Kern Medical UME Program 2024

2

3

KERN MEDICAL

MEDICAL EDUCATION

Welcome

From the Chief Executive Officer Scott Thygerson

From the Director of Medical Education Amir Berjis, MD, MACM, FACS, FCCP

setting and within a dedicated pediatric inpatient service and neonatal intensive care unit. Additionally, our Department of Surgery hosts multiple specialties, general surgery, trauma and acute care services. For nearly seven decades, our institution has been training physicians who have gone on to pursue careers in either academic settings or private practice. Our alumni have served as Department Chairs, Program Directors and academic faculty. Our graduates have published numerous peer-reviewed research papers, book chapters and presented at national and international meetings. Our new simulation center is dedicated to providing high-fidelity simulation with standardized patients and is an integral component of our medical training. We are creating a new robust undergraduate medical curriculum that incorporates faculty coaching, innovative electives and integrated simulation as we strive to educate and prepare the next generation of physicians. I invite you to join us and experience our clinical learning environment.

On behalf of the Department of Medical Education, our 120 clinical academic faculty, the 115 residents and fellows, and hundreds of alumni who have trained at our campus over the last 67 years, I welcome you to Kern Medical. We are the premiere academic institution and tertiary referral center serving the Southern San Joaquin Valley of Central California. More importantly, we are the public safety net hospital that provides medical care to the most vulnerable patient population in Bakersfield and our surrounding areas. We currently sponsor four fully ACGME-accredited residency programs in Emergency Medicine, Internal Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Psychiatry with plans for further expansion in the near future. In addition, we support accredited fellowships in Infectious Disease, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Addiction Psychiatry. Our residency and fellowship programs are associated with the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, with the majority of our faculty holding academic positions at UCLA as well. In conjunction with our sponsored programs, we provide high acuity pediatric care both in the ambulatory

Welcome, and thank you for your interest in the Undergraduate Medical Education program at Kern Medical. For more than 67 years, Kern Medical has been training and preparing medical students, residents, and fellows for careers in medicine, which has laid the foundation for the health and wellness of the Kern County community. Our program is one of a kind; we care for a unique patient population, with cases and pathology not seen in most places. Kern Medical is located in the Southern San Joaquin Valley and serves as the designated safety net hospital for Kern County. We have the privilege of caring for the most vulnerable and underserved in our community and we are grateful to fulfill that role, ensuring everyone receives the highest level of care possible. As the tertiary referral center and academic teaching institution, we strive to improve patient health by delivering high-quality, safe, equitable, and compassionate care. The future for Kern Medical is bright; we continue to expand our educational offerings by increasing learning opportunities, advancing technology in our programs, and recruiting the best physician educators and some of the nation’s most promising students.

We are hard at work growing and teaching the next generation of doctors, while creating world leaders in health among our community, and far beyond. Our commitment to medical education remains steadfast and firm. I invite you to take a moment and learn more about the outstanding medical education opportunities that await the students at Kern Medical.