Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Will I have autonomy in the care of my patients?

As the resident physician taking care of your patients in the Family Medicine Center and at the St. Joseph’s Medical Center, you will be their doctor. The attending family medicine faculty serve as your supervisors and advisors as you care for your own patients.

Does your Program adhere to residency work hour limits?

Our program strictly adheres to the ACGME residency work hour limits to 80 hours per week, averaged over a four week period, both because it’s required and because we believe it’s best for the wellbeing of our residents and their patients. Because of our night float system, many of our rotations have little or no call responsibility.

How much didactic time is there? Are residents protected from other duties during their dedicated educational time?

Our residents have a robust didactic curriculum with protected educational time on an All Day Thursday from 8 am to 3 pm to enhance our residents' learning. Our residents are excused from their other clinical duties to attend and which showcases Didactic and interactive sessions are taught by our Family Medicine faculty, residents and by visiting subspecialists. Journal clubs and morbidity and mortality (M&M) conferences occur monthly. Residents are not scheduled for work responsibilities during these educational sessions and are expected to attend unless they are the senior residents on the Family Medicine Inpatient service, need to attend an urgent patient care such as a code or delivery or are on night float, vacation or emergency medicine rotation.

What sort of elective opportunities will I have?

Electives allow residents the opportunity to tailor their educational training to fulfill their individual career plans. Available electives include Cardiology, Dermatology, Endocrinology, Gastroenterology, Infectious Disease, Nephrology, Hematology/ Oncology, Community Medicine, Neurology, Oncology, Sleep Medicine, Pulmonology, Rheumatology, Urology, Rural Medicine, Urgent Care, Global Health, Sports Medicine, Sleep Medicine, Junior Faculty, OMT, Hospice and Palliative Care, Hospital Medicine. Residents see patients in various community clinics and in the private offices of these sub-specialists. Inpatient Rotations are often arranged at St. Joseph's Medical Center.

What is a clinic session in our continuity clinic like?

Clinic sessions are a mix of acute care, preventive health, and chronic disease management. First year residents start off seeing four patients per half day in the clinic that quarterly ramps up to reach seven patients per half day in the last quarter of the academic year. Second year residents start off seeing eight patients in the first two quarters and ramp up to reach nine patients in the last two quarters of the academic year. By the third year, residents are seeing 10 patients per half day. Outpatient faculty physicians are always available in the clinic for precepting, consultation to help with patient care, and for teaching.

Will I have the opportunity to do scholarly activity?

Our program has a scholarly activity requirement. Residents should complete two scholarly activities, at least one of which should be a quality improvement project to fulfill the ACGME requirement for scholarly activity. All residents develop projects longitudinally during their training and during a 2-week research elective if they chose to. They usually present their projects during the St. Joseph’s Annual Symposium and at state and national conferences. They have published retrospective research and case reports. Every year they work in groups on five to six Quality Improvement projects through their outpatient continuity clinic at CMC-Channel.

Are there any other residency programs at St. Joseph’s Medical Center?

Our program is part of a multi-year effort to expand Graduate Medical Education at St. Joseph's Medical Center. Family Medicine and Emergency Medicine programs started in 2018, Internal Medicine and Transitional year programs in 2020, Psychiatry and Anesthesiology programs in 2021, Urology and Neurology programs in 2022 and Orthopedic Surgery program in 2023. One of the hallmarks of the St. Joseph’s Family Medicine Residency Program is the collaboration among different specialties providing unique learning opportunities for residents.

Do I have a prenatal continuity delivery requirement?

As per ACGME requirements, at least some of the maternity care experience for residents should include prenatal, intrapartum and postpartum care of the same patient in a continuity of care relationship. Every resident who is a graduate of our program is expected to have 10 Continuity Deliveries prior to graduation as part of our program requirement. The goal of continuity deliveries is to honor the tradition of continuity of care model and honor the spirit of the family physician-family relationship.

Our residents have a program requirement of 10 continuity deliveries. They start following during their continuity clinics 10 prenatal patients in their first trimester through delivery and postpartum.

Do I have a nursing home requirement?

To fulfill the ACGME requirement for 24 months of nursing home experience, starting in their PGY-2, our residents follow two to three continuity nursing home patients at the Vienna Nursing and Rehabilitation Center.

Does your Family Medicine Residency Program accept IMGs?

Our program accepts IMGs and several of our residents are IMGs.

Does your Family Medicine Residency Program accept DOs?

Our program accepts DOs and several of our residents are DOs. We are affiliated with Touro University and their medical students rotate at St. Joseph Medical Center as it serves as one of their training sites.

What Electronic Medical Record is used at the Family Practice Site at Community Medical Center-Channel?

Our outpatient continuity clinic at Community Medical Center-Channel currently utilizes NextGen as its Electronic Medical Record and there are no plans to transition to a different EMR in the near future.

What Electronic Medical Record is used at St. Joseph’s Medical Center?

Our St. Joseph’s Medical Center currently utilized Cerner as its Electronic Medical Record and there are no plans to transition to a different EMR in the near future.

Does your Program work with a socioeconomically underserved population?

The Community Medical Center-Channel is a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC), meaning that we care for an underserved patient population. The majority of the patients we see in the Family Medicine Center are covered by Medi-Cal, California’s version of the Medicaid program that covers low income patients. Other patients have Medicare or are uninsured. In the hospital, we take care of all comers. Our inpatient patient population is a mix of uninsured, Medi-Cal, Medicare, and privately insured patients.

What fun things are there to do in and around Stockton?

Stockton is a city on the San Joaquin River, in California’s Central Valley. It is the largest city in San Joaquin county, the 11th largest city in California and the 58th largest city in the United States. Stockton is 3 hours away from Lake Tahoe, 45 minutes away from Sacramento and 1.5 hours away from San Francisco. The Haggin Museum features fine art and local history displays. Oak Grove Regional Park has trails, a nature center and a lake stocked with catfish. In nearby Lodi, Micke Grove Regional Park includes a Japanese garden, the San Joaquin County Historical Museum and Micke Grove Zoo. The Children’s Museum of Stockton offers hands-on exhibits. Stockton hosts many annual festivals celebrating the cultural heritage of the city. Take a look at some of the top-rated ’Things to Do’ in Stockton, California according to TripAdvisor. https://www.visitstockton.org/blog/things-to-do-in-stockton-california-according-to-tripadvisor

Does your Program sponsor visas?

Our program does not directly sponsor J-1 or H1 visas but we do accept ECFMG sponsored J-1 Visas. Noncitizens will be asked to provide a copy of a document that establishes employment authorization by the date of their interview. A list of acceptable documents can be found at http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/i-9.pdf.

What is your Family Medicine Board pass rate?

We graduated three classes so far (2021, 2022, 2023) and our Board pass rate is 100%.

What do your Graduates do after graduation from the Program?

Due to the extensive high yield training provided at our residency program, our graduates have joined private and FQHC outpatient and inpatient practices. Please see Alumni for past graduates. 

What hotels can I stay at?

If you are planning to travel to Stockton to explore the area or for the interview social event, we suggest flying into Sacramento airport (one hour North) or San Jose or Oakland Airport (one and a half to two hours West). San Francisco Airport is also a possibility, but you will encounter more traffic.

The public transportation options from the airports are limited so we suggest that you rent a car. We do not reimburse for any travel arrangements. We suggest the following hotels for overnight accommodations:

LOCATED OFF I-5 FREEWAY, ABOUT 10 MILES NORTH

• Courtyard Marriott: 3252 West March Lane, Stockton, California 95219 | (209) 472-9700
• Hilton: 2323 Grand Canal Blvd, Stockton, CA 95207 | (209) 957-9090
• University Plaza Waterfront Hotel: 110 W. Fremont St., Stockton, CA 95202 | (209) 944-1140