Gulfport, Miss.-based Memorial Health System was granted initial accreditation through the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education to establish its graduate medical education program in internal medicine, according to a Sept. 20 news release.

The internal medicine program aims to build healthier communities by improving care for vulnerable populations. 

“A good physician will treat the disease, but the better physician will treat the whole patient who has the disease. The Memorial Health System internal medicine residency will train our future community physicians to look at the whole patient,” said internal medicine program director Wayne Latack, MD. 

The program answers a growing call to increase residency programs in states with poor health outcomes. Mississippi currently has 40 accredited programs and 759 residents. According to the  Association of American Medical Colleges State Physician Workforce Data Report, there is a physician shortage in Mississippi. The state ranks 49th among U.S. states, with 65.9 active primary care physicians per 100,000 people.