“It really allows everyone to feel completely fulfilled and to be experts in what they do and translate that into caring for the patient. The amount of collaboration, discussion, and shared approaches to things is part of why I think we’re successful.”
Casey Kirkhart, DO
Core Faculty, Family Medicine
Chief Medical Officer and Site Director, Santa Cruz
Community Health FQHC
“We serve our local Santa Cruz County community, which is vastly diverse. The residents will have exposure to our entire practice — they’ll be part of our team. They’ll have their own panel of patients assigned to them, and they’ll be the primary care providers for those patients. We use a care team model. They’ll see variety—the patient who has a sprained ankle, the next patient who has diabetes, then a patient who has substance use disorder. They’ll see how different care team members step in for some visits, and others step in for other types of visits. It really allows everyone to feel completely fulfilled and to be experts in what they do and translate that into caring for the patient. The amount of collaboration, discussion, and shared approaches to things is part of why I think we’re successful.”