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The University of California Davis School of Medicine in Sacramento, Calif., has teamed up with Doctors Medical Center 90 miles away in Modesto to allow residents to practice medicine in the Central Valley as they train to become board-certified specialists. The partnership — which includes OB-GYN and cardiothoracic surgery residents — provides essential services to residents living in rural and underserved areas.

Benefits of the collaboration are threefold: local patients, many of whom face increased barriers to care, receive better access; medical residents receive valuable clinical experience, preparing them to handle a wide range of medical conditions; and Central Valley hospitals receive urgently needed staff. By training at DMC, residents may be more inclined to establish their careers in the area and in turn help solve the recruiting challenges faced by these hospitals.

The DMC OB-GYN residency lasts four years while the cardiothoracic residency lasts six. Cardiothoracic residents benefit from training in an area with a higher need for those services. Meanwhile, OB-GYN residents can work with patients who have more routine and low-risk issues. At UC Davis’ Sacramento-based hospitals, clinicians are more likely to encounter obstetrical and gynecological emergencies, rather than standard, day-to-day care.  

“You need to see the ‘bread and butter’ types of conditions that help build the residents’ scope of practice as a generalist OB-GYN,” according to Véronique Taché, the OB-GYN residency program director for UC Davis. “The rotation at DMC gives our residents great exposure and a very good view of what it’s like to work in a community-based hospital, in an area with OB-GYN physician shortages.”