Doctors Without Walls is excited to welcome a group of Cottage Health residents into our community clinics through our developing partnership program. Doctors Without Walls and Cottage Health have had an overlapping patient community for a long time now, and this program will work to strengthen primary care for our patients and provide residents with meaningful hands-on primary care experience. 

The program took shape after Dr. Lynn Fitzgibbons (Program Director, Cottage Hospital Internal Medicine Residency) and Dr. Priti Gagneja (Medical Director, Doctors Without Walls) reconnected over their shared commitment to serving the Santa Barbara community. The two physicians completed their residencies together at Cottage more than twenty years ago and, at different points in their careers, each volunteered with Doctors Without Walls.

Resident physicians already care for much of this same population, though primarily in the acute hospital setting. Fitzgibbons and Gagneja envisioned a model that would formally integrate residents into the outpatient care system—allowing them to participate directly in street‑medicine outreach and continuity‑focused community care. Several residents were already volunteering with DWW and providing meaningful support, making it clear that the time was right to formalize and expand their involvement.

Cottage Health residents will be given opportunities to work alongside DWW physicians at our usual outreach clinics. Second and third year residents will bring additional clinical support and knowledge to our patients, while attending physicians will have the opportunity to teach and mentor these residents in a community setting. This program offers the unique opportunity for residents to get involved in street medicine, and learn the value of meeting patients where they are, and to better understand the circumstances that may shape health beyond a hospital setting.

At its heart, this program is about building a stronger connection between medical education and community care. By bringing residents into the DWW community, we hope to provide our patients with greater continuity and support while helping train physicians who understand the importance of compassionate, community-centered primary care.

BY Alyssa Bindra, DWW Communications Volunteer