Transforming Education and Community Health (TEACH)

TEACH Program

The Transforming Education and Community Health (TEACH) Program is a primary care training track for residents interested in caring for the medically underserved and becoming leaders in academic General Internal Medicine. The long term goal of the TEACH program is to improve access to high quality health services by training General Internal Medicine physicians who provide well-coordinated, evidence-based, culturally humble care to underserved adults.

In partnership with the County of Sacramento Department of Health and Human Services, this community-based collaborative is aims to reducing health disparities and increasing the number of primary care physicians in medically underserved communities. UC Davis medical students who share this aim are invited to apply to TEACH-Medical Students where they will join our TEACH team.

 Our Patients and our Community

Sacramento is one of the most racially and ethnically integrated major cities in the United States, providing a unique setting for teaching culturally humble care.  The TEACH Program is centered in Oak Park, a vibrant, historic community just steps from UC Davis.  

The TEACH Clinic is located in the County of Sacramento Primary Care Center, a 100,000 sq ft comprehensive ambulatory facility that provides nearly all out-patient services to the region's medically underserved. The patient population is approximately 30% Hispanic, 30% Caucasian (of which a substantial proportion is Russian speaking), 25% African-American, 10% Southeast Asian, and 5% other ethnicities. One in eight patients require an interpreter. The primary languages spoken include: English, Spanish, Vietnamese, Hmong, Russian, Mien, and various Chinese dialects.

Curriculum

The TEACH program is a yearlong experience that replaces the traditional third year of residency. TEACH residents spend 3 afternoons per week in continuity clinic and rotate through other university specialty and sub-specialty clinics as well as county-based clinics including the Gynecology Clinic, Minor Surgery Clinic, Dermatology Clinic, and the Sacramento County TB/Chest clinic.

The UC Davis Internal Medicine residency program uses a 13-block schedule for the academic year. A typical TEACH residents year schedule includes:

• 8-9 blocks on TEACH
• 1 block on wards
• 1 1/2 blocks on the MICU/CCU
• 1 block on elective
• 1 block on vacation

All hospitalized TEACH patients are followed up by their personal resident physician in the TEACH clinic. TEACH continuity clinics are held at the County of Sacramento Primary Care Center, and the inpatient component occurs at the UC Davis Medical Center. This experience allows the resident physician to care for patients during their acute illness, during their recovery, and in follow-up care.

A typical TEACH block ensures ample opportunity for outpatient follow-up and inpatient independence. A sample 4-week block is below:

TEACH residents continue to attend the residency academic conferences and also join the TEACH/Primary Care weekly conferences.

                                                                                                                                            TEACH Residents

Other unique features of the program include: on-site mental health services supervised by a dual-trained IM-psychiatrist (Dr. McCarron) to help residents manage patients with comorbid medical and psychiatric illness; and, an on-site chronic kidney disease management specialist (Dr. Morfin) focusing on improving the care of patients with kidney disease.

Applying to the TEACH Program

The TEACH Program is for third year residents. Residents apply for one of the five TEACH resident positions during their second year of residency. Both categorical and primary care residents are welcome to apply.  

TEACH residents are also involved in teaching second year medical students in the Introduction to Clinical Medicine course and precepting at one of the five UC Davis School of Medicine's Student Run-Free Clinics.