FRESNO – UCSF Fresno is set to begin three new training programs in 2010. A fellowship in acute care surgery began this month. A residency in orthopaedic surgery will begin in June and a fellowship in psychosomatic medicine is scheduled to begin in July. The additions bring the number of physician training programs at UCSF Fresno to eight residencies and nine fellowships.
“We are very pleased to announce these new programs,” said Joan Voris, MD, associate dean at UCSF Fresno. “Every program we add increases the likelihood that the physicians trained here will stay here.”
“Our mission is to grow Valley doctors and to investigate and improve the health of Valley residents by conducting pertinent research,” she added.
Residency training, which follows medical school and is required to practice as a physician in the U.S., generally lasts three to five years. Fellowships offer specific training in an area of expertise beyond residency training and typically last two to three years.
Highlights of the new programs are as follows:
UCSF Fresno Acute Care Surgery Fellowship
- The fellowship is a two-year program.
- Training includes trauma, surgical critical care, and emergency surgery.
- Training will be conducted primarily at Community Regional Medical Center with rotations at Children’s Hospital Central California, Fresno Heart and Surgical Center as well as the UCSF-affiliated San Francisco General Hospital.
- The program is one of only six approved acute care surgery fellowships in the country. The other five programs are in Baltimore, Denver, Houston, Las Vegas and Pittsburg.
- LaScienya Jackson, MD, started this month as the first fellow. Dr. LaScienya begins the second year of her fellowship with UCSF Fresno following completion of the first year in Baltimore.
- The program is directed by Jim Davis, MD.
UCSF Fresno Orthopaedic Surgery Residency
- The residency is a five-year program.
- The program involves orthopaedic training in the following sub-specialty areas: hand/ microvascular; foot/ankle; spine; orthopaedic oncology; adult reconstruction; sports medicine; traumatology; pediatrics as well as research.
- Training will be conducted at Community Regional Medical Center, Children’s Hospital, Kaiser Permanente Fresno, VA Central California Health System and Sierra Pacific Orthopaedic Center.
- The next closest orthopaedic surgery residency programs are in Sacramento, the Bay Area and Southern California.
- The process to select the first three residents is taking place now.
- The program is directed by Eric M. Lindvall, DO.
UCSF Fresno Psychosomatic Medicine fellowship
- The fellowship is a one-year program.
- Fellows will undergo clinical, didactic, and research training in the application of psychiatry for medically-ill patients. The program’s focus is on producing psychiatrists to evaluate and treat patients with both medical and psychiatric problems in inpatient and outpatient settings, particularly in the underserved Central San Joaquin Valley.
- Training will occur at the Fresno Regional Medical Center, the Burn Unit and UCSF Fresno Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
- The next closest psychosomatic medicine fellowship program is at UC Davis.
- Applications are being accepted and interviews will be conducted in the near future to select the program’s first fellow.
- Hoyle Leigh, MD, serves as the program director. The three new programs are accredited by the American Council on Graduate Medical Education.
