 10 prenatal patients through delivery.

The Gynecology experience emphasizes ambulatory gynecological problems. Colposcopy and endometrial biopsies are also taught. High-risk Obstetrics and Gynecology electives are available in your third year.

Surgery

Four weeks in your first year are devoted to inpatient surgery, working with senior-level surgical residents and staff faculty. We emphasize pre- and postoperative care, surgical diagnosis, and assisting in the operating room.

In your second year, you spend four weeks in the Outpatient Surgery Clinic learning minor surgical procedures, breast lump evaluation, and pre- and postoperative care.

Minor surgery procedural skills are taught and reinforced in the Family Medicine Center’s Minor Surgery Clinic and many other rotations throughout your residency.

ENT - Urology – Ophthalmology

These three rotations are each taught in two-week time blocks and may be taken in any year of your residency. They focus primarily on outpatient care; however, operating room time is available for residents seeking inpatient exposure. Residents work closely with attending subspecialists, seeing a wide variety of problems commonly encountered by family physicians.

Human Behavior and Psychiatry

A two-year longitudinal rotation in Behavioral Medicine on site at the Family Medicine Center allows you to develop essential skills in this area taught by our psychiatrists, psychologists, family physicians, and psychiatric social workers.

Second- and third-year residents participate in a bimonthly Behavioral Medicine/Psychiatry afternoon clinic, which includes small group seminars on specific psychiatric or psychosocial issues as well as counseling of adults and children. Residents also have the opportunity to participate as co-therapists during their regular clinics. Here they may work in partnership with a Behavioral Medicine specialist, who has extensive background in family, couple, and adolescent counseling as well as eating disorders.

As a third-year resident, you will spend two weeks working with the Chemical Dependency Recovery and Rehabilitation Programs as well as with other areas of Psychiatry. Electives in child or adolescent Psychiatry or inpatient Psychiatry are available.

Orthopedics

Residents have a four-week rotation in Orthopedics during their first year and another two-week rotation during their second or third year. Residents work one-on-one with an orthopedic surgeon, with emphasis on ambulatory care. You also devote time to seeing patients in our Sports Medicine Clinic as well as other locations. Opportunities are available to work with a high school team physician.

Physical Medicine/Sports Medicine

As a third-year resident, you spend four weeks working with Physical Medicine, Rehabilitation, and Sports Medicine specialists. You gain exposure to a large variety of sports and musculoskeletal problems, testing procedures, and treatments, and spend time on inpatient rehabilitation.

Community Medicine

Second- and third-year residents spend one week with CAST (Child Abuse Services Team for Orange County). Starting in the second year, they also have a two-week rotation followed by and 18-month longitudinal rotation in partnership with Latino Health Access. This is a nationally recognized organization providing outreach, education, and resourcing for those with no other access to medical services. Our residents and teaching faculty work along with lay health workers to provide essential medical services, including home visits when needed. Both rotations provide invaluable education in use of community resources for those who have no medical care “home.” Our program recently received a national Kaiser Permanente cultural diversity award, and other awards for these efforts.

Electives

There are numerous opportunities for personalized electives within our health care system. During your second and third years, a total of over four months of electives can be used to complement your residency education. We are developing International experiences in Ecuador and Sweden.

Family Medicine Center

Throughout your residency, you will spend a significant amount of time in our off-site, culturally diverse, outpatient Family Medicine Center, under the supervision of a teaching staff of more than 25 full-time, board-certified family physicians, many of whom hold university teaching appointments.

In your first year, you spend two half-days each week in the Family Medicine Center; in your second year, three half-days each week; and in your third year, four-half days each week. At least one faculty member is assigned to supervise and teach at all times.

Our residents are assigned a group of patients whom they follow throughout training, in both outpatient and inpatient settings, with the outpatient experience providing a spectrum of acute and chronic diagnoses. Preventive health care, prenatal obstetrical care, and minor surgical and dermatologic procedures are also emphasized. Laboratory and radiology services, patient education programs, and consultations with various specialties are readily available.

Conferences

Third-year residents assist our faculty in planning conferences covering the core curriculum in Family Medicine. Senior residents also exercise a leadership role in conference presentation. All residents are expected to provide input regarding the educational content of the conference series and are encouraged to submit topic ideas, speakers, or case-based information.

In addition to the required daily noon conference schedule, annual symposia, hosted jointly by Kaiser Permanente specialty departments from throughout Southern California, are available at no cost.