Summary
Anjana Sharma, MD, MAS, CODEX Learning Hub faculty lead, has been the clinician lead of two patient advisory councils (PACs) at the largest primary care clinic in the Department of Public Health for 12 years. In this time, she has worked to deepen the relationship between the patient advisors, who hold tremendous expertise and wisdom related to staying healthy and receiving healthcare in the city, and the UCSF Family and Community Medicine Residency, which trains 15 new family physicians each year.
As part of this relationship, Dr. Sharma, the residency team, and the PAC team wanted to know: was there a way to share more power and decision-making in the residency selection process? They have now implemented four cycles of having patients conduct interviews of medical student candidates and join the selection committee.
In evaluations, the team has consistently found high participant ratings of the overall experience, the relative value of this pilot, the likelihood of joining a similar process in the future, and the positive impact on equity. Students also stated that programs like this would positively impact a residency’s position on their rank list. Dr. Sharma is currently exploring strategies to test the sustainability and spread of this model.