Program Strengths

1. Background
Established in 1975 in far Northern California, our fully accredited residency program enjoys an affiliation with the University Of California Davis School Of Medicine in a community setting.

2. Hospital support
The residency is sponsored by Mercy Medical Center, with 266 total beds, level II trauma center, regional cancer center, active cardiac surgery, and over 673 active medical staff members. Mercy provides beautiful facilities with excellent staff and ancillary services.

3. Medical staff support
The program involves six core clinical faculty members, with the assistance of over 130 volunteer clinical faculty physicians, comprising almost half of all hospital medical staff members. Our residents benefit from direct teaching by a combination of core faculty and community faculty. Residents learn directly from highly trained and respected board certified family physicians, internists, obstetrician gynecologists, emergency physicians, pediatricians, neonatologists, surgeons, orthopedists, intensivists, psychiatrists,   psychologists,  and multiple other specialists.

4. Effective teaching with good support, and abundant patient care opportunities
Residents have direct hands-on experiences in all aspects of their training. Residents enjoy the patient diversity and hands-on experience of a charity teaching hospital, with the facilities, amenities and support of a private community hospital. Residents are provided with ample backup from preceptors and senior residents and can take on significant levels of responsibility when ready.

5. Tracks or Areas of Concentration: Being developed in 2025-2026
Mercy Redding Family Medicine Residency Program prides itself on an extensive core curriculum designed to provide our residents with comprehensive exposure to the full spectrum of family medicine. In an effort to enrich the educational experiences of our resident physicians, specialized tracks are being introduced. These tracks offer elective rotations that afford residents the opportunity to gain more in-depth experience in specific domains, including obstetrics and hospital medicine.

Hospital Medicine

The Hospital Medicine Track is dedicated to cultivating the essential skills that physicians require for optimal performance and success in an inpatient clinical environment. This track prioritizes increased autonomy with management of inpatient admissions with a unique 1:1 attending to resident learning dyad, experience working to improve hospital quality metrics, and increased exposure to hospital medicine electives such as infectious disease and cardiology. 

Obstetrics

The Obstetrics Track is designed to offer residents a comprehensive immersion into the multifaceted realm of pregnancy. This track provides extensive exposure to labor and delivery and maternity care. Additionally, residents have the opportunity to rotate through areas such as high-risk OB, outpatient OB/GYN, and comprehensive family planning.

6. Rural and Underserved Training
During the rural rotation, residents work with rural community physicians in one of several rural settings. In addition to rural training, residents provide continuity care for low-income and commercially insured patients at Mercy Family Health Center. The residency program also works with Shasta Community Maternity Center to provide comprehensive obstetrical care to low-income and high risk patients. Residents also attend specialty and procedural clinics at Shasta Community Maternity Center. Many of our graduates have chosen to practice in areas of unmet need, mostly in the north state, but also across the nation and some internationally.

7. Outpatient training
In addition to continuity care at Mercy Family Health Center, well-developed outpatient rotations occur in private practices, community health centers, and the Redding VA clinic, including urgent care.

8. Collaboration with Shasta Community Health Center Family Medicine Residency Program
Shasta Community Health Center (SCHC), a local Federally Qualified Health Center in Redding, started a family medicine residency program in 2013. We work closely with their program,  sharing resources  including inpatient and outpatient rotation experiences. This is an exciting collaboration which allows for additional clinical experiences for both programs’ residents. This is also an opportunity to train additional family physicians who we hope will settle permanently in Northern California and provide much needed primary care to our communities.

9. Electronic Health Records
Mercy Medical Center utilizes Cerner EHR for clinical documentation and is currently working on implementation of AI Scribing.

10. Reasonable call schedule
Hybrid night float/traditional call system.

• 1st year: 20-24 calls/year 24hr shifts
• 2nd year: 16-20 calls/year 24hr shifts
• 3rd year: 6-8 calls/year 24hr shifts 

11. Excellent Family Practice Center
At Mercy Family Health Center, the residents work alongside faculty in a group practice setting. Resident panels include abroad spectrum of ages, and clinical problems, from prenatal care to geriatrics. Residents are encouraged to recruit patients from the hospital into their clinic practice to enhance their learning experience. A current reference library with both hard copy and internet access is readily available at the Family Practice Center.

12. Family Practice Clinic Rotation provides well-rounded training
During the 12 weeks of C1 and C2 rotations, residents see a higher volume of specialty and continuity care patients. They participate in various specialty clinics, including colposcopy, minor surgery, HIV, orthopedics, dermatology, psychiatry, pediatrics, pulmonology, gastroenterology, sports medicine, neurology and cardiology. The opportunity to develop strong outpatient skills and work one-on-one with a wide array of specialists make this rotation particularly valuable, preparing many of our graduates to go on to practice in rural areas and other settings where a specialist may not be readily available.

13. Inpatient training
Our Family Practice residents do not compete with residents of other specialties, thus enhancing their training and the number of procedures they are able to perform. All residents receive certification in Advanced Cardiac Life Support, Pediatric Advanced Life Support, Neonatal Resuscitation, and Advanced Life Support in Obstetrics, with opportunities for certification in Advanced Trauma Life Support. We utilize an on-line database called New Innovations to keep track of resident procedures.

14. Obstetrical training
Obstetrical training remains a strength of the program, with ample deliveries available during a resident’s training, including care of complex obstetrical patients. 

15. Relaxed, collegial interactions between residents and faculty
Wellness Chief Residents, faculty physicians, and staff participate in many social and recreational interactions outside of the hospital. Residents, faculty physicians, and staff participate in many social and recreational interactions outside of the hospital, including the Annual Resident Retreat at Trinity River.

16. Quality Didactics
Enthusiastic community faculty, core faculty and residents work together to provide Academic Half Day and Noon Conference lectures on important topics in Family Medicine.

17. Well-developed medical community relative to the size of Redding
Although only 92,000 people live in Redding, there are approximately 180,000 people living in Shasta County. Redding has the largest population of any city north of Sacramento; the referral base for Mercy Medical Center is quite extensive, resulting in a well-developed medical community with high levels of care and expertise.

18. Significant involvement of residents in the decision-making and leadership
This is accomplished through regular resident-faculty meetings and direct involvement of chief residents in faculty meetings. Residents can voice concerns and strategize with the Chief Residents, Faculty Advisors, and the Program Director. Residents are very involved in providing feedback and implementing new ideas.

19. Excellent compensation and benefits
Annual resident salaries range from $74,880 – 82,555, with four weeks of vacation and 40 hours of sick leave per year. Residents also receive payment for yearly membership in the AAFP, along with coverage of their California Medical License and DEA Certification. Other benefits include excellent health, dental, and vision plans, meals while on duty, lab coats, free parking, and a book allowance.