Adventist Health Expands Residency Opportunities to Help Address Physician Shortage
In April, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education approved Adventist Health Tulare’s application to launch an Internal Medicine residency program that will help train up to 12 residents. This is in addition to the current Family Medicine Residency Programs in Hanford, Tulare, and Sonora.
Having to wait a long time to see a doctor is frustrating at best and life-threatening at worst and, unfortunately, the U.S. is facing a growing physician shortage. The Association of American Medical Colleges projects there will be a shortage of 48,000 primary care physicians by 2034. Adventist Health has been training physicians through its top notch primary care residency programs for years and now the three-state health system is expanding further.
“We are pleased to receive this approval and know that it is just one step in the process of bringing more primary care to our rural communities.” says Raul Ayala, MD, MHCH, Adventist Health’s Ambulatory Medical Officer, who helps lead the residency programs for the system. “In a 2022 report, the Council noted their focus of developing a health professional education system that increases rural health workforce capacity.”
In total, Adventist Health hospitals offer nine physician residency programs (Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, Obstetrics & Gynecology, and Podiatry) as well as two pharmacy residency programs in these communities:
- Adventist Health Glendale (Family Medicine)
- Adventist Health Hanford (Family Medicine)
- Adventist Health Sonora (Family Medicine-Rural Track)
- Adventist Health Tulare (Family Medicine)
- Adventist Health Ukiah Valley (Family Medicine)
- Adventist Health White Memorial in Los Angeles (Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, and Obstetrics & Gynecology, Pharmacy, Podiatry)
For more information about Adventist Health’s residency programs, visit AdventistHealth.org/Residency-Program.
