GME - Highlights
Kaweah Delta Health Care District’s Graduate Medical Education Program
began officially in 2013. The first class of physicians graduated in June
of 2016 and we celebrate the fact that more than 45 percent of graduates
have decided to stay and practice in the local area.
“When we set out to become a teaching hospital, one important goal
was to improve this community’s access to health care by growing
the next generation of physicians,” said Lindsay Mann, former Chief
Executive Officer of Kaweah Delta Health Care District.
Since then, Kaweh Delta has continued to build. The new Anesthesiology
residency program welcomed their inaugural class in June of 2017. This
is the sixth pipeline program that Kaweah Delta has developed. Anesthesia
joins Emergency Medicine, Family Medicine, General Surgery, Psychiatry
and Transitional Year residency programs to round out the expanding Graduate
Medical Education department.
At full complement, when all programs are fully mature, Kaweah Delta will
be home to 121 resident physicians in training at any given time. Resident
physicians are trained in quality improvement, patient safety and evidence-based
medicine. They stay on top of the latest and greatest in their respective
fields of practice. These physicians are an important asset to the care
that is delivered at our institution.
Twenty-five percent of the matriculated residents rotated at Kaweah Delta
while in medical school. They learned about the community, the residency
program and decided to apply for a position. This year, Kaweah Delta received
over 3,000 applications and will interview over 450 candidates for 46
training spots.
Studies show that around 50% of residents tend to settle within 30 miles
of where they train. The choice of where to practice medicine after residency
was clear, Dr. K Kamel said. “I am staying here, first, because
I love Visalia, not just me, but my family as well,” he said. “Second,
I would love to pay back the community that taught me and gave me the
opportunity to learn and grow.”
Visalia’s central California location is among the reasons Dr. Sean
Oldroyd said he is staying. “I appreciate that I can take my children
camping, like I enjoyed as a kid. I love that we have access to the mountains
and the beach is nearby.”
Kaweah Delta Health Care District is delighted that the strategic vision
to embark on education is paying off. The vast majority of US residency
training programs are clustered east of the Mississippi River. Training
in the West is in high demand and we are fortunate to enjoy California's
landscape as the setting for our programs.
For more information about GME at Kaweah Delta, please browse the links
on this page or contact our office.