New medical doctors are ready for residencies. San Joaquin Valley has a critical need | Opinion

This marks an important week for the future of access to health care in the San Joaquin Valley. Hundreds of California’s graduating medical students are eagerly waiting to hear where they will pursue the next step in their medical education — a residency that can last anywhere from three to seven years.

The aptly-named “Residency Match Week” is a time with high stakes for future doctors — but also for the patients they will soon serve.

Thanks to its economic, health and environmental challenges, the San Joaquin Valley has among the highest share of patients on Medi-Cal in the state. These patients are often those of little means, yet battle some of the most complex medical conditions.

Combine that with the fact that physicians are paid less to provide the same services to care for Medi-Cal patients than they are for privately insured patients, and it is no wonder that the Valley suffers from a severe physician shortage — with 22 percent fewer primary-care doctors than the state average. And more than a third of the already-stretched physician work force in the state is over 60 and will be retiring soon.

Attracting and retaining young physicians — many of whom will start their families and build their adult lives during their years in and just after residency — is critical to back-fill the shortage of doctors who can provide high quality care to this community.

That is why the stakes of this year’s “Residency Match Week” are so high for the region, and why I am so proud of the programs that Physicians for a Healthy California helps to administer to meet the needs of California’s most at-risk patients.

CalMedForce, administered by PHC and the University of California, increases the number of available residency slots in California’s underserved communities, including the San Joaquin Valley. A single primary-care resident can conduct approximately 600 patient visits per year, so each slot is vitally important to Valley residents.

Each year the program awards grants funded by state tobacco tax revenue to graduate medical education programs, like those at St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Stockton, to create or expand residency slots for doctors-in-training. To date, CalMedForce has allocated $10.8 million for 24 awards to GME programs in primary care and emergency medicine in San Joaquin County alone.

And for those physicians who have committed to serving patients in the Valley on Medi-Cal after their formal training ends, CalHealthCares, also funded by tobacco tax revenue, helps them continue their important work in the early years of their career.

Doctors and dentists who want to serve high-needs and low-income patient populations often cannot because of the loans they must take out to pay for their training. A typical physician in California graduates with more than $300,000 in educational debt. It is not economically feasible for many of them — especially those who grew up without wealth — to expect to pay these debts off while serving the most in need among us.

Through CalHealthCares, also administered by PHC, physicians and dentists can apply for student loan repayments if they have a caseload of at least 30 percent Medi-Cal or Denti-Cal patients for at least five years after the conclusion of their residency or fellowship.

By investing in local residency programs and supporting loan repayment for new doctors eager to serve the Medi-Cal population, we are encouraging these young professionals to build connections to the community; settle down here and start their families here — all activities that increase the chance that they will continue to practice here when their formal training is complete.

Lupe Alonzo-Diaz is president and chief executive officer of Physicians for a Healthy California and the vice president of Continuing Medical Education at the California Medical Association.