Adventist Health Sonora Launches Education Programs for Nursing, Family Medicine Physicians

This back-to-school season marks the beginning of two new Adventist Health Sonora programs aimed at opening more pathways to healthcare careers and expanding access to care in our community.

The Family Medicine Residency Rural Training Track recently welcomed its first cohort of four family medicine physicians who will be completing hands-on residency training and providing primary care services at the Family Medicine Residency Medical Office in Sonora over the next two years. As an accredited graduate medical education program, the residency program provides advanced training to new family medicine physicians with a special emphasis on the unique needs of rural communities. Four new resident physicians will join the program each year.

The Pacific Union College (PUC) Associate of Science in Nursing program at Adventist Health Sonora also welcomed its first class of 20 students this fall. Operating in a hybrid format with online coursework from PUC instructors and on-site clinical rotations, this program allows students to stay in and serve our community while advancing their nursing careers.

Programs like these, that aim to grow and retain physicians and skilled healthcare workers, are essential for rural communities, where residents often face significant barriers to healthcare access including chronic shortages of providers and nurses, according to the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). Tuolumne County is officially designated as a Medically Underserved Area by the HRSA due to a shortage of primary care health services.

“One of our core beliefs as an organization is that our rural community deserves accessible, quality healthcare,” says Greg McCulloch, Adventist Health Sonora president. “These programs are building a pipeline of homegrown healthcare professionals so we can serve the needs of our community, now and into the future.”

The nursing and residency programs are part of the expanding educational and career growth opportunities at Adventist Health Sonora. The certified nursing assistant (CNA) and medical assistant (MA) training programs, which provide entry-level pathways to healthcare careers, have already bolstered our local healthcare workforce. 32 CNAs have graduated from the CNA training program since it launched in 2022, and 10 MAs graduated as part of the first cohort in the MA training program this spring. The next cohort is set to begin coursework later this fall.

“We see our workforce training programs as a win-win,” explains Tyler Newton, Adventist Health Sonora operations and service line executive. “They help us continue to meet the growing healthcare needs of our region and expand access to care while providing opportunities for talented, caring people in the Mother Lode to stay local while advancing their careers and caring for the community they love.”

Adventist Health and Pacific Union College leadership gather with the Associate of Science in Nursing program staff and students for a ribbon-cutting to mark the beginning of the new program at Adventist Health Sonora on August 23, 2024.

[image, top of page] Adventist Health leaders, Family Medicine Residency faculty and staff and the resident physicians celebrated the opening of the Family Medicine Residency Medical Office with a ribbon-cutting on August 16, 2024.