Ventura Family Medicine Residency

Continuity Clinic - Family Care Center

The Family Care Center is where residents become family physicians. This clinic, located on the VCMC campus, is the hub of the continuity experience. It is also your "home" during residency. There are four suites, each containing 7-8 exam rooms, organized around a nursing station with the medical secretary, clinic assistants and a registered nurse to help you see patients. You will have a home suite and be part of the team with your fellow residents and staff in the FCC model practice seeing patients 2 - 4 half days a week.

Teaching

The full time family practice faculty bring years of experience to precepting resident physicians. We believe continuity and a sensitive approach to dealing with the patient as a person is the key to family medicine. The behavioral sciences are emphasized as integral to patient management. In addition, community family physicians are employed as preceptors to work on a weekly basis, bringing their "real world" experience to give the residents a well rounded perspective.

Patients

The majority of patients are invited into your practice by you; from your rotations in the ER, OB, Peds and Medicine clinics or inpatient services. Others are inherited from graduating residents. Some of our Family Care patients have "raised" several generations of doctors. We have a very interesting, diverse patient population. The main mission of VCMC is to provide high quality patient care to the underserved and thus the majority of our patients have public health insurance or no insurance. However, about 20% of the Family Care patients are county government employees. Thus, the residents get a wide range of experience treating people from all walks of life. The presence of the insured population also helps ensure that all patients, affluent or poor, are seen in a clean, pleasant atmosphere by competent, caring staff.

Continuity

Patients see the resident as their doctor. Every effort is made to schedule patients with their physician, even when the patient calls for a last minute appointment. The registered nurse in your suite is often familiar with your patients and serves to improve continuity as well. Patients admitted to VCMC are followed by the resident with one of the full time family practice faculty acting as the preceptor. FCC maternity patients are delivered by their doctor and the baby and family are followed in your office. Patients become quite attached to their doctor. In order to train to become a family physician, you must be a family physician in your training. Continuity is a major part of that experience, something we emphasize strongly in the VCMC Family Care Center.

Women's Health

The primary care practice in the Family Care Center (FCC) gives you lots of opportunities in Women's Health. Maternity continuity patients are followed through prenatal care and delivered by their resident physician. There is an ultrasound in FCC which you will learn with our FP faculty. You will be able to place IUDs, do endometrial biopsy, colposcopy and other gyn procedures in FCC as you practice full spectrum women's health. Our system has a state of the art DEXA machine and Cheryl Lambing, MD, our FCC director, is a nationally recognized expert in osteoporosis.