Frequently Asked Questions

The Family Medicine Residency Program at Sutter Health Sacramento Sierra Region is committed to the following goals:

• To develop outstanding physicians who have excellent clinical and communication skills.
• To encourage personal growth and develop doctors with humanitarian and leadership qualities who are active in their communities.
• To understand the effect of the cultural and economic background of the communities we serve, and to develop the attitudes and skills necessary to deliver quality care to these populations.
• To emphasize patient dignity, to enhance the patient-physician relationship, and to include patients as partners in their care.
• To educate family physicians within a broad scope of practice enabling them to provide care throughout the life cycle.
• To teach physicians the optimal use of electronic health records to enhance continuity of care.
• To help physicians easily access and navigate electronic medical references for practice guidelines, for answers to clinical inquiries, and for the latest evidence-based medicine.
• To educate family physicians in the proper use of consultants and to coordinate services for integrated patient care.
• To fully integrate family physicians into multi-disciplinary healthcare teams.
• To teach physicians how to practice medicine efficiently in preparation for future practice, including office management, reimbursement, and teamwork.
• To teach learners how to become teachers, how to best educate their colleagues and patients, and the art of giving and receiving constructive feedback.
• To appropriately incorporate AI technology to offset excessive typing and busy work and in double checking clinical reasoning while acknowledging potential pitfalls and anchoring diagnoses.

Yes, Sutter FMRP residents serve many uninsured and underinsured patients in our hospitals, clinics, and through our community partnerships. We see a significant number of patients with Medicaid (called Medi-Cal in California) in our continuity clinics. Sutter Health is consistently identified as caring for more Medi-Cal patients in Northern California than any other health system.

As a non-profit health care organization, Sutter Health reinvests excess revenue into their services, facilities, and communities, rather than distributing profits to owners and shareholders.

As of June 2025, we have the following slots annually for our four tracks: 

• 6 Sacramento
• 2 Davis
• 2 Amador
• 2 Coast  

PGY1 applications will be accepted only through ERAS beginning September 2026 through November 2026. The program will conduct virtual interviews between October 2026 and December 2026. There will be in-person Open House sessions in January 2027. Open House sessions are non-valuative, have no impact on our rank lists and are for the sole benefit of the applicant.  

Learn more about how to apply to our Family Medicine Clerkships.

2026-2027 Season 

In order to maintain equitable access to interviews, we are continuing with a virtual interview process.

In addition to the usual orientation by the Program Director, interviews with residents and faculty, and question and answer sessions, we will take you on some fun insider virtual tours of the clinic, hospital, and surrounding areas.

If invited to interview, we will offer in-person tours with resident social options during January and February. These sessions are optional, non-evaluative, and will not impact the program’s rank order lists.

From the Sacramento-Davis valley area to the Amador Sierra Nevada, our training sites offer unique and ideal places for a family. In addition to the arts and recreational activities, the area offers abundant educational opportunities, including two major universities, four community colleges and numerous trade and professional schools. The local economic base includes agriculture, state and federal government employment, and a growing number of high-tech manufacturers and businesses.
 

A short drive from Sacramento takes one to some of our nation's treasures--the Pacific Coast, the city of San Francisco, Napa Valley, and the wild Sierra Nevada mountain range with beautiful Lake Tahoe and breathtaking Yosemite.

At Sutter Health, our employees are our most important assets, and we are fortunate to have attracted some of the most talented professionals. We strive to provide our employees with a highly comprehensive benefit package and extend these benefits to our residents.

Salary, compensation, and benefits are commensurate to the residents’ current program year.

*Disclaimer: This information does not apply to any employee who is in a collective bargaining unit represented by a recognized labor organization unless otherwise specified in a collective bargaining agreement.

Sutter Health has an unyielding commitment to Inclusion and Belonging and takes major steps to build on the benefits of our integrated, coordinated health system and further health outcomes within our system and across the country.

• Inclusion and Belonging
• LGBTQI+ Healthcare