The Primary Care Track is a longitudinal training pathway designed for residents committed to careers in general internal medicine and outpatient-focused practice.
The program is structured to develop physicians who are not only clinically excellent but also equipped to navigate and lead within increasingly complex, team-based healthcare systems.
Our mission is to train internists who deliver high-quality, patient-centered care while understanding the operational, social, and system-level factors that shape health outcomes.
The curriculum is designed to provide breadth, continuity, and progressively increasing responsibility in outpatient medicine. Dedicated rotations include:
Residents also participate in focused conferences and ambulatory case discussions that reinforce real-world primary care decision-making.
Primary care track residents have dedicated noon conferences that review topics relevant to primary care and are taught directly by subspecialists.
Residents rotate longitudinally at SAC Health, a federally qualified health center (FQHC) in San Bernardino, California. This patient population includes underserved communities such as immigrants and unhoused individuals.
Primary care track residents will also rotate at Loma Linda University Faculty Medical Clinics, which serves commercial and Medicare patients. In this clinic, residents gain exposure to managed care models and work with patients across the socio-economic spectrum.
Loma Linda was declared a Blue Zone® in Dan Buettner's November 2005 cover story for National Geographic. The term refers to areas of the world with the longest life expectancy. This environment has fostered a strong institutional emphasis in lifestyle medicine, including intensive counseling on diet and exercise. Residents in the Primary Care Track gain exposure to this emerging field and develop valuable counseling skills to carry forward into their careers.
As with the traditional track, Primary Care Track residents follow the X + Y system, with four-week rotations followed by two weeks of continuity clinic.
Primary Care Track residents are assigned exclusively to SAC Health in San Bernardino for their continuity clinic. Additionally, they have one extra ambulatory-focused month built into their schedule each year.
During the second and third years of training, Primary Care Track residents have, on average, four weeks less of inpatient rotations, which is replaced with an outpatient elective.
Residents may also elect to participate in the HIV Longitudinal Track as well, which integrates HIV clinic experience into their ambulatory time. Additionally, residents have the option of attending a secondary continuity clinic time during their "Y weeks," allowing longitudinal experience at the Faculty Medical Clinics or another clinic aligned with their interests.
During Primary Care Track elective months, residents work directly with internal medicine faculty to design a four-week block schedule focusing on outpatient areas of interest. Common focus areas include:
An example schedule may include:
The track offers expanded elective flexibility tailored to outpatient practice needs, including:
These experiences allow residents to tailor their training with their anticipated practice models.
Graduates of the Primary Care Track are well-prepared for a range of career paths, including:
With the dedicated ambulatory training and longitudinal clinic experience, residents graduate with strong clinical confidence in outpatient care and are well prepared to pursue careers in primary care.
We provide individualized career support, including job contract review and personalized letters of recommendation developed through longitudinal mentorship.
Over the past five years, all but two graduates of the program have gone on to pursue careers in primary care across the country. While the Primary Care Track does not require graduates to enter primary care, the majority choose to do so.
Total Graduates
Career Outcomes
Geographic Distribution
Key Takeaway: Over the past five graduating classes, more than 80% of Primary Care Track residents have pursued careers in primary care, with the majority remaining in Southern California while others practice across the country.
No. You are not obligated to pursue a career in primary care; however, most residents in the Primary Care Track ultimately choose to do so.
No. Residents in the Primary Care Track receive the same specialty and sub-specialty electives. This includes opportunity to care for complex patients at our tertiary care hospital and manage critically ill patients during ICU rotations.
Primary Care Track residents graduate with strong inpatient and critical care skills and participate in the same academic didactics as residents in the traditional track.
Yes. Primary Care Track residents participate in several unique experiences, including a dedicated PCT month, specialized noon conferences focused on outpatient topics, and group medical visits at SAC Health during the fall. Additionally, some electives are uniquely designed for Primary Care Track residents and are not available in the traditional track.
The Primary Care Track program is full of incredibly supportive and strong mentorship. I had access to great in-clinic experiences with many subspecialties that led to more confidence in the clinic that complimented the strong background Internal Medicine residency at Loma Linda already provides.
The program provides outstanding training in managing complex adult patients while offering specialized elective time that expanded my procedural skills and outpatient expertise. The excellent faculty consistently offered invaluable career guidance and mentorship, and the dedicated primary care didactics thoroughly prepared me to confidently manage diverse clinical presentations.
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