We are full spectrum Family Medicine.
Our graduates are empowered to serve with continuity of care in all settings, valuing all peoples.
CURRICULUM
Rotations at Ventura Family Medicine
Ventura Family Medicine is dedicated to training residents in full-spectrum family medicine, empowering our graduates to serve diverse communities with continuity of care in every setting.
The Academic Family Medicine Center, our continuity clinic, is the cornerstone of our program, where residents foster long-term relationships with patients and provide outstanding comprehensive care. Our residents benefit from collaboration with a wide range of medical, pediatric, and surgical specialists in on-campus outpatient clinics, enhancing their training experience.
As a single-residency institution, our inpatient experience offers unmatched opportunities for hands-on learning. Our family medicine residents serve as the primary doctors for every patient they care for, from laboring mothers to critically ill ICU patients. With a supportive hospital structure that balances supervision and independence, our residents work closely with specialists and care for patients through every stage of their hospitalization. This model allows our residents to develop the confidence and expertise needed to deliver compassionate, high-quality care to all people.
CURRICULUM BY ACADEMIC YEAR
Below are overviews of each academic year. Listed are the minimum number of weeks, but the curriculum allows for some customization. Each resident will repeat an additional two 3-week blocks of core rotations each year, providing for extra development in areas of interest.
PGY-1
Interns build a basis for full-spectrum family medicine training under the supervision of senior residents and faculty attendings, transitioning from student to physician.
Inpatient Medicine: 9 weeks
Obstetrics and Women's Health: 6 weeks
Pediatrics: 3 weeks
Intensive Care: 3 weeks
Surgery: 3 weeks
Emergency Medicine: 3 weeks
Medicine-Pediatrics Nights: 3 weeks
Orthopedics & Sports Medicine: 3 weeks
Anesthesia & Palliative Medicine: 3 weeks
Community & Addiction Medicine: 2 weeks
Ambulatory Selective: 3 weeks
Vacation: 4 weeks
PGY-2
Second-year residents assume full ownership of their patients and refine their skills and knowledge base, while developing a teaching role with the interns. Â It is a rigorous year but also productive and satisfying.
Inpatient Medicine: 9 weeks
Obstetrics and Women's Health: 7.5 weeks
Surgery: 6 weeks
Pediatrics: 3 weeks
Emergency Medicine: 3 weeks
Community Medicine: 2 weeks
Intensive Care: 1.5 weeks
Ambulatory Selective: 3 weeks
Elective: 6 weeks
Vacation: 4 weeks
PGY-3
In their final year, our residents prepare to transition to their post-residency careers by assuming a new level of independence in both inpatient and outpatient settings.
Pediatrics: 6 weeks
Obstetrics and Women's Health: 4.5 weeks
Intensive Care: 4.5 weeks
Medicine-Pediatrics Inpatient: 3 weeks
Surgery: 3 weeks
Emergency Medicine: 3 weeks
Orthopedics & Sports Medicine: 3 weeks
Ambulatory Selective: 8 weeks
Elective: 6 weeks
Vacation: 4 weeks
Curriculum Grid
This is the standard curriculum grid for the academic year. Each resident will complete at minimum the stated number of weeks, divided into 3-week blocks. Each resident will also repeat two of the blocks each year, providing an opportunity to gain extra training in an area of interest.
ROTATION DESCRIPTIONS
Learn more about how each rotation is structured and what responsibilities our residents carry.
MEDICINE
Our inpatient medicine service offers a rich learning experience with three resident teams, each consisting of a PGY-1, PGY-2, and attending. The rotation follows a short-call/long-call system with caps that meet internal medicine program standards, including a team cap of 14 patients and a daily admission limit of 10, with overflow directed to a non-teaching service. Night admissions and cross-coverage for medicine and pediatrics are handled by the "NARC" team (Night Admitting Residents & Cross-coverage), made up of a PGY-1 and PGY-3. A backup system is available to ensure adequate support when needed, allowing for a balance between service and education.
This rotation emphasizes resident-to-resident teaching, teamwork, and a well-structured blend of autonomy and supervision. Daily teaching sessions focus on case-based topics that enhance learning. Residents encounter a wide variety of pathology in patients of all ages and serve as primary doctors, developing comprehensive differential diagnoses and treatment plans. The progressive responsibility and leadership opportunities throughout the rotation build strong foundations for independent practice.
Residents spend three rotations in each of the first two years on inpatient medicine, along with three weeks of NARC in the first and third years. Aside from a partial day of continuity clinic each week, this is primarily an inpatient experience.
INTENSIVE CARE
VCMC’s ICU is a closed, mixed medical and surgical unit, offering residents hands-on experience with critically ill patients. Each day, a resident team consisting of a PGY-1 and PGY-3 staffs the unit, while overnight coverage is provided by a PGY-2 or PGY-3 on night float. This setup allows for a unique opportunity to work independently, with the attending available by phone or in-house as needed, fostering resident growth and confidence in critical care.
Under the guidance of a dedicated ICU attending, many of whom are family physicians and program graduates, residents gain experience in intubation, placing lines and chest tubes, managing ventilators, and running codes. They collaborate closely with a multidisciplinary team that includes critical care nurses, respiratory therapists, pharmacists, nutritionists, physical therapists, and the palliative care team.
Residents manage a range of diagnoses, including sepsis, trauma, acute MI, pancreatitis, and diabetic ketoacidosis. The procedural training is exceptional, and by the end of the rotation, residents are well-prepared to handle acute illness with confidence. Serving as the primary point of communication between the medical team and patients' families, residents also hone their skills in critical decision-making and end-of-life discussions.
PGY-1 residents complete a 3-week ICU block, while PGY-2 and PGY-3 residents cover 1.5-week night-float blocks. Additionally, a dedicated ICU block in the PGY-3 year ensures comprehensive critical care training.
EMERGENCY MEDICINE
The Emergency Medicine experience at VCMC is both focused and longitudinal, providing residents with comprehensive training in acute care. Each year, residents complete a dedicated ER block for concentrated exposure, while evening and weekend shifts during other rotations ensure consistent skill development. As the primary ER resident, you’ll assess and stabilize patients under the supervision of experienced ER staff physicians, gaining valuable procedural experience and point-of-care ultrasound training.
PGY-1 residents complete a 3-week night-float block, working alongside PGY-3s to build foundational skills. PGY-2s take on a dedicated daytime ER block, gaining additional confidence in preparation for their senior responsibilities. The experience culminates with the PGY-3 "Night ER Doctor" rotation, a 3-week block where the resident functions as the primary ER physician under the supervision of an in-house attending, enhancing leadership and decision-making abilities.
Additionally, residents cover weekend ER shifts throughout several rotations, ensuring ongoing exposure to emergency care and honing their ability to manage a wide variety of urgent cases. This balanced and progressive experience prepares our residents to handle the fast-paced and high-stakes nature of emergency medicine with confidence.
OBSTETRICS AND WOMEN'S HEALTH
At VCMC, residents play a central role in every delivery, as well as all antepartum and postpartum care. During the day, a PGY-1 resident is "on deck," working closely with both a family physician and obstetrician for supervision and hands-on teaching. Overnight, a PGY-2 or PGY-3 manages the OB floor, with family physicians and obstetricians available for consultation and on-site support when needed. This progressive responsibility allows residents to independently manage labor and perform deliveries, building both confidence and competence. Residents also participate in neonatal resuscitations with in-house NICU staff, providing essential hands-on experience in newborn care.
Postpartum care is managed as couplets, meaning the resident who delivers the baby will care for both mother and newborn until discharge, fostering continuity of care. Every C-section is performed by a resident with supervision from an obstetrician or a fellowship-trained family physician, and residents can sign up for additional (paid) C-section call. Motivated residents have logged over 100 operations. Residents also scrub into gynecologic surgeries 3-4 days a week, serving as primary operators for procedures such as cesarean deliveries, tubal ligations, diagnostic and suction D&Cs, and more.
On outpatient days, residents rotate through our OB-GYN and high-risk OB clinics, with an optional experience at Planned Parenthood. Women’s health and maternity care are integral to family medicine, and residents are privileged to play a key role in one of the most meaningful moments in a family’s life. With about two-thirds of our graduates incorporating obstetrics into their practice and approximately 30% obtaining C-section privileges, our program offers a strong foundation in obstetrical care.
PGY-1 and PGY-2 residents complete 6-week OB-Gyn and Couplet Care rotations, while PGY-3 residents serve a 3-week block as chief of service. PGY-2 and PGY-3 residents also provide 1.5 weeks of night float coverage for the service.
PEDIATRICS
At VCMC, a dedicated team of three residents provides care for all inpatient pediatric patients under the supervision of a full-time pediatric hospitalist and a group of specialist pediatricians affiliated with Children's Hospital LA. In addition to managing a wide range of general pediatric conditions, residents also care for patients admitted by a pediatric hematologist-oncologist and the cystic fibrosis center. They are also involved in caring for patients in our PICU, gaining valuable critical care experience. As the only inpatient pediatrics unit in the region, VCMC cares for patients with a wide variety of pathology.
Outpatient training is equally strong, with residents rotating through the on-campus Pediatrics Diagnostics Center, where they work alongside both generalist and specialist pediatricians. Elective rotations in the NICU further broaden the pediatric experience. While on inpatient medicine, residents also assist with overnight pediatric admissions, providing a longitudinal aspect to their pediatric education.
Residents gain exposure to well-child care, developmental assessments, sports participation physicals, adolescent medicine, and parent education. Subspecialists from Los Angeles provide care locally, giving residents exposure to a diverse array of pediatric pathology without needing to leave Ventura. Additionally, the robust pediatric population in our continuity clinic offers ongoing experience, with pediatricians present a few days a week to supervise residents managing their own patient panels.
Residents complete one block of pediatrics in each of the PGY-1 and PGY-2 years, and two blocks in PGY-3, ensuring comprehensive training in pediatric medicine.
SURGERY
We recognize that many conditions encountered in family medicine are best treated with surgical interventions, and our residents take on the role of primary surgery residents while on service. On call days, residents manage all surgical admissions, scrub in on emergent cases, and lead trauma codes. They also provide postoperative care for general surgery, neurosurgery, bariatrics, urology, and trauma patients, with midlevel providers assisting to ease the rounding load.
Outpatient surgical training includes rotations in plastics, urology, ENT, wound care, and a "lump & bump" clinic for office-based procedures. We believe that family physicians should be well-equipped to manage surgical diseases, and our approachable surgeons take pride in teaching our family medicine residents. During the rotation, residents gain confidence managing a wide variety of conditions, including trauma, cholecystitis, thyroid nodules, breast lumps, appendicitis, bowel obstruction, lower GI bleeding, lymphadenopathy, subcutaneous masses, and more.
Residents complete one block of surgery each year, with an additional three weeks of night float during the PGY-2 year, providing a solid foundation in both inpatient and outpatient surgical care.
ORTHOPEDICS AND SPORTS MEDICINE
Our sports medicine training is led by a sports-medicine trained core faculty member who runs a dedicated clinic in the Academic Family Medicine Center (AFMC). We have strong ties to the local community, staffing Friday night high school football games, rugby matches, and local running events, providing residents with hands-on experience in event coverage. Additionally, each resident rotates through our on-campus orthopedics clinic, receiving focused training in orthopedics and sports medicine.
During this rotation, residents gain valuable skills in reading X-rays, managing fractures, performing joint injections, and providing post-operative orthopedic care. They work closely with adult and pediatric orthopedic surgeons, sports medicine physicians, podiatrists, and physical and occupational therapists, receiving one-on-one mentorship. While on ER rotations, residents also gain experience reducing and splinting fractures, further honing their skills in acute orthopedic management.
The program includes six dedicated weeks of orthopedics and sports medicine in the PGY-1 year and an additional three weeks in the PGY-3 year, ensuring residents are well-prepared to handle a wide range of musculoskeletal and sports-related conditions in their future practice.
AMBULATORY SELECTIVES
Residents at VCMC benefit from a dedicated "ambulatory selective" block, allowing them to tailor their training by choosing from a variety of specialized experiences, including cardiology, diabetes, immunology/oncology, dermatology, psychiatry, neurology/rehabilitation, and addiction medicine. The on-campus medical specialties clinic provides convenient access for both patients and residents, and the same specialists who consult in our hospital and advise on continuity clinic cases welcome residents into their practices.
Our program emphasizes active learning, so residents are not just observing but are fully engaged in managing patients alongside faculty who are committed to teaching. These selective experiences contribute to the six months of electives required by the ACGME, providing residents with the opportunity to deepen their knowledge and skills in areas of personal interest while enhancing their overall training in family medicine.
CONTINUITY CLINIC
The Academic Family Medicine Center (AFMC) is where residents truly become family physicians. Located on the VCMC campus, this clinic serves as the heart of the continuity experience and is the resident's "home" throughout residency. AFMC has four suites, each with 7-8 exam rooms, organized around a nursing station supported by a medical secretary, clinic assistants, and a registered nurse. Residents are assigned to a home suite, working with fellow residents and staff to see patients 2-4 half days a week.
Teaching at AFMC is guided by full-time family practice faculty with years of experience precepting residents. We emphasize continuity of care and a sensitive, patient-centered approach, key principles of family medicine. Behavioral sciences are also integral to patient management. Additionally, local community family physicians work as preceptors, sharing their "real world" experience to round out the residents’ education.
Many patients are invited into the practice by residents from their rotations in the ER, OB, pediatrics, and medicine clinics, or inpatient services, while others are inherited from graduating residents. The clinic serves a diverse patient population, with the primary mission of providing high-quality care to the underserved, including many with public health insurance or no insurance. About 20% of AFMC patients are county government employees, ensuring a wide range of experiences treating people from all walks of life in a welcoming and well-equipped environment.
Continuity is at the core of the AFMC experience. Patients view their resident physician as their personal doctor, and every effort is made to ensure continuity, even with last-minute appointments. The suite's nurses also play a key role in maintaining patient continuity. Residents have the opportunity to follow their own patients if they are admitted to the hospital, and they deliver and care for their maternity patients, continuing care for both the baby and family in the clinic. This strong focus on continuity is essential to the development of residents into fully trained family physicians.
Women's health is a major part of the AFMC experience. Residents manage prenatal care for maternity patients, perform deliveries, and continue postpartum care for both mother and baby. In addition, residents gain hands-on experience with ultrasounds, IUD placements, endometrial biopsies, colposcopies, and other gynecologic procedures.
BEHAVIORAL HEALTH
Dr. Patsy Wright, Ph.D., oversees our longitudinal behavioral health training, bringing over 30 years of experience in teaching family physicians and practicing psychology in medical settings. Each resident works with Dr. Wright several times throughout the year in various settings.
Because behavioral health is central to the practice of family medicine, we integrate it into our continuity clinic. At the Academic Family Medicine Center (AFMC), psychologists collaborate with residents weekly. Psychology trainees are embedded within the clinic and readily available for consultation. Residents also accompany Dr. Wright to the hospital for patient consults, providing hands-on experience with complex behavioral health cases. Additionally, Dr. Wright meets one-on-one with each resident periodically to discuss patient care and personal wellness strategies.
Behavioral health is well-represented in our didactic curriculum, with topics ranging from diagnosing anxiety disorders and managing depression pharmacologically to addressing dementia and distinguishing between delirium and psychosis. Regular reflection meetings are part of the resident Core Conference, giving residents (grouped by class) a structured opportunity to reflect on patient interactions and manage resident stress.
Each of our core family medicine faculty members contributes to behavioral health education, emphasizing the bio-psycho-social approach to patient care. We view our patients as whole individuals, placing a strong emphasis on humanistic medicine, a crucial aspect when working with our medically underserved population.
PALLIATIVE CARE
PGY-1s spend a dedicated block with our multidisciplinary palliative care service, which includes a psychologist, nurse, and chaplain, in addition to our core faculty members. This rotation offers a valuable opportunity to develop essential skills in goals-of-care discussions and comprehensive symptom management. We believe that good palliative medicine is integral to good family medicine, and this experience establishes a strong foundation for patient-centered care that informs all aspects of residency training. The collaborative nature of the team provides a holistic approach to patient care, enriching the resident’s ability to address both the physical and emotional needs of patients and their families
ANESTHESIA
PGY-1s spend a block's worth of mornings rotating in our anesthesia department, where they learn to manage airways, perform preoperative assessments, and gain exposure to the basics of intraoperative anesthesia.  This establishes an important foundation for managing acutely ill patients in the ER and ICU settings later in training.
ELECTIVES
Residents at VCMC have the opportunity to tailor their training through four elective rotations over the three years, allowing them to focus on their personal career goals. Combined with the ambulatory selective experience, these electives make up the six months of required elective time. We provide residents considerable flexibility in designing their elective experiences both within the VCMC system and across Southern California to meet their specific training needs. Residents have crafted a wide variety of elective opportunities to enhance their core residency training, with popular choices including language immersion programs, radiology, podiatry, dermatology, infectious diseases, and ultrasound.
Residents are also granted six weeks of "away elective" time, enabling them to rotate outside of Southern California. Many take advantage of this opportunity to travel internationally or explore locations across the United States. Past international electives have taken residents to countries such as Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Chad, Ethiopia, Nepal, China, and Haiti, among others. Additionally, many residents use away elective time to explore settings they may consider for future careers. With Ventura alumni across the globe, residents have access to a wide range of experiences and mentorship.
Both PGY-2 and PGY-3 residents receive six weeks of open-ended elective time, offering ample opportunity to pursue individualized learning and professional development.
DIDACTICS
Our didactic curriculum is structured and comprehensive, drawing from the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine to provide a strong foundation for our residents. This core curriculum is enhanced with weekly hands-on learning experiences and is organized by monthly themes for reinforcement and spaced repetition, ensuring key concepts are revisited and retained over time. Importantly, inpatient responsibilities are covered by visiting residents or attendings during these sessions, so the experience remains truly protected.
Every Tuesday afternoon, residents are relieved of their clinical duties for a three-hour protected core conference. Led by our core faculty and VCMC physicians, this series of didactics focuses on essential topics specific to family medicine, ensuring that residents receive a thorough, well-rounded education.
In addition to the core conference, many rotations—such as medicine, obstetrics, and surgery—include daily formal didactics alongside teaching rounds. For residents on the medicine rotation, daily morning report covers key hospital medicine topics. A dedicated EKG rounds series with Dr. Leibovitch prepares residents to pass the required EKG exam prior to graduation.
Residents also benefit from the Ventura County Medical Center's continuing education conferences, which are open to both residents and faculty. Certain conference series are approved for CME credit by VCMC, a CMA-accredited provider, and the Wednesday and Thursday morning CME sessions are also approved by the AAFP for prescribed credit. Residents are encouraged to attend these valuable sessions.
In addition to traditional didactics, we offer a bimonthly Friday morning Health Equity Grand Rounds series to advance our community's approach to equity and inclusion. Residents also have access to multidisciplinary tumor boards and monthly morbidity and mortality conferences across various specialties, providing an opportunity to engage with complex cases and multidisciplinary care.