Valley Children’s Healthcare has announced plans to create a graduate medical education program in partnership with the Stanford University School of Medicine.
Named the “Valley Children’s Pediatric Residency Program, Affiliated with Stanford University School of Medicine,” the program will be based at Valley Children’s Hospital. Medical residents will have rotations at both the Palo Alto and Madera County campuses.

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“Valley Children’s is taking the lead in training the next generation of pediatricians and pediatric surgical and medical specialists,” said Dr. David Christensen, Valley Children’s chief medical officer. “With Stanford as our academic partner, we’ll prepare doctors to continue providing the highest quality medical care for children.”
A fellowship program will also be sponsored by the school, allowing doctors to train in pediatric subspecialties like pediatric surgery, gastroenterology and emergency medicine.
The pediatric residency and fellowship programs will both partner with local hospitals and medical groups including Kaiser Permanente, Saint Agnes Medical Center and Dignity Health.
“These relationships are key to the success of our program. One of our goals is to attract pediatricians and sub specialists to our area and keep them here,” said Todd Suntrapak, president and CEO at Valley Children’s. “One of the best ways we can do this is by exposing our residents and fellows to the diverse practice opportunities that exist in the Central Valley.”
Valley Children’s previously offered a pediatric residency program through a partnership with UCSF Fresno, but announced in January that it was interested in sponsoring its own. At the time, the children’s hospital said it was interested in either taking over the existing UCSF Fresno program or creating its own.
Dr. Jolie Limon, chief of pediatrics at Valley Children’s, will lead the new program. Limon joined the organization as a pediatric hospitalist in 2000 and has a teaching focus on resident leadership and inter-professional education.
The hospital will continue to serve as a teaching site for more than 190 residents and medical students in a dozen programs, including ones based at Kaweah Delta Health Care District in Visalia, Mercy Medical Center in Merced and Clinica Sierra Vista in Fresno.