After years of planning, the Graduate Medical Education (GME) program at Memorial Healthcare System is well underway. The system now has five new accredited residency training programs, having recently added ACGME-accredited programs in Neurology and Psychiatry to its previous list of three residencies in Internal Medicine, Pediatrics and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. An application for General Surgery has also been submitted and the existing Podiatry residency has integrated into the larger GME program.
In addition to its success in accreditation, the GME program passed a milestone in March 2018 as it matched its first class of interns in the National Residency Matching Program (NRMP). Individual residency programs received an overwhelming number of applications from a diverse group of medical students looking to start their futures at Memorial. The programs of Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation participated in the interview season and received a total of 4,200, 1,000 and 500 applications, respectively. Over the 12-month period of March 2017 to March 2018, the GME website received more than 80,000 hits showing widespread interest in all residencies at Memorial. A strong health system with Leapfrog A+ hospitals, dedicated teaching faculty, skilled residency leadership and a well-planned curriculum helped ensure that every available spot was successfully filled with top applicants from reputable medical schools.
“Training the physicians of tomorrow is Memorial’s newest opportunity to make a lasting impact on the future of healthcare. Our GME program transitions Memorial to an academic medical center that brings clinical expertise, leading-edge technologies, research and high marks in safety and quality to patients and families,” said Stanley Marks, MD, FACS, Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer.
Currently affiliated with the medical schools at Florida International University, Florida Atlantic University and Nova Southeastern University, the program continues to expand. The five-year strategy is to enroll a total of 218 residents, which will make the Memorial GME program one of the largest community-based residency programs in the state.
