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.