Memorial Health System has attained initial accreditation through the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) to establish its Graduate Medical Education (GME) Program in Internal Medicine. This program will be available in addition to the Memorial GME Family Medicine Program, which was established last year.

GME begins after students graduate from medical school with a Doctor of Medicine (MD) or Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO). Residents then match into existing residency programs around the United States. Successfully completing the residency training leads to the physician sitting for their specialty’s board exam to become board-certified and an independently practicing physician with a full medical license.

The mission of the Memorial Health System Internal Medicine program is to build healthier communities by improving care for the region’s most vulnerable populations. The residency will accomplish this goal through training and graduating well-balanced, compassionate physicians who are willing and dedicated to practicing the highest level of medicine.

There is a significant economic impact to sponsoring a residency program, including job creation, stronger hospitals and research. Memorial will have a direct impact on residency education and training especially, as this program answers a growing call to increase residency programs in states with poor health outcomes, such as Mississippi, which currently has 40 accredited programs and 759 residents. According to the 2019 State Physician Workforce Data Report, there is a physician shortage in Mississippi. The state ranks 49^th for having 65.9 active primary care physicians per 100,000 people.

Memorial Health System has been the premier medical center for the Mississippi Gulf Coast for more than 75 years, with over 300 physicians on its medical staff. Specialty providers offer comprehensive, progressive services and care to a thriving community. Memorial was named the best regional hospital in Coastal Region for 2022-23 in the annual ranking of hospitals by U.S. News & World Report.

Applications for the program will be available through ERAS, and Memorial Hospital will begin interviewing candidates in the coming weeks. Residents will begin rotations on July 1, 2023. For more information, visit www.gme.wearememorial.com.

Memorial Hospital welcomes ten new family medical residency students.

During today’s meet and greet, residents met staff and were welcomed on behalf of the hospital. The residents will be working in Memorial clinics and hospitals for the next three years.

As physicians, the residency transitions them to become independent doctors.

They will be supervised and trained to give the best care to Gulf Coast patients. Memorial Hospital DIO Dr. Gretchen Holmes said, “We wanted to give the hospital an opportunity to meet them and say hi before they get started and we put them to work. I’m sure they’re very nervous. This is nerve-wrecking. Before they were here, they were medical students and then they graduated and now they’re physicians. So, now there’s a lot more responsibility and they have a lot to learn.”

Residents will also learn the ins and outs of operating within a health system.

As we begin to close out the very first year of our Graduate Medical Education Program, we are excited to announce our second round of GME residents that we announced on Match Day, a tradition of GME programs across the country:

• Omar Arshad
• Sheetal Chopra
• Dylan Cooper
• Jonathan Hamilton
• Pirooz Hassanzadeh
• Benson Lukose
• Elizabeth Muriuki
• Aneri Patel
• Eugide Othepa
• Travis Webster

Memorial Hospital at Gulfport welcomes a host of new medical school grads to train in its residency program as it enters its second year after accreditation.

As the first-years will help guide the newcomers, the two groups got together over zoom this afternoon to get to know each other.

Each group has about ten new physicians and the program is the only one of its kind on the Gulf Coast.

Program Director Jimmy Dimitriades says the Gulf Coast has a great need for more doctors as our seaside community grows and more lifelong residents age. “At one point we’ll have 30 family medicine residents with 10 graduating each year. A good number of those will stay in the area. You know, when people learn to love a community, they tend to stay pretty close — and some will spread their wings and go to other areas. And so, there’s always an increasing need for primary care.”

These residents will fill gaps in Coast healthcare in some of our underserved areas.

Memorial Health System’s graduate Medical Education Department started their residency program last year to provide a strong foundation through a dynamic and safe learning environment for medical students. Designated Institutional Official Dr. Gretchen Holmes tells us how they put their mission into action.

Dr. Shazzanne Pennant from Memorial Hospital joins us now with the latest on COVID-19 in South Mississippi.