Internal Medicine Oakland - FAQ

We receive a high volume of applications and while we preferentially review applications from those who signal our program, we also consider applicants who do not signal us. We definitely review all files and invite applicants who do not signal us.

Once you have interviewed with us, whether or not you signaled us has no bearing on our rank list decision-making process at the end of the interview season. The signaling is really just a tool to help us streamline our early application review process.

Absolutely! You can see from our list (see Alumni page) that our residents have enjoyed outstanding fellowship match success.

Mentoring begins as soon as the first day of orientation. All residents are assigned an Assistant Program Director mentor to help them navigate their career decision-making.  Once a fellowship is identified, residents enter the Fellowship Pathway which includes:

• Career and scholarly project mentoring from faculty in the subspecialty
• Advanced electives in the specialty, tailored to the resident’s interest and including the option to complete away rotations
• Longitudinal Research:
  • In the first year, residents are invited to join an IRB-approved research project as a co-investigator and then present the results of this project at a regional conference in the intern year, such as the Northern California ACP conference.
  • Later in the intern year, residents begin selecting novel projects in their subspecialty with the aim of presenting this work at a national subspecialty conference and submitting original manuscripts to a peer-reviewed journal in the second and third years.
• Quality Improvement project in the specialty (residents will lead and complete individual QI projects under the mentorship of Drs. Tran and Banerjee)
• Serve on subspecialty committees (such Code Blue committee for those going into Critical Care, or the Infection Control committee for ID-bound residents)
• Membership in the subspecialty society

Why are our residents happy?

You will thrive in the friendly and supportive atmosphere here at Kaiser Oakland. Your ideas will be respected, encouraged, and incorporated into the program structure. You will practice in state-of-the-art hospital and clinic buildings within a high-functioning system—and you can be proud at the end of the day about the care you provide your patients.

Our schedule is flexible so you can take full advantage of Bay Area living. Residency will be a busy time, but you should not put your life “on hold”– you are the best physician when you are the most balanced physician. Work-life balance is supported in a variety of ways:

• Comprehensive residency Wellness program, led by a dedicated Assistant Program Director and a resident-led Wellness Committee
• Ward medicine rotations include one weekend day off EACH WEEK
• Twice per year residents may schedule a Wellness Day to attend to personal needs (dentist, doctor visits, optometry, etc.)
• Stipends earmarked specifically for local fitness center memberships, to the tune of $720 annually!
• Annual retreats for each class
• Wellness lunches & Wellness Curriculum including resiliency sessions
• Access to numerous confidential free professional resources to support your mental health, within and outside of Kaiser

We eliminated overnight “call” over 15 years ago to allow residents to maximize their daytime education and ensure the highest level of quality patient care while providing a schedule with time to enjoy life outside of work.

The night float interns provide cross-coverage on teaching patients. The R2 night float admits patients from 7 pm to 7 am.  PGY-3 residents do only a handful of night shifts all year. The maximum number of consecutive nights residents work is 6.

Current residents had this to say when asked what they enjoyed most about training at Kaiser Oakland:

• “great patient mix, cool cases, I feel like I’m part of a community in the hospital”
• “the camaraderie with my colleagues, outstanding teaching, my clinic patients, the sense of family in the hospital with RNs, staff, etc”
• “the people- my co-interns absolutely rock! Awesome program directors and staff and enthusiastic and approachable attendings”
• “outstanding academic teaching”
• “great patient database for research and residents are given time and support for research”
• “excellent evidence-based teaching in ambulatory care and the specialties”
• “diverse patient population with exposure to a wide spectrum of pathology”
• “program leadership is responsive to resident feedback on how to improve the program”
• “program’s commitment to providing a best possible educational experience for the residents”
• “great program staff/faculty – especially the program director”
• “promotes autonomy but also provides many resources for professional growth”

Oakland is one of the most culturally and ethnically diverse cities in America with more than 125 languages and dialects are spoken. African Americans comprise approximately 30% of our patients, and Hispanics another 20%. In addition to their time at Kaiser Oakland, our residents care for patients at our sister hospital Kaiser Richmond which serves as the safety net hospital for an underserved population in the East Bay.  Residents may also rotate  at FQHCs such as the Lifelong Clinics of Oakland, the Malta Free Clinic of Oakland, and other Bay Area community sites such as San Quentin prison, La Clinica de La Raza, Center for Elder Independence, the Native American Health Center, and BOSS (Building Opportunities for Self-Sufficiency). Former graduates now practice at several of these community sites. Social justice is our program’s mission, and we aim to eliminate disparities in health outcomes by providing the same high-level care to all individuals.

Our commitment to our diverse community includes pipeline mentoring efforts with local elementary and high schools led by Dr. Nailah Thompson, the Integrated Health Care rotation for rising second-year medical students from backgrounds traditionally under-represented in medicine from across the country, and the Medical Student Diversity Scholarship program created to support medical students who share our mission to create a more diverse physician workforce for our patients.

Yes! Oakland Kaiser reflects the cultural and linguistic diversity of the city of Oakland. We have many Spanish and Chinese-speaking patients as well as over 100 other languages spoken in Oakland. Kaiser Oakland is committed to a workforce that reflects the patients we care for and Kaiser was named #2 by DiversityInc for its commitment to a diverse workforce.

You can care for patients in our African American hypertension clinic, Salud En Español, and Asian Health Clinics. Our electronic medical record allows us to identify individuals who have additional language skills for your clinic.

In addition, you can do electives at La Clínica de la Raza and Alameda County’s Asian Health as well as many volunteer opportunities in our community.

Yes! Our electives allow for incredible flexibility. Off-campus electives can be taken at UCSF, Stanford, or any number of other accredited programs. For example, residents pursuing fellowship will often complete an away rotation at the sight of interest. See our Curriculum & Rotation section for additional details.

Through the KP Global Health Program, there is funding for residents in the R2 year and above to rotate in a variety of international programs. We have had residents rotate at sites in Belize, Cambodia, Vietnam, Nicaragua, Israel, Taiwan, Columbia, Kenya, Uganda, and South Korea. Read our Global Health blog here.

Kaiser Oakland IM/ MPH graduate Dr. Somalee Banerjee mentors residents aspiring to Global Health careers. She works clinically at Kaiser Oakland as a Ward Hospitalist attending and is also a Senior Research Fellow studying health systems internationally.

The Kaiser Oakland REsident Pathways allow residents to choose an area for more in-depth of focus during their training, with a goal of preparing residents optimally to enter the next phase of their career.  The KORE Pathways are optional; some residents will complete all of the elements within a pathway whereas others might sample from one or multiple pathways—they key message to take away is that these are flexible and provide ideas for you as you hone your unique career interest. The KORE pathways include:

• Research/Fellowship Pathway
• Primary Care Pathway/QI Pathway
• Hospital Medicine/QI Pathway
• Medical Education Pathway
• Community/Global Medicine Pathway
• Art in Medicine & Medical Humanities Pathway

Learn more about KORE Pathways.

We have 13 categorical residents in each year (39 categoricals) plus 6-7 preliminary interns. Of the 13 categorical residents each year, 9 are in the traditional categorical track, 2 are in the Internal Medicine/MPH track and 2 are in the Primary Care Health Equities and Disparities Track.

Yes, we are affiliated with UC San Francisco School of Medicine, Drexel University, and California Northstate University. We also have a shared agreement with UC Davis to support medical students in their special ACE-PC track. Many of our faculty hold UCSF clinical teaching faculty positions. We have UCSF medical students who complete their entire integrated 3rd-year of clerkships at our campus as part of the KLIC (Kaiser Longitudinal Integrated Clerkship) Program and we are the only non-UCSF site where UCSF students can complete their required IM sub-internship. You may also work with 3rd-year students from the UCSF/UCB Joint Medical Program onwards.  In addition, we host over 200 medical students from across the country at our campus every year, including ~60 sub-interns on inpatient medicine sub-internship rotations.

All residents receive three weeks of paid vacation per year as an intern and 4 weeks as a PGY2 and PGY3. In addition, residents of each year have an additional ‘reading week’ during which they are on call to cover sick call but otherwise are freed from most responsibilities.

During inpatient rotations, all residents are off one day out of seven when averaged over 4 weeks. On the wards, the day off is always on a weekend day. On most electives and specialty rotations, residents have the weekend off. Interns have approximately 13-14 ‘golden weekends’, and this number increases with subsequent years of training.

The ward team cap is a total of 14 patients. Each intern cares of a maximum of 7 patients. We find this number provides the optimal balance of seeing plenty of volume over the course of training while also allowing time to read and learn about the conditions the patients have.

Yes. Dr. Baudendistel is co-editor of the First Aid for the Internal Medicine Boards review book. Residents benefit from his fast-paced condensed board review lectures. In addition, senior residents receive stipends to attend a national Board Prep course, choosing from many sites across the U.S. Our program for many years has far exceeded national averages for board success.

Mentoring begins the day you walk in the door. We pride ourselves on the individualized mentoring we provide our residents. All residents are assigned an Assistant Program Director Coach-Advisor who will meet with you informally throughout the year and who will conduct one-on-one meetings to review your performance, set goals, and help you optimize your remaining time in residency to develop your career interests and prepare you for life after residency. Your Coach-Advisor will also assist you in identifying a career-specific mentor such as a subspecialist in the field you are planning to pursue after residency.

Internal Medicine is a unique field with so many potential career paths and it is our program’s philosophy to match every individual to the career path best suited for them. The size of the program and the intimate relationships between our faculty and residents allow us to form very close mentoring partnerships. The flexibility of the schedule further enhances residents’ abilities to carve out their unique pathway.

In addition to the mentoring program, we support residents through dedicated curricula in research, QI, and Health Policy, and we provide funding for research, conference travel, and global health rotations. We also are proud of our Women in Medicine gatherings led by faculty and residents, ranging from career advice sessions to informal book clubs and wine tastings to formal research presentations through the American Medical Women’s Association.

And if your passions lie in something more unique, we got you covered! Kaiser Oakland residents have completed rotations in Medical Journalism at ABC News in New York, Medical publishing (working alongside the editorial Board of a major medical journal), Complimentary and Alternative Medicine, Lifestyle Medicine, Health Administration and Strategy Development, Design & Innovation, mobile health, and the list goes on. We are committed to getting to know you as individuals and supporting your passions so you can step into the career of your choice after graduation.

Preliminary interns have more elective time than categorical interns due to subspecialty rotation requirements for the categoricals. In exchange for having approximately twice as much elective time, preliminary interns average a few more weeks of inpatient rotations (wards, ICU, and night float) as compared to categoricals. Like categoricals, preliminary interns will have a dedicated mentor to guide them through the intern year. Categoricals follow an outpatient panel of patients for whom they provide longitudinal primary care, whereas preliminary year interns’ outpatient experiences include urgent care medicine and a variety of ambulatory specialty experience to pursue during elective time.

Preliminary interns can take on research projects, with the caveat that it takes a proactive and motivated person to accomplish meaningful research in the intern year. Dr. Lo has mentored several preliminary interns on projects over the years, and Dr. Baudendistel continues to mentor preliminary interns on medical education and other innovation projects, always with a focus on what is feasible and of interest to the intern.

All categorical residents complete the following rotations over their three years of residency:

• Cardiology
• Endocrinology
• Infectious diseases
• Gastroenterology
• Geriatrics & Palliative medicine
• Hematology/Oncology
• Nephrology
• Neurology
• Pulmonary
• Rheumatology

Elective blocks are in addition to the subspecialty rotations and include (but are not limited to):

• Addiction Medicine
• Anesthesiology
• Allergy and Immunology
• Business Strategy Development and Healthcare Administration
• Advanced Hospitalist Elective
• Complementary and Alternative Medicine
• Dermatology
• Design & Innovation
• Health Policy Elective
• International Elective
• Lifestyle Medicine
• Master Clinician Educator Elective
• Medical Genetics
• Medical Informatics
• Office Gynecology
• Ophthalmology
• Pathology
• Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
• Point-of-Care Ultrasound
• Podiatry
• Primary Care Elective
• Psychiatry
• Radiology including Interventional Radiology
• Radiation Oncology
• Research
• Social Medicine
• Urology

Interns go through training to prepare them for leading a team. Our intern year communication course includes training on public speaking (led by folks who train Google executives!). In addition, early in the R2 year, there is a formal training course on “Teaching the Teachers” effective skills needed for the resident-teacher.   For residents who seek additional formal training in medical education, Dr. Baudendistel leads a Master Clinician Educator Elective and residents can pursue the UCSF Clinical Teaching Certification.

Many of Dr. B’s and other faculty’s teaching have been converted into the Kaiser Oakland Passport, our home-grown resource of teaching and clinical tools, with sections on Common Night Float Scenarios and 10-15 minute Teaching Scripts and Diagnostic Schema for more than 50 commonly encountered conditions. This 250-page plus homegrown resource is provided to all residents annually— ask us to show you a copy on your interview day!

Residents seeking additional formal training in teaching opt to pursue the Distinction in Medical Education KORE Pathway.

Thanks to our excellent educational program, high resident satisfaction, committed faculty, and our superb administrative support we remain in outstanding status with the ACGME. We are compliant with the duty hours for our residents, including no overnight call; we provide at least one day off each week (and many golden weekends); we adhere to best practices regarding resident wellness, patient safety, and QI; have a curriculum in sign-outs/ transitions of care, and have policies for fatigue mitigation.

You will practice using our fully integrated Epic-based outpatient and inpatient electronic medical record called “Healthconnect” which includes all notes from encounters in the office, hospital, ED, and other chronic care facilities, including notes and data from outside hospitals.  Our EMR includes the entire laboratory and radiologic images as well as the pharmacy records.  Computers are located throughout the floors and in each patient’s room as well as in the resident lounge, and you will be provided a secure smartphone (i-phone) with fingertip access to the Healthconnect EMR including free UptoDate access. You will also be provided with a laptop PC to allow you to work from home or remotely. With these resources, you can open images of all radiologic studies, ECGs, PFTs, and even digital photos of patients with just a click of the mouse—great for patient care and teaching. Your patients can email you through secure messaging, allowing a great way to stay in touch with your clinic patients, and you will practice state-of-the-art office medicine including video visits and telemedicine. You will also receive free access to the complete collection of MKSAP board review materials. All residents benefit from a case-based electronic curriculum in the continuity clinic (Yale Curriculum).

Contact us by e-mail (joel.barcelona@kp.org) or by phone (510) 752-6126 with any questions. See How to Apply for more information.

Recent graduates of the IM/MPH residency program have pursued varied careers.  There are graduates with academic university appointments in General Medicine: at UCSF-Fresno, Dr. Stutee Khandelwal (Internal Medicine) leads an innovative program that teaches trainees how to help patients make positive lifestyle changes, and at Stanford, Dr. Sowmya Srinivasan (Geriatrics) was the Associate Director for Clinical Programs at the Palo Alto VA Geriatric Research Education & Clinical Center. Others have applied epidemiology research skills learned during the MPH to their fellowship pursuits, such as Dr. Lucy Liu (UCSF rheumatology), Dr. Carter English (UC Davis Cardiology), and Dr. Nathan Juergens (UCSF Hospital Medicine).  This program also trains future leaders in community and public health: Dr. Esme Cullen, our 2020 graduate, is Associate Site Medical Director at Marin Community Clinics where her work focuses on health policy, transitions of care, provider and patient communication, and social determinants of health.

The Interdisciplinary degree program at UC Berkeley has been in existence for several decades. Other graduates of this program include advisors to the CDC, a former Medical Director of Housing and Urban Health with the San Francisco Dept. of Public Health, a Special Advisor to the UD Interagency Council on homelessness, Policy analyst for Emergency Preparedness, and a former Program Director at the National Cancer Institute.