Furthering Care on the Central Coast

At Marian Regional Medical Center, a pioneering spirit of innovation permeates the halls and rooms of every building. Stemming back to 1940, the Sisters of St. Francis saw a need to establish the Santa Maria Valley’s first hospital, and this legacy of healing lives on today through Marian's residency programs.

This forward-thinking attitude led to the establishment of a Family Medicine Residency in 2014 with the first graduating class in 2017. By 2020, there will be an estimated nationwide shortage of 45,000 primary care physicians, and with this crisis of care in mind, Marian created the residency program to cultivate a strong pipeline of family medicine physicians who will care for local patients.

As Family Medicine Residency Program Director, Willard Chung, MD, shares, “Our goal of the program is to produce family medicine physicians who, upon graduation, will be equipped to provide excellent, compassionate, evidencebased care in any setting or environment. Our physicians will be prepared to adapt to the rapidly changing health care environment and help navigate patients through our complex health care systems. Most importantly, the goal is to successfully recruit our residents to stay and fill our local primary care needs in order to become pillars of the community, representing the essence and values of family medicine.”

Family Medicine Physician, Rachel Zonca, DO, and Family Medicine Residency Program graduate.

Post-graduation, seven out of the 11 Family Medicine Residency Program graduates have chosen to practice on the Central Coast. Of the four residency graduates not practicing on the Central Coast, two are currently pursuing further training (in Clinical Informatics and Emergency Medicine), and two currently serve underserved communities in Northern San Diego and Humboldt counties.

Thanks to the Family Medicine Residency Program, each primary care physician retained will be able to serve 2,500 patients a year, and the addition, on average, of three physicians to the Central Coast every year will result in providing for a current need of 7,500 patient visits per year.

Marian Regional Medical Center Hospitalist, Stephen Herrick, DO, and Family Medicine Residency Program graduate.

Birth of a second residency program

Santa Maria is a growing city, with a youthful population. Marian delivers an average of 3,000 babies annually, outpacing other local hospitals in volume by a significant margin. Due to this tremendous need, Marian birthed a second residency program to help meet the emergent needs of our community.

Speaking to this dynamic, new program, Taimur Chaudhry, MD, Obstetrics and Gynecological (OB-GYN) Residency Program Director, was able to portray the vision for the program. “Our desire is to serve the community’s health care needs through the formation of excellently trained physicians. The residents are able to learn the culture of Marian and the Central Coast, and understand the values of our missiondriven medical center.”

In 2018, Marian welcomed physician residents Christopher Carls, DO, River Saul, DO, and Rebecca Ruebsamen, DO, as the first OB-GYN Residency Program Class, to our vibrant medical center.

The needed establishment of an OB-GYN Residency Program will help further the highest levels of care on the Central Coast. This summer, Marian welcomed the first class of OB-GYN physician residents with Christopher Carls, DO, Rebecca Ruebsamen, DO, and River Saul, DO. This four-year program will bring new OB-GYN physicians to the Central Coast and will result in a steady flow of highly-trained, residency graduates.

“I am pleased with the total commitment of leadership, physicians, and nursing staff who support and invest in the vision to train the next generation of physicians,” Dr. Chaudhry added. “Growing local providers will increase access for patients here in Santa Maria well into the future.”

Furthering care on the Central Coast

In 2017, Marian graduated its first class of five Family Medicine Residency Program residents, with another six

following in 2018. Out of the two graduating classes, the Central Coast has retained seven physicians who have chosen to stay within Dignity Health by practicing at Pacific Central Coast Health Centers.

“The residency program exists for our community, and we draw the best medical students from all over the country who want to train here in the specialty of family medicine,” Dr. Chung notes. “We are here to serve our community, and provide them the very best and diverse health care experience possible.”

As a rapidly growing community straddling Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties, Santa Maria and the Central Coast will undoubtedly see an increased availability of physicians. Through these two residency programs, graduates will provide for the health of our community members for years to come.