Kaiser Permanente/San Francisco

Grateful thanks to Kenneth Ip, MD

Kaiser Permanente has been providing health care in San Francisco and its surrounding areas since 1953 and CPMC’s ophthalmology residency program has partnered with Kaiser since 1973. Dr. Alan Harley remembers that he was the first resident to train at Kaiser under the direction of  Dr. William Shecter. Dr. Shecter had requested Bruce Spivey to send a chief resident to start the rotation, however, it was second year Alan Harley who was sent, who recalls that he had a “fantastic experience”.  A few years later, Dr. Bill Stewart spent 6 months at Kaiser under Dr. George Hamilton, which he also remembers as an “extremely valuable and constructive experience”. Alumni have continued to enjoy this remarkable rotation, serving  under other Kaiser chiefs including, Drs. Kenneth Ip, Stephanie Po, and current Chief, Isabella Phan.

According to Dr. Ip, third year residents spend 4 months at Kaiser Permanente San Francisco.  There they have an opportunity to work in a clinical setting that often best simulates a practice setting that they will find themselves in when their training is complete.

Along with enhancing their clinical skills and becoming adept at managing routine to complex conditions, the residents have a great opportunity to hone their surgical skills.  During the rotation, they work with nine different surgeons. This provides the opportunity to pick up skills and knowledge from a variety of experienced surgeons.  The rotation at Kaiser Permanente gives residents an opportunity to really get to know the Kaiser care model, and many residents have gone on to join the Permanente Medical Group when their training is complete.

In addition to the chiefs mentioned above, the following Kaiser physicians have been involved in resident teaching since 1998: Richard Wolitz, Howard Bloom, Monty Pack, Suketu Sanghvi, Eun-Ha Park, Maya Ling,  Deborah Gill,  Xiaoyan Zhang,  Kelly Rue,  Michael Seider, Derek Huang,  Sid Borirak,  Laura Kearsley, and Jonathan Chou.

We are profoundly grateful for these remarkable physicians who have contributed to the excellence of our program.