State funding will enhance training in primary care

The California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD) has awarded $875,000 to UC Davis Health residency training programs to help ensure a robust primary health care workforce in California.

“Access to high quality health care delivered by board-certified family medicine physicians is essential for communities across California. We are thrilled to receive this grant to serve more patients, including those from the most vulnerable and marginalized communities,” said Micaela ‘Mika’ Godzich, residency program director for the UC Davis Department of Family and Community Medicine. “Family medicine physicians care for patients at every stage of life, in clinics, nursing homes, hospitals, and in the community, including when people are unhoused. This funding will help our residents gain valuable experience beneficial for the state’s family medicine workforce in the years to come.”

Véronique Taché, residency program director for the UC Davis Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, said this is the first year the department received this award.

“Our residency program serves women from a large geographical catchment area. With this grant money we are able to have residents work in sites that have unmet needs in women’s health, mainly due to lack of women’s health providers,” Taché said. “Through the help of the Song-Brown grant, our residents will be able to go to sites in Susanville, Lake Tahoe and Modesto.”

OSHPD funded the following UC Davis Health training programs:

• $500,000 to the Family and Community Medicine Residency Program
• $125,000 to the Internal Medicine Residency Program
• $125,000 to the OB-GYN Residency Program
• $125,000 to the Pediatric Residency Program

“We are grateful for this funding,” said Su-Ting Li, residency program director for the UC Davis Department of Pediatrics. “We will use the grant to support the development of a behavioral mental health rotation for our residents. We will also fund faculty coaches for our pediatric residents to observe them and help their clinical skill development.”

The Song-Brown Program was established in 1973 by the state Legislature to assure access to primary-care services for Californians. The Song-Brown program aims to increase the number of students and residents receiving quality primary care education and training in areas of unmet need throughout California.