Community Medicine

Residency is often demanding and all-consuming. Nearing the end of training, many physicians find themselves craving time to reflect, reset, and reconnect with their purpose. The Community Medicine Fellowship offers that opportunity—specifically designed for graduating residents in family medicine, internal medicine, and pediatrics who are passionate about health equity and working with underserved communities.

This one-year fellowship helps fellows re-engage with the social mission of medicine—to care, to advocate, and to lead toward achieving health equity. Fellows have a faculty appointment through the Kaiser Permanente School of Medicine and serve as junior faculty mentoring medical students and residents in community-based clinics and leading advocacy-focused clinical rotations. These experiences not only deepen their impact but also allow them to grow as teachers, mentors, and role models in a supportive environment. In fact, over 80% of our graduates remain involved in medical education after completing the fellowship—many becoming leaders in academic and community-based programs.

Throughout the year, fellowship faculty provide dedicated mentorship and support, helping guide fellows through both personal reflection and professional development. Whether exploring new leadership opportunities, designing community-based projects, or rediscovering what brings meaning to their work, fellows feel encouraged and supported in their work.

The fellowship emphasizes and prioritizes a healthy life-work balance and provides protected time for individualized growth. Our faculty foster an environment where professional development does not come at the expense of personal well-being. Fellows are encouraged to pursue interests in public health, health policy, teaching, community engagement, or simply to reconnect with the deeper values that brought them to medicine. Through dedicated time for mentorship, skill-building, and introspection, fellows are able to pursue growth not just as clinicians, but as leaders, advocates, and whole individuals. One day per week is intentionally set aside to offer fellows flexibility—whether for moonlighting to augment income, pursuing additional clinical training leading to certification in areas such as Obesity Medicine or HIV medicine, or simply maintaining personal well-being and work-life balance.

Whether envisioning a future in community-based primary care, academic medicine, public health, or healthcare advocacy, this fellowship supports a meaningful and sustainable next chapter to our fellows—grounded in purpose and community.

Program Structure

This 13-month, full-time fellowship runs from July 1 – July 31 each year. Fellow time will be split as follows:

• Community-based Primary Care (50-70%): fellows will provide Primary Care to the medically underserved at non-Kaiser community-based clinics and Federally Qualified Health Centers
• Community Project and Didactics (10-30%): fellows will have protected time for didactics and dedicated mentors to help develop their required community- based scholarly project
• Kaiser Permanente clinics (10-20%): over the course of the 13 months, fellows will spend one to two half-days per week learning the Kaiser system first-hand by performing clinical duties at the primary Kaiser Permanente site
• Other opportunities (20%): Fellows will also have options to moonlight to augment salary, pursue rotations in a variety of educational areas, conduct mentored research, or develop further community-based initiatives

Program Locations

Fellowship positions are available in the following regions:

• Los Angeles (Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, Pediatrics)
• Fontana (Family Medicine)
• Orange County (Family Medicine)
• San Diego (Family Medicine)
• Woodland Hills (Family Medicine)

Compensation & Benefits

• Salary: $128,663
• Additional Support: Housing stipend ($12,000), Educational Stipend ($500)
• Time and ample opportunities for moonlighting to augment base salary
• Additional reimbursement programs: Salary & Benefits
• Flexible work schedule
• Benefits: Medical and dental coverage
• Paid Time Off: 3 weeks vacation + 1 week educational leave

Long-Term Impact

This fellowship equips graduates to lead in a wide range of roles, including:

• Residency program directors, academic faculty and medical educators
• Community clinic medical directors
• Public health leaders and advocates
• Policy and systems change leaders
• Champions of integrated, equitable care delivery