LPOC’s GME Consortium: Training California’s Physicians for the Communities That Need Them the Most
LatinX Physicians of California (LPOC) is proud to announce funding from the Blue Shield of California Foundation to support the development of a Graduate Medical Education (GME) Consortium in California. As a part of this effort, LPOC will reach out to CA residency program directors, starting with Family Medicine, and conduct a strategic needs assessment, convene meetings with residency program leaders, and develop a workplan for a shared GME curriculum to strengthen the state’s physician workforce.
The GME Consortium’s efforts will be guided by LPOC board members and partners who are residency program and LatinX physician workforce policy subject matter experts. Dr. Hector Flores, Chair of Family Medicine and Co-Director of the Family Medicine Residency Program at White Memorial Medical Center, and Dr. James Cruz, former Family Medicine Residency Director and Chief Medical Officer for Gold Coast Health Plan, will spearhead the GME Consortium’s efforts and lead the convening of Family Medicine residency program directors and faculty statewide.
Specifically, the GME Consortium will identify opportunities to develop and share a contemporary population health-focused clinical curriculum aligned with the needs of CA’s underserved populations, organize resident and junior faculty leadership development training, and identify clinical rotation opportunities statewide within urban and rural Federally Qualified Health Centers and hospitals located in underserved communities. While the initial focus is on Family Medicine residency programs, the GME Consortium plans to expand to additional specialties over time.
Beyond curriculum development and rotations, and equally important, the GME Consortium will address a critical pain point: many California medical school applicants must leave the state to attend medical school and then face challenges matching into California residency programs. This represents a missed opportunity to bring back Californians and strengthen the physician workforce in underserved communities. This is critical, as the 2026 Residency match results show that Family Medicine had the greatest number of unfilled residency slots (899) across the US. California specific data is not yet available; however, Dr. Cruz anticipates that the number of unmatched CA Family Medicine residency slots will be significant.
To address this challenge, LPOC is leveraging partnerships with the Latino Medical Student Association and the National Hispanic Medical Association to plan for the strategic recruitment and long-term mentorship of residents in California. Through a strategy called repatriation, the GME Consortium will identify medical students, residents, and fellows training in out-of-state programs and guide them toward residency programs in urban and rural Federally Qualified Health Centers and hospitals located in underserved communities. The GME Consortium will develop the planning and strategy for ongoing mentorship, leadership development, and faculty support, ensuring that residents are well-prepared to grow into future physician leaders within California’s healthcare system.
If you or your program are interested in participating or learning more, please contact the LPOC CEO, Sienna Martínez Harris, at info@latinxphysiciansofca.org