Residency | Altamed

The AltaMed Family Medicine Residency Program focuses on family and community medicine in every graduate training year, with themes that include:

• Behavioral health
• Teens and school-based clinics
• Geriatrics and home visits
• Mobile medicine
• Community organizations
• Practice management
• Procedures
• “Resident as teacher” workshops
• Didactics focused on interactive team building and wellness
• Availability of electives at AltaMed and partner sites/hospitals, including:
  • HIV/AIDS
  • Quality improvement and population health
  • Cultural relevancy
  • Health equity and social determinants of health

Our Values

Residents who choose AltaMed are committed to making a difference and enacting lasting change. Our team has created an environment that ensures residents pursue meaningful professional goals, help shape the future of care, and improve the health and well-being of their patients. Our core values are:

• Patients always come first
• Employees are our most valuable asset.
• We encourage process excellence and innovation for quality outcomes.
• We promote wellness and advocate for strong and healthy communities.
• Teamwork is vital to all of our success, as well as to the health of our patients and of the community.
• High-quality learning and teaching influence the next generation of leaders and scholars.

AltaMed Institute of Health Equity (AIHE)

With a commitment to social justice and the understanding that FQHCs play a significant role in achieving health equity, AltaMed launched the AltaMed Institute for Health Equity (AIHE) in 2017. The Institute uses grant-funded research and community engagement to gain a deeper understanding of the health problems that disproportionately affect racial and ethnic groups, including the factors that lead to disparities in clinical outcomes.

At the Institute, our ultimate goal is to provide actionable guidance that addresses key issues in health equity, at the systemic level. Our research directly informs AltaMed system and service modifications to reduce and ultimately eliminate health disparities.

Designated Institutional Officer and Director of the AltaMed Institute for Health Equity

Efrain Talamantes, MD, MBA, MScDesignated Institutional Officer and Director of the AltaMed Institute for Health Equity

Dr. Efrain Talamantes is the Designated Institutional Officer and Director for the AltaMed Institute for Health Equity

where he leads health services, community-partnered research, and training to advance health equity and medical education. He is a Principal Investigator for federal research grants and is widely published in peer-reviewed journals on the topics of workforce and health equity. He is committed to engaging AltaMed residents in all areas of research and scholarly work.

Dr. Talamantes previously served as Associate Director for the University of California, Davis (UC Davis) Center for Reducing Health Disparities and as Associate Program Director for the UC Davis Internal Medicine Residency Program. He also co-directed the Center for a Diverse Healthcare Workforce. He is a co-founder of MiMentor and leads initiatives throughout the country to enhance leadership and diversity in health care.

During his academic career, Dr. Talamantes was an RWJF Clinical Scholar. He received his Doctor of Medicine from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), completed residency at UC Davis, and obtained his MBA from the Goizueta Business School at Emory University. Dr. Talamantes received his Master of Science in Health Policy and Management at the Fielding School of Public Health at UCLA.

At AltaMed, we want all of our trainees and their families to know they have the support they need to flourish. We offer a generous compensation package, with new benefits added regularly.

Salary: PGY-1 60,567, PGY-2 62,117, PGY-3 64,633
 

• Educational stipend ($800 PGY-1 & 2, $1,300 PGY-3)
• California Medical License, DEA reimbursement
• Transportation subsidy program
• Meal allowances
• Parking 
• Fatigue mitigation (access to taxi, Lyft, or Uber) 
• Medical/health insurance
• Flexible Spending Account
  • Health care
  • Dependent daycare
• Dental insurance
• Vision insurance 
• Life insurance
• Malpractice insurance
• Short and long-term disability
• Resident paid time off
• Bereavement leave
• AltaMed gym
• 403(b)
• Bonus incentives for quality and academic achievement
• Additional voluntary group life insurance and accidental death and dismemberment insurance (AD&D)
• AFLAC (voluntary accident, hospital confinement, cancer, short-term disability, critical illness, whole life policy)
• LegalShield (voluntary legal services insurance)
• Health advocacy support program
• Scholarshare 529 educational savings account
• Family scholarship program

• Family and community medicine (FCM) – orientation
• FCM – teen/schools
• FCM – mental health
• Adult inpatient (family medicine service)
• Emergency medicine
• Gynecology outpatient
• Orthopedics
• Surgery
• OB inpatient
• Pediatric outpatient
• Geriatric outpatient (2 weeks)/newborn nursery (2 weeks)

• FCM – Mobile medicine
• FCM – Community organizations
• FCM – Practice management
• Adult inpatient (family medicine service)
• ICU
• Night float (2 weeks)/management health systems (2 weeks)
• OB inpatient
• Pediatric ER
• Pediatric inpatient
• Cardiology
• Electives (8 weeks)

• FCM – community organizations
• FCM – procedures
• FCM – practice management
• Adult inpatient (family medicine service)
• Night float (2 weeks)/dermatology (2 weeks)
• Pediatric outpatient
• Medicine subspecialties (2 weeks)/radiology (2 weeks)
• Emergency medicine
• Sports medicine
• Surgical Subspecialties/ENT/Ophthalmology/Urology
• Electives (8 weeks)

Electives

• Addiction medicine
• Anesthesia
• Cardiology
• Critical care
• Cultural relevancy
• Dermatology
• ENT
• Geriatrics
• GI
• Gynecology
• Health equity and social determinants of health
• HIV/Infectious disease
• NICU
• Ophthalmology
• Pain management
• Pediatric sports medicine
• Pediatric subspecialties
• Podiatry
• Radiology /ultrasound (priority)
• Rheumatology
• Sports medicine
• Urology
   

All applications and supporting documentation must be submitted via ERAS (Electronic Residency Application System). Your student affairs office can address any questions about ERAS. Hand-written applications will not be accepted.

Our selection committee will review your completed application. You will be notified of your interview status.
 

Requirements for all applicants:

• Completed ERAS residency application
• One letter of recommendation from a family physician
• Two additional letters of recommendation 
• Dean's letter
• Medical school transcript
• USLME transcript
• Personal statement
• Curriculum vitae (ERAS CV is acceptable)
• Photograph
   

Applications will be reviewed as received, beginning in October 2019, and will be accepted through December 31, 2019.

Once your ERAS application has been submitted, our selection committee will review it. If they determine that you are a good fit for the program, our program coordinator will arrange for an interview date. Interviews start in September; our cutoff date is January 22.

During the in-person interview, you will speak with faculty members and other AltaMed staff. For your information, we’ve provided a sample itinerary below:

9:00 am: Welcome and overview with program director
9:30 am: Breakfast with faculty and program staff
10:00 am: Faculty and resident interviews
11:30 am: Tour of family medicine clinic
12:00 pm: Lunch
1:30 pm: Tour of hospital
2:30 pm: Interview day ends

Here are answers to common questions about the application process, requirements, and the AltaMed Family Medicine Residency Program.

1. What is unique or different about AltaMed’s Family Medicine Residency Program?

Unlike traditional hospital-based programs, the AltaMed Family Medicine Residency Program (FMRP) is based in a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC). The FMRP uses a “clinic first” model that prioritizes and emphasizes outpatient primary care delivery. Health equity is integral to the program and is integrated seamlessly into the program’s three-year curriculum. Our program is accredited by ACGME.

2. What are the application criteria?

Requirements for all applicants:

• Completed ERAS residency application
• One letter of recommendation from a family physician
• Two additional letters of recommendation from completed rotations, one of which must come from the following subspecialties:
  • Medicine
  • Pediatrics
  • Obstetrics/Gynecology
• Dean's letter
• Medical school transcript
• USLME transcript
• Personal statement
• Curriculum vitae (ERAS CV is acceptable)
• Photograph
   

3. What are you looking for in an applicant?

We are looking for applicants who are aligned with the vision and mission of AltaMed, want to practice in Southern California, and have a demonstrated passion for and commitment to work in ethnically diverse, medically vulnerable communities. Additionally, we are committed to recruiting, training and retaining underrepresented minorities in medicine.

4. How many letters of recommendation do you require? Does one of the letters need to be from a family physician?

We require three letters of recommendation, one of them from a family physician.

5. May I fax or email additional information to go along with my application?

No. Please view our “how to apply” page and submit the required information along with your application via ERAS.

6. What is your application deadline?

December 31, 2019

7. Do you train residents who are international medical graduates (IMG)?

Yes, but priority is given to U.S. graduates. Additional requirements for graduates of international medical schools (except Canadian) and 5th Pathway students include:

• Six to 12 months of U.S.-based, hands-on clinical experience (preferably in primary care)
• Three letters of recommendation from an American medical school faculty member, who can verify your clinical skills. Letter-writers should have either:
  • Worked with you prior to your arrival in the United States
  • Worked with you in an internship, externship, clerkship, 5th pathway or equivalent experience
• Evidence of having passed the USMLE Step 1 and Step 2 exams
• ECFMG certification
• California medical license or applicant evaluation status letter, issued by the Medical Board of California (also known as the "California Letter")
• Appropriate visa, if applicable (J-1 visas are acceptable; H-1B visas are not acceptable)
   

8. Do you participate in the Match?

Yes, AltaMed's FMRP participates in the Match. 

9. Do you sponsor visas?

No.

10. I applied. What happens next?

Our team will review your application on ERAS.  If you are selected for an interview, our program coordinator will reach out to you to schedule a time. We have a limited amount of travel assistance based on financial need and academic merit combined. 

To learn more about our requirements, please see questions 2, 4 and 7.

11. What types of patients will I see in a week working in Family Medicine?

AltaMed’s South Gate clinic provides nearly 40,000 visits per year to an ethnically diverse population, including many people who are underinsured or uninsured. The clinic primarily provides family medicine, pediatrics, and obstetrics and gynecology services along with a wide variety of community programs. There is an integrated Behavioral Health program. Of the estimated 40,000 patients, 60% are females and 6.5% are under the age of 2.

12. What procedures will I learn during this residency?

AltaMed South Gate has a longitudinal procedures clinic set up to provide residents with the procedure training necessary to succeed and graduate.

• Cast/splint application and removal
• Cerumen removal
• Cervical cap fitting
• Colposcopy
• Cryosurgery, skin
• Endometrial biopsy
• Excisional biopsy, skin
• Genital wart treatment
• I&D abscess, skin
• I&D Bartholin cyst
• Ingrown toenail surgery/excision
• IUD insertion and removal
• Joint aspiration
• Joint injection
• Laceration repair
• Contraceptive implant insertion
• OB ultrasound
   

Other procedures will be performed in the hospital setting.

13. Does AltaMed use electronic medical records (EMR)?

Yes. AltaMed uses Epic. Our partner Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) also uses Epic.

White Memorial, our other primary hospital partner, uses Cerner.

14. What are the salary and benefits for residents?

AltaMed offers a variety of benefits. Please see the salary and benefits page for reference.

15. Is there a research requirement?

Yes. All residents must participate in two scholarly projects during their residency program. We partner with the AltaMed Institute for Health Equity to offer opportunities that are timely, clinically relevant, and advance health equity.

16. What types of elective rotations are available?

Residents will have the opportunity to choose from several different elective rotations.

• Addiction medicine
• Anesthesia
• Cardiology
• Cultural relevancy
• Dermatology
• Endocrinology
• ENT
• Geriatrics
• GI
• Gynecology
• Health equity and social determinants of health
• HIV/infectious disease
• NICU
• Ophthalmology
• Pain management
• Pediatric sports medicine
• Pediatric subspecialties
• Podiatry
• Radiology/ultrasound (priority)
• Rheumatology
• Sports medicine
• Urology

17. What is your National Residency Match Program (NRMP) ID?

2236120C0 - Code will be active by Thursday, October 31, 2019. 

18. What is your Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) ID?

1200500764