Mission

Train balanced, confident physicians ready to enter their specialty of choice and capable of providing competent care of military members in austere environments.

Vision

The program that each resident needs to become ready military physicians and future medical leaders.

Aims

Operational Readiness

Prepare residents for independent practice as a General Medical Officer or Flight Surgeon in the U.S. Air Force.

Residency Preparedness

Ensure residents are competitive for selection and prepared for future training in their specialty of choice.

Professional Fulfillment

Train balanced, content and confident professionals and future medical leaders.

TY residents will attend a combined morning didactics conference with the Family Medicine Residency Program while on outpatient rotations. They will also meet weekly on Wednesday afternoons for protected didactics time, along with the Family Medicine Residency Program first year residents. Wednesday afternoon didactics are attended by all residents, except those working away from DGMC or on night float. Some examples of topics for these sessions are below:

Morning Conference

(Daily, Monday-Friday) – 30-minute rotating didactics, including:

• Sports Medicine topics and fracture rounds
• Interactive case presentations
• Women’s health topics
• Pediatric/neonatal topics
• Guest/Specialist lectures

PGY-1 Didactics

(Weekly on Wednesday afternoon) – 3.5-hours including:

• Team-based interactive cases
• Core topic lectures and workshops
• Procedure workshops
• Journal club/evidence-based medicine didactics
• Morbidity and mortality conference
• Osteopathic manipulation treatment (OMT) workshops (for D.O. and interested M.D. residents)
• Resident-led teaching

Elective rotations comprise 12 weeks of the PGY-1 rotation schedule and are allocated in 2-4 week blocks.

Options include (flexibility for alternative experiences outside of DGMC):

• Acupuncture
• Allergy and Immunology
• Anesthesiology
• Cardiology
• Dermatology
• Gastroenterology
• Hematology/Oncology
• Hyperbaric Medicine
• Internal Medicine (inpatient or outpatient)
• Neurology
• Ophthalmology
• Orthopedic Surgery
• Otolaryngology (ENT)
• Pain Medicine
• Pathology
• Pediatrics (inpatient or outpatient)
• Plastic Surgery
• Psychiatry
• Pulmonology
• Radiology (Diagnostic or Interventional)
• Rheumatology
• Urology
• Vascular Surgery

TY residents will take 24-hour call every three days while on their general surgery rotation. They do not take call during any other part of the year. They will complete one 2-week block of night float and work night shifts during their emergency medicine rotations.

TY Residents complete a two-week rotation with Flight Medicine. In addition to caring for military members in the clinic, learners will have the opportunity to visit operational units in their place of work and learn about the occupational medicine role that Flight Surgeons serve. Didactics sessions will include military and operational medicine topics as well as general topics orienting residents to officership and the U.S. Air Force.

All TY residents will complete and remain current in the following American Red Cross resuscitation courses:

• Basic Life Support 
• Advanced Life Support 
• Pediatric Advanced Life Support 

DGMC has a state-of-the-art, independently staffed simulation center, which is utilized during didactics time to teach procedural skills and review clinical scenarios. A recurring simulation curriculum This simulation center is also used weekly to review simulated inpatient and emergency medical scenarios during the inpatient medicine rotation. Further, the DGMC Clinical Investigations Facility offers opportunities for residents to learn procedural skills with live-tissue animal models.

Leadership topics are incorporated into the didactic curriculum over the course of the year. Further, TY residents are provided opportunities during the year to serve on hospital committees or the House Officer Committee and lead their class in coordinating activities and process improvement efforts. Further leadership and advocacy opportunities are encouraged and can be discussed on a case-by-case basis with the Program Director.

All TY residents are required to complete two 2-week research rotations with the Clinical Investigations Facility at DGMC. During these rotations, residents will be provided mentorship, guidance and resources to conduct clinical research of their interest. Residents can initiate and lead their own projects, or join existing research projects within the CIF, who notably receive significant funding annually to conduct space research funding in coordination with NASA and the U.S. Space Force.

All TY residents are required to participate in monthly Morbidity and Mortality conference, combined with the Family Medicine Residency Program. During this conference, residents will review a case, assessing opportunities for system improvement to prevent error in the future. TY residents are required to participate in a program-wide offsite meeting in the spring where all residents and program leaders will discuss improvement opportunities for the residency in a systematic fashion.

TY residents will receive multiple guest lecture opportunities during didactics to discuss career planning and professional development. Residents are assigned mentors and required to meet throughout the year and review an individualized educational plan that incorporates their specific career goals. With 12 weeks of electives, multiple opportunities exist for creative educational options to help the resident meet their career goals.

• Most rotations will be at David Grant Medical Center, Travis Air Force Base, California.
• Emergency medicine rotations (both adult and pediatric) will be at the University of California Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, California.
• Rotations at other sites are considered on a case-by-case basis after discussion with the Program Director.

There are no medical student rotation opportunities as TY is not a clinical department. Medical students who are only applying to the Transitional Year (PGY-1 only) program are encouraged to meet in person or virtually with the Transitional Year Program Director to discuss the program.

Medical students who apply to the DGMC Radiology Residency should apply through those programs and request placement in the TY internship. These residents are encouraged to contact the TY program to coordinate a meeting to answer resident questions and orient them to the residency.

Residents who wish to complete a PGY-1 only year with plans to go on to be a general medical officer, are encouraged to apply with the TY Residency. Contact the program by email to arrange an interview by phone or in person.

There is no specialty board examination for the Transitional Year Residency. TY residents must pass either the United States Medical Licensing Exam Step 3 or Comprehensive Osteopathic Medical Licensing Examination Level 3 to graduate from the program.

All TY residents are required to complete a course on the “Resident as Teacher,” developed by the University of California Davis Medical School. TY residents will rotate at multiple rotations and sites, working closely with and teaching medical students from the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences, University of California at Davis and other medical schools from across the country.

Residents are required to lead at least one didactics session over the course of the year. Working with the CIF, residents will have opportunities to present work and teach colleagues at national conferences, with fully funded travel.

The TY leadership team (Program Director and two APDs) are all core faculty in the DGMC Family Medicine Residency Program. Other core faculty include physicians trained in Pulmonology/Critical Care, General Surgery, Emergency Medicine, Obstetrics & Gynecology, Sports Medicine, Flight Medicine and Diagnostic Radiology.

Each TY resident is assigned a specific advisor/mentor at the beginning of the academic year. The resident and advisor/mentor meet at least quarterly to discuss career planning, educational goals, elective planning and wellness. Additionally, residents will work with dozens of faculty across multiple departments and facilities, providing diverse options for developing mentorship relationships.

The TY Residency organizes several program-wide social events annually, including a summer welcome, holiday party, over-the-hump party and graduation celebration. Further, the program benefits from a close relationship with the DGMC Family Medicine Residency Program. TY residents maintain close relationships with their own TY class as well as the 12 PGY-1 residents in the family medicine program.