Abstract

California’s Central Valley has historically had a shortage of physicians which continues to this day. As residency programs in the Valley continue to expand in size, scope, and number retention remains a key issue. We aim to survey the Central Valley’s resident physician population to evaluate their perspectives about what limitations they face while practicing medicine in the Central Valley. We administered an anonymous survey using Qualtrics to assess resident physicians interested in practicing within the Central Valley upon completion of training to quantitively determine why they may not stay. We found the following to positively correlate to staying in the Central Valley: Family ties/proximity to support system; financial compensation; cost of living; and positive work environment. Interestingly, the most selected factor in deciding future location of practice was positive work environment. Subsequent surveys will be performed give annual snapshots over several years. We will publish the results in a national journal as well as present them at either a local or statewide conference. This project will foster collaboration between our university and the local residency programs, help CHSU-COM and the other stakeholders better prepare and counsel our students in their transition to residency, and increase the diversity of the local physician population.

This project was approved by CHSU IRB #: 2021-029