Program highlights

The only residency at KPWA. KP Washington cares for 800,000 patients and has one residency – ours. Residents have unparalleled access to resources in primary care, specialty care, inpatient medicine, emergent care, health systems training, and research.

Two training sites:

• Capitol Hill Campus (Match #1811120C0): 4 residents in each class (total of 12) in Seattle with multi-specialty services on site
• Burien Medical Center (Match #1811120C1): 2 residents in each class (total of 6) south of Seattle in a smaller group practice training setting

Welcome to Seattle

Community service. Our longitudinal curriculum allows residents to continually provide community service and learn community medicine. R1s will provide care to homeless mothers and their children at Mary’s Place Shelter. R2s provide care to homeless youth at the Orion Center. R3s work with one of our faculty caring for patients at the Neighborcare FQHC, Rainier Beach clinic.

Abortion training. As a RHEDI grant site, all residents participate in a rotation at Planned Parenthood and a small private clinic to train in counseling, early dating ultrasounds, and medical and surgical abortions. Residents may opt out of the provision of abortion. Additional training is available at Kaiser Permanente and at other sites for those interested in more experience.

Education is primary. Our residency program prioritizes educational opportunities over heavy patient loads. This means there is time left for didactics and you can work with your attending to choose which cases represent the best learning experience for you. You also have the opportunity to select a track in an area of concentration as you progress through our program, allowing you the opportunity to focus on your primary medical interests.

Diversity of age, gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status of our patient population We have excellent training at two residency clinic training sites in caring for babies, children, teenagers, and adults of all ages, including nursing home and hospice patients. Kaiser Permanente patients include those insured by Medicare and Medicaid. We also have opportunities to volunteer with global health and local community clinics for the underserved. Ethnic minorities under our care include Somali, Eritrean, Chinese, Vietnamese, Mexican, and others. Patients who are not fluent in English are routinely provided with a translator for their visit.

Pharma free. Our internal pharmacy and therapeutics committee reviews and screens all new pharmaceuticals. Pharmacy representatives are not allowed to speak directly to staff, and our program does not permit direct interactions with pharmaceutical industry.

Industry leader in health informatics & population care. With an excellent electronic medical record and secure website for patients to access parts of their own record — including test results, prescription refills, patient instructions, and e-mail to providers and team — Kaiser Permanente is unsurpassed. The organization also has international recognition in chronic disease management and preventive guidelines based on evidence-based medicine with both national and institutional research.

Collegiality. Resident and faculty are colleagues in the clinic, inpatient settings, didactics, advising, program operations, and curriculum. We work hard to address the toxic hierarchy in medicine and develop close collegial working and learning environments.