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More than 20 Years of Giving: AltaMed
Los-Angeles-based AltaMed, the largest federally qualified health center (FQHC) network in the United States, has generously partnered with National Medical Fellowships (NMF) since 2003.
AltaMed focuses on eliminating health care inequities by providing high-quality health services for underserved communities in Southern California.
That alone makes it a perfect mission partner for NMF, but AltaMed has also been exceptionally supportive of NMF’s Primary Care Leadership Program (PCLP), sponsoring 14 of 28 scholars in 2023.
“AltaMed’s commitment to NMF’s PCLP is instrumental in training the next generation of physicians and advanced practitioners who advance diversity, inclusivity, and equity across the medical community.”
Dr. Efrain Talamantes, COO of AltaMed Health Services,
NMF board member
Roger Liu, Ph.D., director, and Marco Angulo, MD, medical director, have been establishing AltaMed’s Institute for Health Equity as a model for the recruitment, training, and retention of diverse health care professionals devoted to serving medically underserved populations.
“Many students who grew up in the communities we serve will go back as future physicians — they simply need adequate investment, support, and guidance.”
Roger Liu, Ph.D., Director of Medical Education,
Institute for Health Equity, AltaMed
“When they bring their communities in, we build our communities up,” Dr. Angulo added.
Dr. Liu, an endocrinologist researcher by trade, and Dr. Angulo, who completed his medical degree and family medicine residency at the University of California-Irvine Program in Medical Education for the Latino Community (PRIME-LC), were both recruited in 2018 to build up AltaMed’s Institute for Health Equity and medical education programming.
“As a former director at University of California-Berkeley, the majority of my students stated they wanted to serve the underserved; however, those numbers dwindled when they became medical students and residents,” Dr. Liu said. “That is why both Dr. Angulo and I came to AltaMed — to be part of a movement committed to investing in these precious few students committed to doing this work.”
Dr. Liu added it was AltaMed Health Services’ president and CEO who made their jobs possible.
“Many community health centers see the value of their clinical workforce solely through a lens of revenue generation, but Cástulo de la Rocha understands health care is beyond fee for service and has built an organization where we can grow and train our very own,” he explained.
Dr. Liu and Dr. Angulo now oversee all educational programming, curriculum development, and pathway programs for AltaMed, including undergraduate, graduate, and continuing medical education for over 600 AltaMed providers, as well as over 800 nurses.
Dr. Angulo also serves as a member of the Executive Physician Leadership team and as a faculty member in AltaMed’s Family Medicine Residency Program — from which nine out of 12 residents have stayed to pursue careers with AltaMed.
In addition to training the next generation, the AltaMed Institute for Health Equity contains a significant research arm.
“We can impact less than 20% of a person’s health in clinic, whereas the 80% of daily life, the factors we now call social determinants of health, this is where the Institute truly shines,” Dr Liu said. “No one can train individuals to serve our communities better than us, and no one understands the needs and is able to study the unique issues better than us.”
“To do this work in an FQHC — to be able to build a family medicine residency, a community medicine, a sports medicine, and a nurse practitioner fellowship, along with dozens of other pathway programs all designed to train and retain our own — that is unheard of.”
Dr. Marco Angulo, Medical Director
Medical Education, AltaMed
NMF’s PCLP, established in 2012, has partnered with AltaMed from its inception, offering service-learning opportunities in primary care to diverse medical students committed to the health and well-being of underrepresented communities.
In 2018, Dr. Liu and Dr. Angulo expanded NMF’s PCLP from a typical shadowing and research experience for three students to an immersive six-week curriculum for 14 students.
“If you are going to invest time with us, we’re going to invest in you,” Dr. Liu said. “We want to give them the meaningful experiences both professionally and personally that we all wished we had.”
“These students are rising second years in medical school, where legacy and culture apply to more than half their peers,” Dr. Angulo said. “While first-generation students like me are still adapting and wondering what they got themselves into, we’re here to show them they not only belong but also there is no one better to care for patients from underserved communities than those from those communities.”
NMF’s PCLP operates via tiered mentorship at AltaMed, with PCLP Scholars learning from physicians and leaders who look like they do. In turn, mentor pre-medical students from similar backgrounds. The Scholars learn about FQHCs and community health from national leaders in health equity, conduct scholarly research projects, and participate in on-site and simulated clinical training.
“We not only give them the keys to our FQHC, but also we expect they will mentor our undergraduates,”
Dr. Marco Angulo, Medical Director
Medical Education, AltaMed
Anabel Arroyo, AltaMed’s senior director of workforce development, meets with each PCLP Scholar and has successfully supported the placement of over half of them into primary care.
Dr. Liu and Dr. Angulo said they are set on making that proportion 100%.
“I am proud to have only trained and practiced in an FQHC,” Dr. Angulo said. “Seeing and experiencing a FQHC firsthand is what sparks that fire of having a career in one.”
“And PCLP has been instrumental in identifying those students who we can provide this life-changing experience for — for them, for us, and for our patients.”
Roger Liu, Ph.D., Director of Medical Education,
Institute for Health Equity, AltaMed
Past PCLP Scholars Share their Thoughts about the Program
Dr. Armando Navarro, Jr., 2019 NMF/AltaMed PCLP Scholar
Dr. Navarro is a first-generation Latinx physician with demonstrated commitment in community medicine and global health, including founding a free clinic for migrant farmworkers in an unincorporated part of Coachella Valley.
Born and raised in South Gate, California, to an immigrant Mexican family, Dr. Navarro is now chief resident at University of California-San Francisco’s Department of Family and Community Medicine.
“AltaMed provides health care for the people, by the people, by actively recruiting members of our communities to do this work,” Dr. Navarro said. “And its connection with NMF’s PCLP gave me so many opportunities and knowledge that I want to continue growing as an educator that trains the next generation of minority physicians.”
Dr. Alejandra Rodriguez, 2020 NMF/AltaMed PCLP Scholar
Dr. Rodriguez, a first-generation Latinx physician from Long Beach, California, with demonstrated commitment in behavioral health, food insecurity, and community health, was born to an immigrant Mexican family.
Knowing how great the need is and how limited access and health care resources are for the underinsured, she is now a first-year resident at AltaMed Family Medicine’s South Gate Clinic.
“NMF’s PCLP connected me with AltaMed to be able to work in and with communities on every level to help in ways they are asking for,” Dr. Rodriguez said.
“Afterwards, I was really excited to come back to AltaMed and be provided with a safe space and support system in which to learn and grow as a leader in primary care.”