If you’re interested in academic medicine and love to teach, UC Davis has an impressive amount of opportunities to hone your skills as an educator. In addition to having third- and fourth-year medical students rotating on both our internal medicine and psychiatry rotations, you can have protected time to teach courses at the UC Davis School of Medicine (SOM), such as Doctoring, during your senior years. You can also participate in the Medical Education track within the internal medicine program which provides didactics and practical training to help you become a better clinical educator. Finally, UC Davis SOM has nine student-run clinics where residents can precept second-year medical students in caring for our underserved, vulnerable community members.
Residents have many and varied opportunities to get involved in research and educational projects throughout their time at UC Davis. As combined residents, we have a unique perspective and can get involved in interdisciplinary projects with wonderful administrative support to pursue our personal research interests. There are Research and Quality Improvement tracks within the Internal Medicine department in which residents are taught important concepts such as methodology and study design and appropriate skills such as statistics and IRB proposals. The Psychiatry department also provides a rich resource for research in our collaborations with the UC Davis Center for Mind and Brain, Center for Neuroscience, MIND Institute, and Imaging Research Center. Learn more below:
Whether you are interested in scholarly activity and want to present your research or learn more about the new advances in your field, UC Davis provides protected time for residents to attend conferences each year. For those who present their work at a conference, there are several educational stipends to offset the costs of travel and registration. Notably, our program aims to have most of our residents attend the annual Association of Medicine and Psychiatry meeting in the Fall.
Residents are encouraged to take on leadership roles, and we serve as ambassadors to multiple disciplines. Opportunities range from our categorical and combined residency programs to national professional medical organizations. The list includes, but is not limited to:
With the busy nature of being a resident and all the opportunities listed above, we never forget the importance of our own individual wellness as well as resident cohesion. Both the Internal Medicine and Psychiatry programs have their respective wellness programs, including annual retreats, built-in wellness blocks during your internal medicine ambulatory rotation, peer support groups, and frequent peer-driven social gatherings. Our combined residents also have their own annual weekend retreat, where, as you might suspect, we play board games, explore nature, and create fond memories that strengthen our bonds as a family.