Thanks for your interest in the Family Medicine Residency at Natividad!
Founded in 1975 and affiliated with UCSF, Natividad is one of the original eight family medicine residencies in California. To this day, it upholds its legacy of full-spectrum training to prepare graduates to meet the needs of underserved communities. We recruit amazing mission-driven residents who eagerly jump in to serve our patients and to take advantage of the full array of clinical experiences at our single-residency institution, where faculty across specialties believe in training family physicians to provide comprehensive care from the hospital to the community.
Natividad is Monterey County’s public safety-net hospital, serving the city of Salinas and the rural communities of the Salinas Valley, including many agricultural workers from rural Mexico and other immigrant communities. Our rigorous community medicine curriculum prepares our residents to recognize and address the social determinants of health affecting our patients and supports partnerships with community organizations and health educators (promotores) to improve the health of our communities. Teaching is central to Natividad’s culture; residents teach medical students on all major rotations and receive training in teaching and leadership to support their development.
Our residents care deeply for their patients and for each other. They form a supportive group who enjoy socializing and celebrating together, take advantage of the amazing opportunities in Monterey County, and support each other throughout residency. As program director, I am committed to fostering an environment where resident input is valued, and residents engage in leadership roles to continuously improve our program and curriculum. Ask the residents how we’re doing!
Our graduates are prepared to practice in any setting- you’ll find them providing outpatient family medicine, pregnancy and delivery care, inpatient medicine, rural and global medicine around the US and the world. More than 60 alumni currently practice in Monterey County, from rural practices to urban community health centers.
If you seek excellent full-spectrum training, are committed to caring for underserved communities and want to live and work in a beautiful area, we invite you to learn more about Natividad.
– Melissa Nothnagle, MD, MSc
A nationally recognized leader in family medicine education, Dr. Melissa Nothnagle has directed residency programs for more than 14 years. Before joining Natividad in 2017, she served as program director at the Brown University Family Medicine Residency. The Association of Family Medicine Residency Directors designated her a Gold Level Program Director in 2021, and in 2022, the American Medical Women’s Association selected her as an Inspire Award winner for her academic and clinical work in reproductive justice. Dr. Nothnagle is the 2026 recipient of the Nikitas J. Zervanos Outstanding Program Director Award from the AFMRD and the American Academy of Family Physicians, the highest honor for a family medicine residency program director.
