Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Will I have autonomy in the care of my patients?

As the resident physician taking care of your patients at the St. Joseph’s Medical Center, you will be their doctor. The attending faculty serve as your supervisors and advisors as you care for your own patients. Residents are given OR time starting in intern year and given increased responsibilities as they prove themselves with each faculty member. 

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. 

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 Mondays  from 7:30am to 12:30 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 Urology 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.

What sort of elective opportunities will I have?

Electives allow residents the opportunity to tailor their educational training to fulfill their individual career plans. We have very supportive attendings who begin discussing what these electives may look like for each specific resident very early into our training.

What is your clinic experience like?

Clinic is a mix of working up new urologic complaints, follow ups, postoperative visits, and procedures. Outpatient faculty physicians are always available in the clinic for precepting, consultation to help with patient care, and 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 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. 

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

Yes, there are currently 9 different residency programs at St. Joseph’s Medical Center. There are also 2 fellowship programs with plans to add several more in the coming years.

Does your Urology Residency Program accept DOs?

Yes! Our program accepts DOs and close to half of our resident class are DOs. We are affiliated with Touro University. Touro medical students rotate at St. Joseph Medical Center as it serves as one of their training sites. 

Does your Urology Residency Program accept IMGs?

Yes! We do consider and have interviewed IMGs each year. We have taken IMGs as long as they are not requiring a J-1 or H1 visa. Unfortunately SJMC does not directly sponsor these visas with the exception of the 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 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 with plans to transition to Epic in the near future.

How diverse is the patient population at SJMC? Does your Program work with a socioeconomically underserved population?

Stockton is one of the most racially and ethnically diverse cities in the U.S. In fact, in 2020, U.S. News & World Report named Stockton, THE most racially and ethnically diverse city in the U.S. The majority of the patients we see 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 everyone. 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 2.5 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. Nearby we have  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

What hotels can I stay at?

If you are planning to travel to Stockton to explore the area, we suggest flying into Sacramento airport. Other options include the airports in San Jose or Oakland. San Francisco Airport is also in the area, but you will encounter more traffic and possible toll roads when coming into the city. 

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

• 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