Residency FAQs

Our mission is to prepare family physicians to provide quality care for urban underserved communities.

We have a total of 48 residents; each class is comprised of 15 residents, along with 3 full-time PGY-4 Chief Residents.

We train primarily at two sites:

• San Francisco General Hospital (SFGH) —“The General” is THE city and county hospital for San Francisco, and includes our own Family Medicine Inpatient Service.
• SFGH Family Health Center (FHC) — The Family Health Center is the largest primary care clinic in SF's Community Health Network, with 12,000 patients served and almost 40,000 patient visits per year. It is home to our continuity clinics, the Refugee Medical Clinic, the Bay Area Family Clinic (HIV Family Care), Women’s & Infant’s Clinic, Procedure Clinic, Urgent Care Clinic, Oral Health Clinic, and Pain Clinic.

For more information, please visit the Where We Work page.

We serve anyone in San Francisco who does not have private medical insurance. This includes immigrants, refugees, and long-time San Franciscans. With the advent of Healthy San Francisco, a health care safety net program designed to provide medical services to the uninsured, the number of patients we see continues to grow. More than 30 languages are spoken by our patients, including: Spanish, Cantonese, Vietnamese, Russian, Tagalog, Mandarin, Arabic, Bosnian, Cambodian, Tigrinya and English.

For more information, please visit the Who We Serve page.

We admit anyone from the FHC or any of the 6 other community clinics in the San Francisco Community Health Network (CHN). The average daily census is about 20 patients, with more than 1,200 patients discharged per year. We are the primary team for all of our patients with very few exceptions. Our patients present with a range of medical problems, including gynecologic diseases, surgical illnesses, neurological problems, and dermatologic illnesses. We also admit and take care of a significant number of patients with HIV/AIDS, poly substance abuse, and oncological diseases.

For more information, please visit the Family Medicine Inpatient Service page.

• Weekly behavioral science rounds on the Family Medicine Inpatient Service (aka George Rounds)
• Longitudinal precepting from faculty who are dedicated to understanding the psychosocial aspects of patient care
• Family Care Unit – PGY-2 residents learn the basics of family therapy by conducting sessions with patients and their families. Interventions emphasize interpersonal relationships, cross-cultural awareness, and family development.
• Residents have opportunities to refine these clinical skills through supervision via a one-way mirror and videotape review throughout their training.

Read more about the Behavioral Medicine Curriculum.

• Community Oriented Primary Care (COPC) is a longitudinal class project in which each resident class forms partnerships with pre-existing community-based organizations to develop sustainable community projects.
• There are also opportunities for self-directed community projects in PGY-3 elective time.

For on this topic, please visit the Resident Projects page.

• The Global Health Clinical Scholars Program is a pathway for PGY-2s covering a variety of fields including economics, trade policy, anthropology, and government along with a one-month international emersion experience in PGY-3.
• As a PGY-3, we have a four-week “away” elective that can be used for an international rotation.

Residents at SFGH are represented by the California Interns and Residents Union (CIR). CIR has helped residents achieve improvements in many areas: salary rates, parking availability, call room improvements, dining privileges, etc. Several of our residents are active in the union and would be happy to discuss it further.

Please see the Salaries & Benefits page for information.

Most residents live in San Francisco neighborhoods near the hospital, though a few are in the East Bay (Oakland, Berkeley) and South Bay (Daly City, Burlingame). It is definitely possible to live in SF on a resident's salary, and the stipend certainly helps! UCSF also has campus housing near Mission Bay for residents who are new to the Bay Area. For more information on campus housing, please visit the Campus Life Services page.

We ask that all applications be submitted via ERAS by October 1st. There are no minimum test score, clinical experience, or graduation year requirements. We will accept COMLEX scores in place of USMLE scores for D.O.s ONLY, though USMLE scores are appreciated. Applications are reviewed for academic excellence, commitment to Family Medicine, and demonstrated commitment to working with underserved communities (through prior professional or volunteer work). For more information, please visit the How to Apply page.

We receive about 750 applications per year, and we usually interview up to 130 candidates.

UCSF requires that applicants to its medical training programs obtain ECFMG-sponsored J-1 visas.

We offer a four-week elective rotation on our Family Medicine Inpatient Service. For more information, please contact Reina Delos Santos (415-206-8651).

Please call or email our Residency Manager, Erin Hammer (415-206-8611). She can put you in touch with residents or faculty members who would be happy to answer your questions.