The UCLA Internal Medicine Primary Care Track

The UCLA Healthcare 16th Street Primary Care Internal Medicine Practice

Ambulatory training for primary care residents at UCLA is based at the UCLA Healthcare 16th Street Primary Care Internal Medicine Practice.  Part of UCLA Healthcare, the largest provider of outpatient primary care visits in West Los Angeles, this practice was specifically developed to have a focus on primary care internal medicine resident education. 

UCLA faculty at the 16th Street practice are board certified general internists, all with additional qualifications or interests in related fields including geriatrics, integrative medicine, endocrinology, and women’s health. Residents build a continuity panel as part of a group practice consisting of five UCLA general internal medicine faculty and up to 15 residents committed to primary care.   In addition to learning the cognitive content of internal medicine, there is also a focus on developing proficiency in internal medicine outpatient procedures, including joint aspiration and injection, skin biopsies, and gynecologic procedures.  Residents are provided with designated support staff to assist with patient care.

Patients at UCLA Healthcare 16th  Street reflect the socioeconomic, racial and ethnic diversity of Los Angeles.  Some are members of managed care plans; others receive insurance through preferred provider organization plans, or governmental plans such as Medicare.  Residents at UCLA Healthcare 16th Street learn to work with all these health care payers to provide excellent primary care while also completing quality improvement requirements, monitoring healthcare utilization and health outcomes, and providing  needed care for their patients.  

During internship, residents attend weekly half-day continuity clinics at UCLA Healthcare 16th Street.  During the R2 and R3 years, residents add an additional half-day during their 6 months per year of ambulatory rotations.  This is scheduled as a full, protected day of outpatient clinic, and includes a case-based outpatient teaching conference and a noon teaching conference across the street at Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center and Orthopedic Hospital.

The Simms Mann/Venice Family Clinic Primary Care Continuity Clinic

Primary care residents during their R2 and R3 years will also build a continuity practice at the Simms Mann site, part of the Venice Family Clinic, the largest private clinic for the underserved in the United States.  Caring for this group of patients, 80% of whom have no health insurance and 15% of whom are homeless, provides an important service to the community at large, as well as excellent exposure to chronic care health issues common in underserved patient populations.  UCLA residents also staff women’s health and cardiology clinics at this site.

Residents will work with a small group of dedicated faculty to provide continuity care for a group of uninsured and underinsured patients with chronic illnesses, thereby improving access and quality of care for this needy group of patients.   Residents are supported by an extensive network of staff including nurses, nurse practitioners, pharmacists, social workers, and healthcare coordinators.  Residents in this setting learn how to use community resources to provide care to patients with limited means, and how to interact with governmental and charity healthcare systems to obtain needed care for their patients.  Residents have the option to expand their role, by assisting the clinic with grassroots community health outreach, quality improvement, and efficient allocation of resources.