INTERNAL MEDICINE RESIDENCY

From Our Residents

SCVMC Internal Medicine Residents

The Department of Medicine at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center has been training physicians in internal medicine for more than fifty years. During this time, it has established a reputation as a superior clinical training program which prepares physicians for careers in general internal medicine (primary care and hospitalist), subspecialty medicine, research, and academic medicine. Our Vision Statement encompasses our values of education, service and support:

"We are dedicated to empowering residents and faculty through education, mentorship and the promotion of innovative leadership"
 

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Valley drew me with its charm. As a county program, we take care of some of the sickest patients from all walks a life with a mission to provide high quality care while being conscientious of our resources. At Valley, we experience disease and pathology intertwined with vast amounts of social, cultural, and economic factors. Here you truly experience that medicine is not about treating a disease but about treating a person. I find this setting to present a truly unique opportunity—to meet patients where they are and to tailor medicine for their unique situation. Through this, you often enter an area that extends beyond the boundaries of evidence—an area to foster and develop clinical judgment​ and to learn what it means to be a physician. What fulfills me is the culture that this charm is built on-- a culture that thrives on camaraderie, high quality care, and high academic standards with a mission to provide care to all patients regardless of their socioeconomic status, race, gender, or culture. We are not just an academic institution-- we are an academic institution at the forefront of delivering care to those who need it most. I am truly humbled and privileged to be here and inspired by all the staff who continue to care for such a high-risk population.

Charles Chu, MD
OHSU
SCVMC class of 2019

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It's a privilege to train at Valley, where our incredibly diverse patients teach us daily about the wide-ranging medical pathology that exists here in our community, often with unusual presentations and challenging social situations -- all of which shape me to become a culturally-sensitive doctor who knows medicine inside and out, and can serve as an advocate on our patients' behalf. Furthermore, with our partnership with Stanford's Johnson & Johnson Global Health Program, I'm provided with the amazing opportunity to take my clinical skills abroad in working towards improving the health of underserved communities abroad.

Jessica Liu, MD
UC Davis 
SCVMC class of 2018

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Belal Hakim, MD and Eric Lau, DO at graduation 2017

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I would describe Valley as a place of love and compassion. My co-interns and co-residents treat each other with love, and support one another. Every patient we meet, from truly the most vulnerable, and systematically disadvantaged populations may it be folks who are undocumented, homeless, recent refugees or immigrants and so much more, we treat with compassion. And our attendings teach us how to be excellent clinicians, patiently and compassionately- may it be while teaching how to place a central line, or while clinical reasoning of extremely complicated cases. Lastly, the culture if togetherness with the united goal of serving underserved patients shines at VMC, from our program leadership, to staff! Valley is a place to thrive, knowing that it takes a village to get one through residency, and that the village is there for you. 

Hedieh Matinrad, MD
UCSD 
SCMVC class of 2020​

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VMC Docs Rock!

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One of the reasons I chose to come to VMC is to have the opportunity to serve the most vulnerable patients in Santa Clara County. As a safety-net hospital, we treat all patients that come through the door and never refuse to treat regardless of ability to pay. We are a busy county program and are provided with enough autonomy to feel prepared as clinicians as we transition each year through the program. The best part of matching at VMC is getting to know and work with a diverse group of co-residents which makes coming in to work fun and exciting.

Anabel Ortiz, MD
University of Washington
SCVMC class of 2019​

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The Orange Medicine team representing at the VMC spicy noodle challenge. Left to right: Geisel Medical student Erdong Chen (and winner of the noodle challenge!), Kellie Young, MD and David Jacobson MD​

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SCVMC is a great place to train for residency. Our patient population is invariably complex, often coming from low resource backgrounds with little support, and it is an honor to care for this population. SCVMC offers a variety of rotations that introduces trainees to various healthcare programs offered by Santa Clara County, including Valley Homeless Health Program, Re-entry Clinic, Medical Respite, and Refugee Clinic. These rotations have been eye-opening and have offered me new perspectives onto how medicine can be practiced to better serve our most vulnerable communities. 

I also commend SCVMC for its dedication in training its residents to becoming self-sufficient and competent physicians. I can confidently say that by the end of my training I will feel prepared to practice medicine anywhere. Part of this is due to our rigorous ICU experience, which starts during intern year, along with our complex patient population. The wide range of disease we care for, along with the hands-on approach of our training, including running rapid response calls and code blues throughout all three years of training, lends itself to producing strong physician leaders. 

Lastly, our program is incredibly supportive. We are well- known by our faculty and are always given the opportunity to be heard and implement changes where needed. For those interested in fellowships, this program is conducive to building connections with subspecialists on a variety of rotations and electives, many whom are associated with Stanford. Given our unique connection to Stanford, we are also given the opportunity to rotate at Stanford, along with hosting their medicine residents and medical students at SCVMC. 

Lucy Studemeister, MD
Ponce Health Sciences
SCVMC class of 2025​