Curriculum

Residents will spend 2 two-week blocks with a combination of dermatology and wound care experiences. Elective rotations can always be accommodated. 

Residents will spend 2 blocks each year working in our fast-paced emergency department. We see both pediatric and adult patients in our ED which provides a true rural emergency medicine experience while also having the volume and acuity of patients to gain a well-rounded experience. As the only Level IV Trauma Center and the only Primary Stroke Center in the region, you will be exposed to many situations and diverse populations. 

In addition, with our partnership with UC Davis Children’s Hospital in Sacramento, residents will have a dedicated Pediatric ED block. Electives can also be arranged. 

Residents will have 2 two-week blocks as well as a longitudinal experience over the entire 3 years both in our affiliated designated Rural Health Clinic (RHC), and local Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHCV).

Geriatrics is an extremely important part of family medicine. For this reason, you will spend 1 total block dedicated to caring for our geriatric population. This will include seeing patients in your continuity clinic, rounding on patients in long-term care and short-term care facilities and making home visits. You will also receive dedicated lectures focused on caring for this often vulnerable and complex patient population.

Residents will spend 4 two-week blocks per year working on the inpatient service in Ukiah, an additional 3 blocks of intensive care in the 2^nd year, with the option to do additional electives.  We also offer 1 month of inpatient at Veterans Affairs in Sacramento in your first year. During your time in Ukiah. You will work closely with our dedicated hospitalist team as well as our family medicine faculty. We have an open ICU so you will be managing critically ill patients on a daily basis. With limited availability of specialists, you will become adept at managing all aspects of your patients’ care. 

As the only birthing center for the entire county, you learn and play an important role in helping prevent maternity deserts and will provide access to care to the most rural communities. You will be provided with a combination of experiences in order to help you develop the foundation to be able to care for women of all ages. You will have 4 blocks of dedicated obstetrics training with perinatal, antepartum, intrapartum, and postpartum management experience. These experiences will occur in our maternity ward and in clinic under the supervision of obstetrics and family medicine physicians. You will also be provided with longitudinal experience that encompasses all 3 years of your residency where you will work with a fellowship trained family medicine physician providing full spectrum care, including obstetrics. With majority of our faculty being surgically-trained FMOBs, you’ll have the opportunity to prepare for OB Fellowship.  

We also offer the only Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) covering two counties, which will expose you to more learning opportunities.  

You will spend 2 weeks rotating through our ophthalmology clinic. You will learn proper exam techniques and treatment for the most common complaints in addition to learning when referral to a specialist is necessary.

1 block of orthopedic surgery during the intern year and 1 block in PGY-3 will be dedicated to orthopedic surgery and sports medicine. You will spend time learning from our local orthopedic surgeons and sports medicine physicians in their clinic as well as participating in calls where you will get familiar with managing all types of acute orthopedic injuries. You will have the option of working with local collegiate and high school teams as a sports medicine physician, as well as participating in sports clinics and community outreach events. 

Our 1 block pain management rotation has two primary focuses. The first focus is to learn pain management strategies from our local pain medicine physician. Caring for patients with chronic pain can be very challenging for family physicians and to do so effectively often requires incorporating many different modalities into their care. You will learn how to incorporate behavioral health interventions, complimentary medicine techniques and appropriate opioid prescribing to better care for these patients.

One block of inpatient pediatrics and 4 blocks of dedicated outpatient pediatrics will be completed in both PGY-1 and PGY-2. Your inpatient pediatrics experience will take place at UC Davis Children’s Hospital in Sacramento on the general pediatric ward with pediatric residents and attendings. Housing will be provided. You will see pediatric patients every day in our outpatient clinic, including caring for newborns delivered at the hospital. 

In addition to the dedicated block experiences listed above, you will have a good number of pediatric patient encounters in our emergency department and in your continuity clinics.

Residents will spend1 block of cardiology including interventional and electrophysiology, learning from our cardiologists at Adventist Health St. Helena. Electives can be arranged for any subspecialty if so desired. 

You will have 2 blocks during PGY-1 working with our general surgeons. Our general surgeons are highly skilled and eager to teach. During these months you will live the life of a rural general surgeon working side by side with them, rounding on inpatients, seeing consults in the emergency room, managing a busy clinic and first assisting on a wide variety of common (and not so common) surgeries. Residents can earn the opportunity to pursue endoscopy and colonoscopy. 

Residents will have dedicated teaching time Monday to Friday, from 7:30 a.m. – 8 a.m., and Tuesdays from 1 p.m. – 5 p.m.  The basic structure will include a mystery case, lectures over specific learning topics, and board review. 

Residents have the option to arrange electives for Global Health. In addition, we have a surprising number of opportunities to care for immigrants from all over the world through our partnership with the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, which operates the Dharma Realm Buddhist University as well as a K-12 school which welcome hundreds of students each year. 

With Point of Care Ultrasound becoming more widely used, you’ll have dedicated teaching time and didactics for Tier-1 focused procedures with exposure to clinical rotations in the clinic, ICU and sports medicine. 

This is a longitudinal experience that will encompass all 3 years where each of our residents will play a major role in caring for our homeless population. Often times the patients our street medicine team cares for are people who are unable or unwilling to see providers in the clinic for various different reasons. To help reach these patients, we have a dedicated street medicine team that our residents will work closely with to provide care for these patients in a compassionate and non-threatening way.