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- So I decided to be a doctor actually after college.
My wife has Crohn's disease
and we were in a car accident after college,
so we spent a lot of time with doctors since then.
And during that experience,
I grew to become very interested in medicine,
but I also saw an opportunity to become a doctor
who really has empathy with the patients,
able to connect with the patients on the human level,
and, therefore, help with the healing process.
- I wanted to become a doctor
because first of all my family members,
I had a lot of them that were elderly
and went through a lot through the health system
and I saw that how much they were suffering
and also in the other sense
that how wonderful the doctors were
in helping diagnose and treating them.
So I wanted to be part of that
and help other people as well.
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- Scripps Mercy is a phenomenal place to train.
The hospital cares for a whole range of patients
of all diverse backgrounds and the underserved.
Our residents enjoy working with each other
and care for each other.
Our faculty loves to teach
and the residents develop
strong positive relationships with the faculty.
- Scripps Mercy is a wonderful place
to do your residency.
We have a really tightly knit collaborative group
that works closely together.
The clinical training is excellent here at Scripps Mercy.
We have the busiest emergency department
in all of San Diego
and so residents get a wealth of clinical experience
that translates into becoming fine physicians.
Additionally, we have just amazing lectures
and didactics here where they can learn
the facts of internal medicine.
- I chose Scripps for my residency training
because it has an excellent
academic aspect of the training
with wonderful teaching from the attendings.
It also has an extremely happy atmosphere.
I noticed when I visited
that the residents were happy, the staff was happy,
the attendings are wonderfully happy
and take good care of us.
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- The perfect candidate for Scripps Mercy
is the physician in training
that wants to learn how to be an outstanding physician
and is dedicated to wanting to become
the best doctor they possibly can.
They're someone who's gonna be warm,
who's gonna be friendly,
who's gonna be a great team player,
and is highly professional.
Those are the types of candidates
that we're looking for.
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- The Scripps program is very special
because of the camaraderie that we see
between the attendings, the co-residents,
but also between the nurses
and the techs and the pharmacists,
it just feels like a family.
It's a very welcoming environment.
- This program is really special because of the people.
People come to Scripps Mercy and they don't wanna leave
because it's such an amazing place.
It's just a warm, friendly community.
Everyone has a heart for taking care of patients
and providing outstanding care for our patients.
One thing that really makes Mercy unique
is the handheld ultrasound program that we have
that is by far the best in the country.
This program was started by Dr. Bruce Kimura 15 years ago
and he's poured his heart and soul into this program.
And by the time that you graduate,
as a matter of fact,
by the time you finish your internship year,
you'll be able to carry your own
handheld ultrasound device with you
to help evaluate patients.
- For me, what's really special
about working at Scripps Mercy
is the mission to take care of everybody
who walks through the door,
whether they're affluent, or completely homeless.
It's the culture of compassion
that goes into everything here.
It really feels like family here at Scripps.
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- We have morning report everyday from 11:30 to 12:30
where we discuss challenging cases.
Then we have a noon conference for an hour after that
given by outstanding faculty in their fields of expertise.
And then we have grand rounds every Tuesday morning
given by a national expert in one area or another.
So Mercy also offers
a wonderful opportunity to do research.
Every May, we have a four week research competition
where residents present the research
that they have done during this past year.
They both present case reports
as well as original scientific investigations.
This past year,
we had over 30 different presentations by residents,
and so research is a very important part of our community.
Residents have also presented
at both local and national conferences
and won awards at these conferences.
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So a typical day for a resident varies
on what rotation that they're doing.
If they're on the medicine wards, for example,
they might come to work at 6:30
and pre-round on their group
of six or seven or eight patients.
They'll meet at eight o'clock
with their attending physician
who will go the patient rooms with the intern
and examine the patient and do rounds at that point.
Then residents have some time to get their work done
between 10 and 11:30,
and then at 11:30 is when our conferences start.
11:30 to 12:30 is our morning report time
where we talk about a really interesting case.
And then 12:30 to 1:30
is when an excellent lecture takes place.
In the afternoon, a resident will have time
to evaluate patients,
finish their documentation,
and sign out usually by between 4:30 and 5:00
on a not so busy day
so they can enjoy the beauty of San Diego.
- Right now, I'm actually on my wards rotation.
So my day usually starts
with arriving at the hospital between 6:30 and 7.
I will learn about overnight patients
that came into my team from the overnight residents.
At that point, I'll meet with my interns
and the rest of my team,
I'll go off and see patients in the morning, prepare,
we present to our attending in the morning
and discuss any patients.
The thing that I really like after that
is we go to what are called the MDR rounds
where we meet with the rest of the support staff,
the case managers, the physical therapist, the nursing,
and we're able to discuss
all the issues going on with the patient
very efficiently right there in the morning.
The rest of the day
we spend taking to admissions,
seeing our patients further,
and taking care of the rest of our work,
and then we actually sign out each day at around 4:30.
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- Mercy Hospital is one of the most diverse hospitals
that you'll ever see.
Two years ago, we used our translator phone
for over 100 different languages.
Because of our proximity to the border,
we see lots of patients with diverse backgrounds
and we see lots of interesting infectious disease
and other diseases that you won't see
at other hospitals with less diversity.
We're also a place
that's incredible socioeconomically diverse.
Our main mission is we do take care of the underserved,
but we also have patients on our service
with excellent insurance
and patients that come in on cruise ships
and have a fainting spell.
And so we take care of patients
from all different ends of the spectrum.
- What I think is really special
about working in San Diego
is that we're right next to the border.
There's a huge diversity of backgrounds in what we see
and we get to see a lot of strange and challenging cases
coming into the hospital
that you rarely would see elsewhere in the U.S.
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- Scripps Mercy has been characterized
by both The Joint Commission
and the Accreditation Council
for Graduate Medical Education
as a hospital with heart.
That's really true.
Everybody here really cares for each other,
the doctors, the residents,
the nurses, the administration,
and everyone really cares for our patients.
So it's really not just a job. It's a calling.
- Scripps Mercy has been called the hospital with heart
because of the family atmosphere that we have here.
Everybody has a common goal.
It's to take care of the patient
and to get them safely discharged.
And that's why everybody
is super friendly with each other
and feels like a family here.
- We do what's best for patients
and we place our patients first.
Part of being the place with a heart
is also taking care of each other and making sure
that you're a closely knit and collaborative community.
- I love the culture of Scripps Mercy.
It has an atmosphere that we're a family here.
We're a family with NR Training Program
with the attendings and the staff
really caring about us
and feeling like a comfortable family
where we can talk about whatever we need to.
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- Scripps Mercy prepares residents
to go into the world and practice and teach
and continue to do research
and enjoy positions of great prestige,
including department chairs
and chiefs of medical staffs,
and be real leaders in their communities.
- When you're finished with your training
at Scripps Mercy Hospital
you are well prepared to start your first job
or to go into fellowship training.
The faculty at Scripps Mercy Hospital
have all been here many years,
they're well connected in the community,
and they can get residence jobs.
Every resident that has graduated here
that has wanted a position in primary care
or hospitalist medicine over the last 10 years
we have helped them find a position.
We also had a fantastic fellowship match rate.
The reason is
is because there's lots of research opportunities,
so people will leave here with a resume
that's filled with research publications.
We're also very well respected
by other fellowships across the country.
And, in addition, we allow residents to do out rotations
and so they can spend a month at a fellowship program
to see if that's a good fit for them
where the fellowship program gets to know them
and they get to know the fellowship.
Mercy Hospital produces great leaders.
We have several graduates
that are head of departments
and prestigious academic centers across the country.
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I want them to walk out after they graduate
feeling like they are really well-trained physicians
ready to begin their practice.
In over the 15 years that I've been here,
that's the case every single time.
When residents graduate,
they feel like they are ready for training
because of the excellent education
that they have received here at Scrips Mercy Hospital.
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- Doing residency in San Diego is fantastic
because you get all this diverse population.
You see a lot of underserved people,
including the homeless and the refugees.
You have a lot of patients
who don't have access to good medical care.
We get a lot of patients also from the Imperial Valley
because they don't have
all the specialists there that they need,
and so we see things that are endstage
or something that would have been caught earlier
if they had good access to primary care.
- Our residents work really hard here
during their clinical training,
but it's such an important part of resident wellness
is to have a good work-life balance
and living in San Diego
is such a wonderful place to do that.
San Diego is one of the few places in the country
where you go skiing in the mountains,
which is less than a two hour drive away,
you can go hiking in the desert,
and you can go swimming in the ocean,
and you can do all three of those things
on the same day.
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- I've learned so much academically in this program.
It's wonderfully rigorous
with noon conferences, morning reports,
and teaching informally throughout the day
from our attendings and from fellow residents.
I also have learned personally
that I want to be a hospitalist.
I love seeing the breadth of cases throughout the day,
whether it's a patient with heart failure and diabetes,
or another patient with a challenging infection.
And because the program is so strong,
I really feel confident
that I will be prepared to see anybody who comes in
no matter what they have.
- I've learned that I would love to work
in an environment like this
especially because of all the help
that we get here from everyone.
I definitely would like to work in a community hospital
where I get to see very sick patients
and help them be better.
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- The biggest surprise for me here at Scripps Mercy
has been the benefit
of having such an involved support staff.
The nurses, the case managers, the physical therapists,
consistently go above and beyond
in caring for the patient,
and what I've seen that do
is it really allows the ability
to care for the total patient, mind, body, and spirit,
and improves the outcomes.
- The biggest surprise for me
was when I first came here
we were still using paper charting.
It definitely took a lot longer to get used to,
but now that we're in Epic
it's very easy to maneuver,
for patients to see their own charting,
for us to see everything that happened with the patient,
for other specialists as well
to see what's happening with their patient as well,
which not every program and not every hospital is on Epic.
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- One of the most memorable moments
was seeing a patient
that I had taken care of in the hospital,
worked very hard to bring back from the brink,
and
he appreciated our connection so much
that he wanted to follow up with me
as his primary care doctor.
So I got to see him about a month later in clinic
healthy again, doing well, and thriving,
which really brought home
the importance of what we do here in the hospital.
- When one of my patients was discharged from the ICU
and then I saw them on the floor as well
and I was able to discharge her to home,
and it was a great feeling
because you see that continual care
when you do ICU one month
and then next month you're on the floor.
It's just a good satisfying moment.
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- Really think about what the culture is
at the program that you want.
Does that fit with your core beliefs
and what kind of a doctor you want to be?
For me, that culture is here
in taking care of everybody
and going the extra step to treat the whole patient,
mind, body, soul,
to really improve their care.
- Scripps Mercy Hospital is amazing
because of our staff and our friendly environment,
so I would definitely choose this program over again
if I had to.
- Mercy Hospital is a wonderful place to do your training.
I've been here for 20 years and I absolutely love it.
It's a family-like atmosphere, and you will come here,
you will have an enjoyable residency training experience
and you will finish a well-trained physician.
It as an honor and a privilege to participate
in training our next generation of physicians.
- The course of my 47 years in medicine,
I've experienced the joy of taking care of patients,
of continuing to learn, of doing research,
and of teaching.
I hope as my graduates go into the world,
they experience all that same joy
learning how to grow professionally
and learning how to provide excellent care
for their own patients.
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