Mission

Graduate the Navy's best Family Medicine physicians!

Vision

Be the PREMIER and PREFERRED Family Medicine Residency program for residents, faculty, and gaining commands.

Aims

1. Provide resident with world-class, full-scope Family Medicine learning experiences that promote clinical excellence.
2. Sustain a culture of professionalism that promotes character and attitudes worthy of our warfighters and military family.
3. Develop leaders who model excellence and resiliency, are committed to accomplishing the mission, inspire their team, and care for their patients.

Morning Report

7:30 - 8 a.m.:  Case-based or topical presentations by residents, Family Medicine Faculty, and Specialty Faculty.

Thursday Afternoon Conference

12:30 - 3 p.m.: Case presentations, topical presentations, and workshops covering core medical topics, procedural competencies, diversity/equity/inclusion, military professional development, information mastery, wellness/resilience, etc.

Residents may choose from the list of commonly sought electives below or may develop their own elective with guidance from their faculty advisor and approval of the Program Director.

• Adolescent Medicine (NMCSD)
• Allergy
• Anesthesia
• Endocrinology (NMCSD)
• Gastroenterology (NMCSD)
• Global Health Experience
• Infectious Disease (NMCSD)
• Mountain/Cold-Weather Medicine (Bridgeport, California)
• Nephrology (NMCSD)
• Pulmonology
• Sports Medicine

NHCP operates on an inpatient night float system, so there are no 24-hour call shifts.

Residents are scheduled for either Medicine/Surgery or OB Call; these are typically scheduled as five (Monday - Friday) or two (Saturday - Sunday) consecutive nights.

• PGY1s: 35-40 nights/year
• PGY2s: 25-30 nights/year
• PGY3s: 25-30 nights/year

Residents care for active duty servicemembers, dependents, and retired patients every day.

A longitudinal course of didactic topics is taught throughout the year to develop:

1. Knowledge/skills for military-specific conditions (e.g., traumatic brain injury, CBRNE, exertional rhabdomyolysis, heat injury)
2. Knowledge/skills for emergencies; all residents complete the Combat Casualty Care Course and maintain multiple life support certifications including Advanced Trauma Life Support.
3. Proficiency with administrative responsibilities in military primary care (e.g., Light and Limited Duty, Physical Fitness Assessment Waiver, Exceptional Family Member Program, Overseas Screening, etc.).
4. Leadership and management skills in preparation for future roles as department heads, senior medical officers, and operational physicians.

Residents are certified in Battlefield Acupuncture.

Residents complete site visits as PGY1 residents with at least 2 operational units in the local area (e.g., United States Marine Corps (USMC) Air Wing, USMC Division, USMC Special Operations, United States Navy (USN) Basic Underwater Demolition (BUDS) Training, USN Surface Fleet). Elective opportunities can be developed for residents with local operational units. Residents can join Mountain/Cold Weather Medicine classes in Bridgeport, California. When available, residents can elect to participate in military global health experiences.

Residents are required to maintain the following certifications:

• Basic Life Support (BLS)
• Advanced Life Support (ALS)
• Neonatal Resuscitation Program (NRP)
• STABLE
• Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS)
• Advanced Life Support in Obstetrics (ALSO)
• Advanced Fetal Monitoring

Residents will complete these courses during orientation prior to starting PGY1 year. The courses are provided at the hospital.

Residents participate in high-fidelity simulation training at least twice per year. These are run by faculty in our simulation lab. Small teams of residents manage a variety of adult, pediatric, and obstetric emergencies.

Procedural simulation is also conducted throughout training. It is sometimes conducted in large groups as part of a procedural workshop and sometimes one-on-one with an attending.

We have a longitudinal didactic curriculum that covers military unique topics, clinical leadership, and resilience-building.

All residents must complete two scholarly activity projects. One of these projects must be a process improvement/quality improvement project. The other is typically a presentation at a regional or national conference or a peer-reviewed publication.

We have a strong track-record of funding resident travel to regional and national conferences when selected to present posters and deliver podium presentations. We were recognized as the #1 of 15 DHA Family Medicine Programs for scholarly productivity in 2023.

Residents participate as members on several quality care committees within the hospital. They are required to complete a quality improvement project during their time in training.

Residents participate in multi-disciplinary patient safety conferences each month as part of their didactic schedule.

Residents receive longitudinal training in key military professionalism topics. Each resident completes their own Career Development Board with senior medical leaders. There are local and regional opportunities to participate in Navy professional and faculty development courses.

• Naval Medical Center San Diego
• Rady Children’s Hospital, San Diego
• University of California San Diego Jacobs Medical Center
• Palomar Hospital, Escondido, California

We are excited to host medical students, who quickly become important members of our team. We hope to give all medical students a broad experience in Family Medicine and clear understanding of who we are. Students spend most of their time in the clinic caring for patients with faculty and residents. They also spend time on the inpatient service and have opportunities to work on Labor & Delivery and with our Sports Medicine team.

We host MS4s from across the country and proudly serve as a core clerkship site for USUHS MS3s.

Please contact the GME office if you are interested in scheduling an interview.

GME Coordinators Email: usn.pendleton.nmrtc-cpendleton.list.gme-office@health.mil

GME Office 760-719-3675 or 760-719-3364

Program graduates take the American Board of Family Medicine Board Certification Exam. This exam is offered bi-annually (April and November). Summer graduates take the exam in April before graduation. Off-Cycle Fall/Winter graduates often take the exam in November. To be eligible to take specialty board exams, graduates must complete all pre-requisites required by the American Board of Family Medicine. These requirements include completion of self-assessment and quality improvement activities, continuous compliance with ABFM Guidelines for Professionalism, Licensure, and Personal Conduct, and completion of an accredited family medicine residency training program.

For more details, see Become Certified - American Board of Family Medicine (theabfm.org)

All our residents are teachers for co-residents, junior residents, and medical students. They teach during didactics, in the clinic, and on the wards. “Resident as Teacher” training is provided each academic year.

Residents have opportunities to teach corpsmen in our clinic and patients in the community at various events in the hospital and around the base.

Several faculty have advanced training and experience in the following areas:

• Obstetrics
• Geriatrics
• Sports Medicine
• Acupuncture

Residents are each assigned a faculty advisor to help them navigate successfully through training. Residents are encouraged to self-identify a mentor or mentors as they advance through training. We have active-duty faculty with a wealth of operational experience and a strong corps of civilian faculty from across the country with diverse backgrounds and interests.

We are committed to our residents’ wellness! We schedule many events throughout the year to build and nurture our community, promote a resilient growth mindset, and remind ourselves about the “why.” These include Resident Recharges in the Fall and Spring when residents venture together to the beach and the mountains for 1-2 day get-aways. We don’t call them ‘retreats’ because our residents don’t run from anything. We enjoy department holiday parties and ridiculous-amount-of-food-potlucks. Every quarter, the resident schedule includes a wellness afternoon instead of Thursday academics, when they embark on and adventure together in the local area. We also cover topics on wellness and resilience throughout the year during academics.

Our residents do a wonderful job outside of the hospital and beyond our formal schedule enjoying adventure together and caring for each other. This looks like game nights, pub trivia nights, downtown weekend nights, dinners out, the San Diego Padres, the San Diego Wave, amusement parks, beach volleyball, group runs, road races (including the 12-person, 200-mile SoCal Ragnar Relay Race every Spring) and much more.