GME Summit

GME Leadership Summit

Building California’s GME Ecosystem - Together

Join Physicians for a Healthy California for a statewide convening of graduate medical education (GME) experts and stakeholders to tackle California’s most urgent physician workforce challenges. This interactive summit will spark collaboration, share real-world solutions, and launch a new effort to strengthen GME across the state.

What to Expect at the Summit

On Tuesday, July 21, PHC's virtual GME Leadership Summit — Building California’s GME Ecosystem — Together — will bring together CalMedForce and CalMedForce+ awardees alongside GME leaders from across California. This focused, statewide convening is designed to connect stakeholders across the physician training continuum and create space for meaningful dialogue and collaboration.

Through a mix of discussion and peer exchange, participants will explore practical solutions to the most pressing challenges facing GME today—from long-term funding sustainability to persistent workforce shortages and the ongoing need to recruit and retain physicians in rural and underserved communities. The summit is designed not just to share ideas, but to surface strategies that can be implemented and scaled.

This event also marks the launch of a broader statewide GME Learning Collaborative. Attendees will play an active role in shaping this effort—helping to define priorities, strengthening partnerships, and building a more coordinated approach to supporting California’s physician workforce for the long term.

Register Today

Tenative Agenda

9 a.m.

Welcome and Visioning of Statewide Medical Education Pathways

  • Lupe Alonzo-Diaz, President and CEO, Physicians for a Healthy California
9:10 a.m.

State of GME

  • Landscape of GME in California — Janet Coffman, PhD, MPP, MA, Institute for Health Policy Studies, UCSF
  • State Funding Opportunities — Hovik Khosrovian, Senior Advisor, Workforce, HCAI
  • National Focus on Accountability — Diane Rittenhouse, MD, MPH, Senior Fellow, Mathematica
9:50 a.m.

Break and Interactive Survey Regarding Program Needs

10 a.m.

Stories from the State

  • Healthy Rural California: Innovative Solutions to a Rural Community’s Needs — Emmie Johnson, CEO
  • Adventist Health GME Strategy — Raul Ayala, MD
10:40 a.m.

Break and Breakout Room for Learning Collaborative Focus Groups

10:50 a.m.

The Future of GME

  • Innovative and Proven Strategies for Serving California’s Health Care Needs —
    • Deena Shin McRae, MD, Associate Vice President, Academic Health Sciences, University of California Office of the President, Clinical Professor, Psychiatry, UC Irvine School of Medicine
    • Melody Le Tran-Reina, MD, Executive Director, Community Health Scholars Program, UC Davis
  • State Efforts to Inspire Future Physicians: Medi-Cal GME —
    • Hector Flores, MD, Founding Member and Co-Director, White Memorial Medical Center Family Medicine Residency Program
11:30 a.m.

Funding Opportunities

  • CalMedForce, CalMedForce+ application updates
11:55 a.m.

Closing Thoughts and Invitation to Learning Collaborative Planning Committee

  • DATE: Tuesday, July 21, 2026
  • TIME: 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
  • REGISTER: Click Here

For More Information

To discuss sponsorship opportunities or to be added to our email distribution list, please email GMEStartups@phcdocs.org or call (916) 551-2899.