Clinical Affiliate Residency Partners’ Spotlight
This article is the first in an occasional series that spotlights affiliated clinical sites where physicians enrolled in CDU residency programs will train. Dr. Barry Jordan, Chief Medical Officer at Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center, and Dr. Ellen Rothman, Chief Medical Officer at Martin Luther King Outpatient Center, discussed the prospect of CDU residents onsite at their respective facilities.
According to Dr. Rothman, MLKOPC is thrilled to bring back graduate medical education to the campus in partnership with CDU.“ Training physicians allows us to care for not only the patients of today, but also the patients of tomorrow. We are working to develop outstanding, dedicated physicians with deep knowledge of this community. MLK and the Ambulatory Care Network are committed to this academic partnership with CDU.”
Dr. Jordan noted that Rancho pays a significant role in treating underserved populations.“ Teaching hospitals offer better patient service, with residents offering another set of eyes. Lots of times, the practitioner learns from the residents, who also assist in patient safety,” he said.
The partnership entails a diversified range of work at each facility.“ At MLK, CDU provides the academic rigor and applies the ACGME standards to ensure that training programs are compliant. MLK and DHS employ the family medicine residents and provides the clinical mentorship,” according to Dr. Rothman.
At Rancho, family medicine is also the main focus. Primary care, different specialties including surgery, OB / GYN and pediatrics are included. Rancho is responsible for the internal medicine part, with its specialization in patients with disabilities. Medical rehabilitation; spinal cord injury, stroke, long term and chronic conditions all fall under Rancho’ s primary scope of service.
As to the opportunities created by the working relationship, both Chiefs generally agree.“ Anytime you can train young doctors and make a difference, it is always beneficial,” declared Dr. Jordan. Dr. Rothman added that,“ The working relationship requires detailed and consistent partnership on every detail of the family medicine training program- from academic standards to duty hour compliance; to meal stipends, to laundry and scrubs – truly the whole gamut from lofty vision and ideals to the nitty gritty of daily working details.”
The clinical affiliate partnerships will definitely assist residents’ awareness of how to address health disparities.“ It is impossible to truly understand health disparities without experiencing them in medical practice,” noted Dr. Rothman.“ All of our trainees learn from day one how to ask about social determinants, how to navigate the health system when patients cannot manage electronic health portals and online appointment systems, how to prescribe treatments when patients might not have access to insurance, how to do meal planning for patients who might not have access to their own kitchen or to healthy grocery stores.
Our trainees will gain deep understanding of the lived experience of our community. This will continue to inform the care they provide as they become independent physicians in their own right.”
Dr. Jordan succinctly addressed the issue of health disparities in speaking about the unique benefits of the Rancho experience.“ Having students and residents work in hospitals with the prospect of saving people with health disparities helps facilitate ways to solve problems,” he said.“ We’ re hoping that the doctors that we are training will enjoy their time at Rancho. They may want to come back and work at Rancho after seeing the opportunity to experience the culture here.”
CDU College of Medicine | PG. 23