Mission
Our mission is to develop physician leaders in Community Health by teaching innovative techniques to provide equitable, culturally-humble care with a commitment to marginalized and vulnerable populations.
Overview
Kaiser Permanente Northern California offers 7 distinct 13-month fellowships in Community Health located at the following sites:
- Napa-Solano: Community Medicine and Global Health Fellowship
- Oakland: Community Medicine and Health Disparities Fellowship
- Sacramento Valley: Community Medicine and Public Health Fellowship
- San Francisco: Community Medicine and Urban Health Fellowship
- San Jose: Community Medicine and Vulnerable Populations Fellowship
- Santa Clara: Community Medicine and Leadership Fellowship
- Santa Rosa: Community Medicine and Faculty Development Fellowship
During the 13-month fellowships (August 1-August 31), fellow time will be spent as follows:
- Community-based Primary Care (50-70%): fellows will provide Primary Care to the medically underserved at non-Kaiser community-based clinics and Federally Qualified Health Centers
- Community Project and Didactics (10-30%): fellows will have protected time for didactics and dedicated mentors to help develop their required community- based scholarly project
- Kaiser Permanente clinics (10-20%): over the course of the 13 months, fellows will spend 1-2 half-days per week learning the Kaiser system first-hand by performing clinical duties at the primary Kaiser Permanente site
- Other opportunities (10-20%): Fellows will also have options to pursue rotations in a variety of educational areas, conduct mentored research, or develop further community-based initiatives
Application Process
The application for the 2024-2025 academic year is now open! Interviews will take place virtually and details will be provided upon an applicant’s invitation to interview with a program.
As part of the application process, please submit an intent to apply if you are interested in applying.
In preparation for your application, please have the following items ready:
- Curriculum Vitae
- 3 Reference Contacts, who will submit letters:
- One letter of recommendation from your Residency Program Director (This may be submitted directly to melissa.m.wong@kp.org and a placeholder uploaded with the application)
- Two professional letters of recommendation (These may be submitted directly to melissa.m.wong@kp.org and a placeholder uploaded with the application)
- USMLE/COMLEX Transcript
- Medical School Transcript
- MSPE (Dean’s Letter)
- ECFMG certificate (for international medical graduates)
- Responses to short essay questions about your experiences in community health, your interest in the program, and the future you envision for your career.
Salary and Benefits
- Competitive salary
- Benefits: KP provides comprehensive benefits including Medical and Dental coverage, 4 weeks paid vacation, educational stipend of $1,500, relocation stipend of $1,000, housing allowance of $2,000, stipends for global health rotations (guaranteed for fellows in the CMGH track and for approved fellows in other CM tracks), monthly hospital meal allowance, and wellness allowance and support.
For detailed salary and benefit information, visit the Salary & Benefits page.
Fellowship Leadership
Tessa Stecker, MD
Regional Director, KP Northern California Community Medicine Fellowships
Tessa Stecker, MD, is the Program Director for the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Community Medicine Fellowships and Program Director for the KP Northern California Resident Health Policy Elective. In addition to overseeing the community medicine fellows, she works closely with medical students and residents completing their community medicine and global health rotations and projects at the KP Napa-Solano Family Medicine Residency Program (KPNSFMRP). Her areas of interest include community medicine, global health, medical education, adverse childhood events, social justice, and anti-racism and oppression work.
Dr. Stecker attended the University of Southern California for her undergraduate and medical education where she developed a passion for health education, serving underserved populations and working with students as a mentor and teacher. She completed her residency at the Kaiser Woodland Hills (KWH) Family Medicine Program where she served as a chief resident in her last year. Following residency, she split her time between working at the Downtown Women’s Center and the Center for Community Health on Skid Row, teaching Introduction to Clinical Medicine at USC, and working at various local community clinics and urgent care centers. In 2014 she completed a fellowship in Community Medicine at KWH where she worked with medical students and residents in various community clinics and supervised specialty clinics in dermatology and procedures at KWH. In August 2015, Dr. Stecker relocated to Northern California to complete the UCSF Faculty Development Fellowship and develop the community medicine and global health fellowship at the KPNSFMRP. She has since assumed the roles of program director for the regional community medicine fellowships and program director for the resident health policy elective.
FAQ
Can I apply to more than one of the KP Northern California Community Medicine fellowship sites?
Yes! We encourage applicants interested in careers in Community Medicine to apply to as many of our Community Medicine Fellowship sites as you might be interested in. Each site shares a common goal of training the future leaders in community health, and fellows from the various sites will have opportunities to come together for didactics, social events, and project mentoring. Each site also has a unique topic area of emphasis and geographic location, which may influence an applicant’s choice(s). Please see individual community medicine fellowship websites for site-specific information.
Do fellowship applicants need to be Board-certified or Board-eligible?
It is not expected that all applicants (especially those still in residency) will have passed their Board exams. Prior to the first date of work as a fellow, it is expected that fellows will have completed residency training at an ACGME-certified residency and will have a California Medical License. Fellows will work with the Program Director to arrange time to take their board exam during fellowship (at the fellow’s expense).
What training backgrounds or specialties will be considered?
While KP Northern California Community Medicine Fellowships are designed for residents seeking primary care opportunities, each site may have certain stipulations.
- Napa-Solano, Santa Rosa, Sacramento, and San Jose – these sites only accept applicants from backgrounds in Family Medicine
- Oakland, San Francisco, and Santa Clara – these sites are open to applicants from Internal Medicine and Family Medicine
Will applicants who are just completing residency be considered, or are the fellowships only for physicians with more post-residency experience?
We will consider equally applicants who are completing residency and able to start in August, as well as applicants who have additional experiences after residency.
Is the start date flexible?
Generally, the fellowship start date is firm in order to coordinate orientations and to have the desired amount of overlap of fellows from one year to the next. The first couple of weeks are generally spent completing Orientation activities, allowing for a smooth and gradual transition. Exceptional circumstances should be discussed at the time of applying with the site director of the specific site(s) who will make an effort to accommodate unique schedule requests, if possible.
What are the salary and benefits?
The salary and benefits package is competitive — see the updated Salary and Benefits.