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Ventura Family Medicine Residency, Office of Medical Education, 3291 Loma Vista Rd. Ventura, CA 93003 - Phone (805) 652-6228
Questions, Comments, Suggestions, please contact Bryan Wong, MD Webmaster: bryan.wong@ventura.org

 

Curriculum

1st Year

Inpatient Medicine/Pediatrics - 16 weeks

The Medicine-Pediatrics rotation is the heart of inpatient learning.  You will see an amazing variety of pathology in patients of all ages and fully participate in their care as the primary doctor.  You will develop progressively more complete and complex differential diagnoses and cogent treatment plans.

The service consists of four teams of a first year and second year resident, two third year chiefs, a medicine attending for each team and the pediatrician faculty hospitalist.  The four teams alternate days on call except Tuesdays, which are taken by an attending physician team.  Teaching rounds are held daily with both medicine and pediatrics faculty.  The third year residents participate in teaching and intake rounds, coordinate the service and help with cross covers.  The progressive responsibility and leadership experiences prepare you well for independent practice.

Obstetrics/Gynecology - 8 weeks

Women's health and maternity care are an integral part of family medicine. It is a privilege to participate in such an important event in a family as the mother's pregnancy and baby's birth.  Competence in delivering gender specific care is crucial for today's family physician.

Experience on the OB-Gyn service consists of average and high risk prenatal clinics, gynecology clinics including procedures (such as endometrial biopsy, colposcopy and IUD insertions, etc.), labor and delivery management and surgical OB-Gyn experience.  Our residents are the primary operators on Caesarian deliveries, tubal ligations, diagnostic D&Cs, suction D&Cs for incomplete SAbs and other procedures.

Experience on labor and delivery starts with days "on the deck" in the first year, where each intern spends time working individually with the obstetrician and family medicine faculty on our busy maternity ward. You will gain considerable skills managing labor and delivering babies during this time.

By second and third year, you build upon your training your intern year and manage patients more independently. Our residents finish their training with well over 100 vaginal deliveries.  You will spend time in each of the second and third years as the surgical resident on OB, scrubbing on many Cesareans and other cases.  Even more experience is gained on OB Backup call (voluntary) where you do C-sections after hours. Many of our graduates have done 50 - 80 C-sections as primary surgeon, some very motivated grads log over 100 operations. About two-thirds of our graduates are delivering babies in their practice. Approximately 30% have C-section privileges.

Surgery - 8 weeks

Much of the disease encountered in family medicine happens to best be treated by surgical means.  Cholecystitis, thyroid nodules, breast lumps, appendicitis, bowel obstruction, lower GI bleeding, lymphadenopathy, subcutaneous masses and many other conditions are often dealt with by surgical means.  It is our belief at VCMC that family physicians need to be well versed in handling these diseases.  It is for this reason that the surgery rotation is one of the most popular among many of our residents.

Our surgeons are approachable and anxious to teach family medicine residents.  You will learn to evaluate patients with abdominal pain, trauma, tumors and a host of other conditions.  Your competence in suturing will grow tremendously.  You will be able to assist in most operations and perform many by the time you graduate.  Residents who are interested in international medicine have often come to our program to learn to help in medically underserved regions.

Community Med/Outpatient Specialties- 3 weeks

Community Medicine is an crucial component of family medicine education at VCMC. Awareness of community resources for patients is essential for family doctors to provide quality care.  Most of the work in healthcare is done in the community by people other than physicians.  Using these resources wisely, logically and to their fullest advantage is an area of expertise for a good family doc. 

Integrating into the community is also a part of becoming a family physician.  Our capacity for contributing to the cities and towns in which we live is enormous.  We need to learn to do this well.

Exploring both of these aspects of our specialty is at the heart of this rotation.  As a resident you will spend time learning about the public health system, visiting child protective and senior adult protective services, battered women's shelters and many other reources in our community.  These are generally representative of what is available in most counties in the U.S.

You will also have the chance to visit schools and work in the homeless clinic, getting involved in some of the many ways that family physicians help their community.

Intensive Care - 4 weeks

The ICU at the Ventura County Medical Center is a busy, high acuity unit caring for critically ill patients of many types. The ICU rotations, one month in the first year and one month in the third year, give our residents lots of hands on experience with very sick patients. Common diagnoses you will care for include sepsis, trauma, acute MI, pancreatitis, diabetic ketoacidosis and many others. This is a busy rotation and so neither the first year nor third year take overnight call. The training in medical procedures is superb during this rotation. Residents become proficient in placing central lines, arterial lines, chest tubes and airway management. You will finish this rotation and be much more comfortable dealing with acute illness. The ICU is also a place where you will interact closely with other allied health professionals. Nursing, pharmacy, nutrition support and respiratory therapy participate with you and the attending physician in daily rounds. There is strong involvement with social services and spiritual advisers as well. You will gradually become more comfortable talking to families of critically ill patients, counselling and advising them about their loved one.

Orthopedics/Sports Medicine - 3 weeks

The goals of the orthopedic rotation are to give the resident exposure to the various aspects of musculoskeletal medicine.  The rotation focuses on the outpatient care of fractures, pain syndromes, arthritis, soft tissue problems and athletic injuries.  Time is spent primarily in the orthopedic clinic of the Ventura County Medical Center.

During the rotation, residents spend time with a variety of care providers including adult and pediatric orthopedic surgeons, sports medicine physicians, athletic trainers, podiatrists and physical/occupational therapists.

Outpatient Pediatrics - 3 weeks

The rich clinical experience in Ventura County Medical Center outpatient pediatrics clinics is truly amazing. We are fortunate to have outstanding general pediatrician teachers as well as regularly scheduled specialty clinics. Subspecialists on faculty at  UCLA and Children's Hospital Los Angeles come up to teach our residents and provide our patients with personalized care nearer to their homes.

You will rotate through the Pediatric Diagnostic Center, across the street from VCMC, Mandalay Bay Children's Center, our primary care pediatrics office in Oxnard and the Santa Paula primary care clinic.   Caring for the cases that family physicians and pediatricians throughout the county have referred will give you the broadest possible exposure to disease pathology. 

Fortunately, children are healthy most of the time. You will gain much exposure to well child care, developmental assessment, sports participation physicals and parent and patient education.  You will see many adolescents and help them deal with the common challenges that face their health.

Selective - 3 weeks

The first year selective encompasses 3 weeks of core clinical experiences designed to prepare you for the rest of your residency experience.

The residents are required to take - Anesthesia (to familiarize themselves with intubations in a controlled setting) - Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (to understand the basic concepts of newborn illness and also newborn resuscitation after delivery) and - Behavioral Health introduction week, (to get the resident familiar with common mental illnesses that they will encounter over their 3 years).

Elective - 4 weeks

There are a wide variety of local and away choices available. Among the many options (just to name a few):

Most of our residents do some elective time away, many overseas. Common locations include Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Africa, China, Thailand, Nepal, South and Central America, Haiti and many others.

A wide variety of medical and surgical subspecialties to expand on the basic, required curriculum such as dermatology, cardiology, pulmonary, endocrinology, ENT, others

Emergency Medicine - Longitudinal

The emergency department is the place where our residents get extensive training in handling urgent medical conditions, trauma, and a wide variety of illness.  The family physician is often the doctor of first contact for many patients who are very sick, whether it be in the office, urgent care center or hospital emergency department.  Learning to handle these situations is important toward making competent family doctors who are comfortable practicing anywhere.

In your first year, you will be on duty in the Emergency Department on call during five of your rotations, an average of once per week.  You will work directly with the attending physicians becoming accustomed to treating emergencies competently and efficiently. 

 

 

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1st Year:

 

 

I really enjoyed forming close relationships with my own patients on Med/Peds and being their patient advocate.  I ultimately discharged one of my patients eventually to Amsterdam once he was stable. 

Greg Ishimoto, MD

Greg Ishimoto, MD
Class of 2009

 

 

 

 

I really enjoyed my Community Medicine rotation because it gave me a chance to work with services that I usually send my patients to.  I did a home visit with a home health nurse, ride along with a social worker to investigate domestic issues, visit the jail to see how the patients there are treated.  It was an exciting, great month!

Lian Bach, DO

Lian Bach, DO
Class of 2009

 

 

 

 

ICU is a great opportunity for procedures, walk rounds, very interesting complicated patients, knowledgeable nurses who are interested in teaching.  Wonderful attendings who take the time to teach, during rounds, at the bedside and whenever they are needed.  Ventilator course by respiratory therapist very helpful.  

Jeanelle Gilbert, DO

Jeanelle Gilbert, DO
Class of 2009