STANFORD-O’CONNOR FMRP JUSTICE EQUITY, DIVERSITY and INCLUSION VISION:

We aspire to cultivate a residency program where justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI) are not just values, but the very foundation of our training and care. We envision an inclusive community where every resident, faculty, staff member, and patient feels empowered, respected, and supported, in their background and identities. Together, we strive to build a future where health equity is standard of excellent patient care, and where our collective diversity drives innovation and excellence in family medicine.

WHAT WE DO

As a safety-net, community-based program, we care for patients from a wide range of cultural, linguistic, and socioeconomic backgrounds. Preparing physicians to serve this population with skill, humility, and compassion is central to our mission.

We are committed to fostering a welcoming training environment where BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) residents and all residents succeed and thrive.  We are also committed to providing outstanding medical care to the patients in our Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) clinic, public community hospital, and all sites where we provide medical care. As family medicine physicians it is our responsibility to use our positions of privilege to augment the voices of the vulnerable and marginalized in our society.  Our multi-pronged approach includes but is not limited to:

• Holistic Recruitment: A structured, mission-aligned application review process designed to identify applicants with a strong commitment to service, community engagement, and caring for underserved populations. Our goal is to recruit a residency cohort that is representative of our clinic and hospital patient population.

• Pathway & Mentorship Programs: Ongoing efforts to support learners from a variety of backgrounds through mentorship, clinical exposure, and advising.

• Diverse Faculty & Leadership: Continued recruitment and support of faculty who bring a wide range of perspectives and experiences reflective of the communities we serve.

• Resident & Faculty Health Equity Committees: Active resident and faculty groups focused on inclusion, community engagement, and continuous improvement of the learning environment. These committees work in partnership with our County colleagues to support underrepresented in medicine (URM) trainees, as well as advocate for our underserved patient populations.

• Health Equity Scholarly Pathway (JEDI 2.0): A dedicated pathway for residents interested in developing skills to become clinical change agents, ethical community partners, and reflective anti-racism practitioners through structured mentorship, community engagement, and project-based learning.

• Health Equity Curriculum: A longitudinal curriculum beginning with a two-week intern intensive and continuing through workshops, didactics, and case-based learning focused on caring for diverse populations and addressing disparities.

• Community Partnerships: Collaboration with local organizations such as Sacred Heart Community Service, Next Door Solutions for Domestic Violence, and Q Corner to connect patients with culturally responsive resources.

• Community Engagement: Opportunities for residents to participate in outreach, including youth mentorship and health education programs in local schools.

• Leadership Development: Opportunities to participate in programs such as the Stanford Medicine LEAD Program, a 10-month longitudinal leadership program for residents and fellows across Stanford GME to develop leadership and scholarship skills in addressing issues related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and to improve the culture of medicine.

• Systems-Based Advocacy: Engagement in institutional and system-level initiatives across SCVH and Stanford, as well as participation in resident representation through the Committee of Interns and Residents (CIR/SEIU).

WhoM do we serve?

Our residency continuity clinic is now based in a County-operated Family Medicine Center within Santa Clara Valley Healthcare (SCVH), serving a diverse patient population across all payor types, with a strong emphasis on caring for underserved communities in San Jose.

Building on a long history of providing care within a Federally Qualified Health Center model, our program remains deeply committed to delivering high-quality, accessible, and community-centered primary care.

Our primary inpatient hospital is a county-owned community hospital in San Jose. As part of the Santa Clara county system, O’Connor Hospital serves as a safety net for our local community. Please see the "Where We Work" page for further information. 

Health Equity Curriculum

The Health Equity Committee is a faculty-led committee that oversees health equity and advocacy training of residents, including opportunities for residents to work with local and state community-based and advocacy organizations.

Curricular Highlights

• Two-week intern block covering a range of health equity, policy, and advocacy topics complemented by a longitudinal series of didactics, seminars, and workshops on a variety of additional equity and advocacy topics

• Tour of community partnerships during orientation, and additional site visits during Family and Community Medicine (FCM) months

• Overview of Santa Clara County health system during orientation

• Annual Family and Community Medicine month-long rotation in which each resident develops a community or clinical research project in an area of choice (including topics in health equity and community health)

• Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) training and implementation in continuity clinic

• Longitudinal JEDI 1.0 didactics for all residents covering topics of:

  • Addiction medicine including MAT (Medications for Addiction Treatment) Waiver Training

  • Responding to Microaggressions; Identity and Intersectionality; Implicit Bias

  • LGBTQ+ care including hormone therapy for transgender and nonbinary patients

  • Medication Abortion Training (we are a certified RHEDI program)

  • HIV care

  • Trauma-Informed Care

  • Integrated Behavioral Health model rollout in continuity clinic

• Health Equity Scholarly Concentration (JEDI 2.0):

  • Through this concentration,residents committed to advancing health equity will be prepared to become clinical change agents, ethical community partners, and reflective anti-racism practitioners, all with a clinical integration component. Residents will lead a JEDI committee GEMs, submit reflections, attending after-hours enrichment events, participate in at least one community organization activity (being mindful of bandwidth), and lead a Capstone Project aligned with at least one of core pillars. Residents work with a dedicated faculty mentor and have protected time for this work.

• Opportunities for selective rotations caring for specific patient populations such as with the Valley Homeless Health Program, HIV clinic and Stanford LGBTQ+ center

• Resident participation in county's public MediCal (Medicaid) plan Provider Advisory Council

• Opportunities to participate in local and statewide CAFP advocacy activities

BIAS INCIDENT REPORTING AND DEBRIEFING SYSTEM

The SCVH Family Medicine Residency Program works very intentionally to provide a warm, supportive, and welcoming environment for all.  As part of these efforts, our program has a Bias Incident Reporting Form.  If a bias incident occurs, residents or faculty can report the incident, which is automatically forwarded to our Behavioral Science faculty.  Those faculty will review and forward to any necessary persons to assure the incident is quickly and appropriately addressed.  The form also includes a Bias Incident Debriefing Guide outlining steps residents and faculty can take to debrief any incident that may occur.

Health Equity/JEDI (Justice, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion) Committees

Faculty committee: Longitudinal intensive anti-racism training of a subset of core faculty led by an expert outside consultant, with rollout to the full residency program.

Resident committee:  Focused on supporting and meeting the support needs of underrepresented in medicine (URM) trainees as well as additional advocacy and enrichment activities for residents.

Highlights of Past and Present Resident Projects Centered on Inclusivity and Advocacy

• Improving Care of MSM at a residency FQHC Clinic - aimed to improve routine care of MSM patients by creating easy-to-access EMR tools to guide residents through common primary care concerns of MSM patients.

• Establishing a Patient Advisory Council at the IHCSCV Residency Clinic - explored the facilitators and barriers to creating a PAC in our residency clinic and developed a pilot program to implement the PAC in the FMC.

• Diabetes self-management class for monolingual Spanish speaking patients - empowering monolingual patients through a culturally-sensitive curriculum to give patients autonomy and resources to identify barriers and solutions for management of their diabetes.

• Psychoeducational intervention for Latinx patients with depression - after recognizing the under-utilization of mental health services among the Spanish-speaking patient population, conducted a needs assessment and formed an intervention group educating patients and devising treatment plans.

• Aspiring health professionals mentorship program - collaborated with pre-health students of local universities to recruit underrepresented and socioeconomically disadvantaged groups to increase diversity among those pursuing health careers.

• Community partnership with Andrew Hill High School and Lincoln High School - partnered with a local high school (85% minority groups, predominantly Latinx) to have various resident-led health talks; aimed to provide earlier exposure to pre-health fields to help foster early interest and passion among traditionally URM groups.

• Partnership with Second Harvest of Silicon Valley - recognizing the overwhelming prevalence of food insecurity in the Bay area, established partnership with Second Harvest to help provide free healthy groceries and meals to our patients in need.

• Improving care for transgender patients at residency FQHC clinic - drawing from experienced faculty, local practitioners, and community resources, a manual for residents was created to educate and guide residents in the routine care for transgender patients in our clinic. This project also included updates to the EMR system so that it displays the correct name and pronouns for each patient.

• Medical Mandarin elective course - created and designed by a residency faculty member and resident for Stanford medical students, the multi-session course covered language and cultural sessions to help students provide optimal care to Mandarin-speaking patients