Ambulatory training is a major cornerstone of our program. We firmly believe that to be a competent clinician one must have strong outpatient skills. Consistently, our graduating residents reflect back on their continuity clinic and feel it was one of the most rewarding experiences of their residency. Our ambulatory training consists of both private and free clinics, providing our residents opportunities to focus on cost-effective care.
Our four continuity clinic sites for categorical residents are:
Our primary care residents all have two continuity clinic sites (depending on the pathway, please see Primary Care Training for more details):
OR
UCLA Internal Medicine SuitesThe Internal Medicine Suites is located in the 200 Medical Plaza adjacent to the Ronald Reagan Hospital. This is one of the locations of the outpatient continuity clinic for our categorical residents. Residents are assigned panels of patients from outgoing residents and have the opportunity to build their practice over the course of the three-year program. In addition to their patient panel, residents also will see urgent care patients.
Simms/Mann is an outpatient facility that is run by the Venice Family Clinic, a federally qualified health center. Venice Family Clinic is one of the largest free clinic networks in the country and provides high quality primary and subspecialty care to low income and mostly uninsured patients on the west side of Los Angeles. The UCLA residents staff this clinic Monday through Friday and all residents attend a weekly clinic while on outpatient or elective rotations. Categorical residents interested in working with underserved populations can request continuity clinic at Simms/Mann. Residents with continuity clincs at IMS also rotate through Simms/Mann for an underserved clinic experience.
VA Clinics - West Los Angeles and Sepulveda Ambulatory Care CenterThe VA has been a leader in the patient centered medical home movement. Residents assigned to do their longitudinal continuity clinic at the VA will be at one of two clinical sites for their three-year continuity experience. The West Los Angeles VA is located just outside of Westwood while the Sepulveda campus is located in the San Fernando Valley, approximately 25 minutes north of Westwood.
The West Los Angeles VA is the central hub for the entire Greater Los Angeles VA network, which extends all the way north to Bakersfield, CA. This campus offers ER services and houses the main hospital, sub-specialty clinics, and outpatient primary care resident continuity clinics. The population is mainly urban. The Sepulveda VA campus does not offer emergency services, but is a newer facility with an atrium design that has been used as “Seattle Grace Hospital” for the T.V. show Grey’s Anatomy. The population is predominantly suburban.
Residents at both sites will be fully integrated into Patient Aligned Care Teams (PACTs) allowing them the opportunity to train in a truly integrated medical home team of care providers. Together with their attending preceptor, each resident will manage a panel of patients and will work collaboratively with their team to deliver high quality care to ensure each patient attains their individual health care goals. With a fully integrated mental health service, on-site health coaches, pharmacists and social work services, residents are provided with the resources to take care of this unique and diverse population in a rewarding way. All residents will also rotate in Women's Health and select ambulatory medicine sub-specialty clinics at the VA. Pre-clinic case conferences will include the UCLA curriculum as well as additional topics important to the care of our patients (i.e. PTSD, homelessness, substance abuse, etc.). Please feel free to contact Dr. Christina Harris (christina.harris5@va.gov) regarding the continuity experience at WLA or Dr. Olivia Arreola-Owen (Olivia.Arreola-Owen@va.gov) regarding the Sepulveda VA clinical site.
Subspecialty ClinicsOur philosophy is centered on the principle that most of our residents' future practices (be it primary care or subspecialty medicine) will occur in the ambulatory setting. Therefore we focus most of our subspecialty rotations in the outpatient arena. Residents will attend subspecialty clinics at both our Westwood and Santa Monica practices. Residents will often see rare, complex, or refractory diseases at the Westwood clinics. Conversely, the Santa Monica clinics provide more of a typical community subspecialty practice experience. Each +1 clinic week, residents will rotate through a variety of subspecialty clinics, including: cardiology/pre-op, endocrinology, gastroenterology, hematology-oncology, pulmonary medicine, and rheumatology. Outpatient exposure to these disciplines allows the housestaff to work closely with our outstanding faculty and provides exposure to the common diseases typically treated by these specialists. Additionally, junior and senior residents also have significant elective time to design a curriculum based on their career goals. UCLA offers a broad range of ambulatory electives including but not limited to women's health, allergy-immunology, east-west medicine, radiology, dermatology, sports-medicine, student health, procedures, HIV, nuclear medicine, pathology, nutrition/obesity, and palliative care.
The Internal Medicine Consultants at 2020 Santa Monica Blvd is a well-established UCLA primary care practice serving the Santa Monica community. Residents with continuity clinics at the West LA VA and Simms/Mann rotate through urgent care clinic at “2020” to build outpatient skills in a university-affiliated community clinic setting.
