2024 Residency Graduates Fill Need for Primary Care and Specialty Physicians in Desert Communities

Palm Springs - The Graduate Medical Education (GME) program at Desert Regional Medical Center will celebrate the graduation of 22 resident physicians and four fellowship-trained physicians at a ceremony to be held June 14 at the Palm Springs Air Museum.

There will be 10 graduating residents in emergency medicine, 12 residents in family medicine, one fellow in emergency ultrasound, two fellows in surgical critical care, and one fellow in Family Medicine Obstetrics.

Several of this year’s graduates will be staying in the Coachella Valley to practice, including seven Family Medicine physicians, one Emergency Medicine physician, two Surgical Critical Care specialists and the specialist in Family Medicine Obstetrics.

“We are excited to continue our mission of enhancing access to healthcare by increasing the number of physicians in the Coachella Valley,” said Gemma Kim, MD, FAAFP, Chief Academic Officer for Desert Regional Medical Center. “Our program has been designed to address healthcare equity and help overcome health disparities that are due to social factors such as housing insecurity and lack of transportation that unduly impact our minority communities.”

As an example, Desert Regional Medical Center physician residents provide care in a mobile clinic¹ that visits farm workers and other communities that may struggle to find care through the traditional healthcare system.

“Programs like this one have inspired many of our residents to stay with our Family Medicine Center and continue to practice here in the community,” Dr. Kim said.

Desert Regional Medical Center CEO Michele Finney said the hospital is very proud to see the success of its residency programs.

“From the very beginning, our goal in launching a graduate medical education program has been to help grow the ranks of physicians who serve our area,” said Finney, who is also CEO of Desert Care Network. “The Coachella Valley and Morongo Basin regions of California continue to need new doctors. These physicians play an important part in meeting the critical need for medical care in our region.”

Desert Regional currently offers physician residency programs in Family Medicine, Emergency Medicine, and General Surgery. The General Surgery residency expects its first graduates in June 2027. This year, Desert Regional is adding programs in Internal Medicine and a Transitional Year Residency, which prepares physicians for further training in subspecialties such as radiology or dermatology, among others.