It's hard to imagine running out of doctors to care for you and your family. In Georgia, and across the nation though, that is the reality. Northeast Georgia Medical Center (NGMC) continues to answer the call to address the physician shortage every spring when new residents are announced on National Match Day.
On Friday, NGMC faculty and staff learned who their newest class of 20 Internal Medicine and six General Surgery residents are, along with the first class of 12 Family Medicine residents - Family Medicine being a specialty that is in high need across our state and region. This talented and bright group will begin practicing with the health system on July 1, joining the 26 Internal Medicine and General Surgery residents already working in the hospital and area clinics. NGMC welcomes:
In the months leading up to Match Day, medical students participating in the National Resident Matching Program apply to residency programs and interview at hospitals across the nation. After those interviews, residency programs rank the students - and students rank the programs. Both rank lists are plugged into a national database which crunches the numbers to determine which of the students match with NGMC. Those results are released on Match Day.
"I'm beyond thrilled to welcome this group of rock stars to Gainesville," says Family Medicine Residency Program Director Monica Newton, DO, MPH. "As a life-long learner myself, we've worked hard to create a program that attracted residents who possess a growth mindset and a passion for excellence. These residents will help fulfill our vision for Family Medicine physicians to care for your entire family, covering the full scope of inpatient, outpatient, pediatrics and family-centered maternity care."
Resident physicians are licensed doctors training in a specialty. They train for three to 10 years after medical school, providing patient care and performing procedures under appropriate supervision. They can write orders and prescribe medication. Residents also have educational, testing and evaluation requirements. Their training is overseen by Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education.
"Studies by the Georgia Physician Workforce Commission have determined the specialties that are in greatest need, with Family Medicine at the top of the list. Adding 12 Family Medicine resident physicians to our system is a great way to bring immediate support and expand care to our community," says John E. Delzell, Jr., MD, MSPH, Vice President of Medical Education for Northeast Georgia Health System and Designated Institutional Official for NGMC. "Our residents will work with our faculty, hospital and clinic staff in numerous ways. We look forward to welcoming all our new resident physicians to the local community and introducing them to patients."
NGMC is working to expand to more than 200 residents across six specialties - internal medicine, family medicine, general surgery, OB/GYN, psychiatry, and emergency medicine - by 2023. That will make NGMC one of the largest graduate medical education programs in the state. The idea is to train the physician leaders of tomorrow right here in Hall County, so that they will stay to practice in this region and the state.
Research conducted by the University of Georgia's Carl Vinson Institute of Government found NGMC's residency programs will also have a tremendous impact on Hall County's economy - with a projected economic output of $66 million from 2019 to 2023, with an additional $18 million local economic impact for each year after. Similarly, the program will generate more than 90 incremental community jobs in 2019, rising to as many as 300 jobs by 2023.
Learn more about NGMC's residency programs at www.ngmcgme.org.