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91���� Approved for Surgery, Emergency Medicine Residencies

91����’s Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine has received initial accreditation for residency programs in general surgery and emergency medicine, in collaboration with its member teaching hospitals.

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91����’s Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine has received initial accreditation from the national Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) for University-sponsored residency programs in general surgery and emergency medicine, in collaboration with its member teaching hospitals in the 91���� College of Medicine Graduate Medical Education (GME) Consortium. 

The six-year general surgery training program is based at Boca Raton Regional Hospital, the primary site for the program, as well as Bethesda Hospital East, and Tenet HealthCare System’s Delray Medical Center, St. Mary’s Medical Center and West Boca Medical Center. The three-year emergency medicine training program is based at Bethesda Hospital East, the primary site for the program, as well as St. Mary’s Medical Center and Delray Medical Center. All five hospitals are member teaching hospitals in the 91���� College of Medicine GME Consortium.

91����’s general surgery program has been approved for a total of 45 clinical positions and up to seven positions for a unique value-added year of scholarship and research, making this program one of the largest in the nation. 91����’s College of Medicine also has formed a new Department of Surgery that includes more than 240 affiliated, full-time and part-time faculty. It will serve as the academic home for undergraduate and graduate medical education in surgery, and aims to build state-of-the-art research programs that will contribute to the regional and national reputation of 91���� and its College of Medicine.

Surgical specialties within the department include general surgery and its various established subspecialties, as well as orthopedics, neurosurgery, urology, ophthalmology, and otolaryngology/head and neck surgery, among others.

91����’s emergency medicine residency program has been approved for a total of 18 positions, with the first class of six residents matching in 2017. Resident rotations in the program will include emergency medicine, trauma, medical ICU, surgical ICU, pediatric ICU, and anesthesia.  

“Together with our outstanding hospital partners in the GME Consortium we are fulfilling our commitment to ensure that we continue to have a strong physician workforce and an enhanced health care delivery system in this region,” said , interim dean and professor of 91����’s College of Medicine. “We are proud of our medical school’s residency program leadership team and our hospital partners for this landmark accomplishment for our community.”

New research on the looming physician shortage was recently released by the (AAMC) and reveals that within the next decade, the United States will face a shortage of physicians ranging between 61,700 and 94,700, with a significant shortage showing among many surgical specialties.

“Our new program will provide an outstanding surgical education and experience for residents and will enable them to work alongside top surgeons in this region on a variety of emergent and elective cases ranging from colorectal to cancer to minimally invasive, trauma and vascular surgeries,” said , inaugural chair of 91����’s Department of Surgery and inaugural program director for 91����’s residency program in general surgery, who was instrumental in establishing the new department and residency program at 91����. “The program and 91����’s graduate medical education efforts will help to elevate the level of care for all patients.”

At this time, the surgery program resident selection committee has already reviewed more than 100 residency candidate applications and has interviewed more than 40 highly qualified candidates. Fifteen of the top candidates will be selected to fill the initial residency positions which will begin on July 1. 

According to the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP), emergency care physicians care for nearly 130 million patients each year, and emergency visit rates have increased at twice the rate of growth of the U.S. population from 1997 to 2007.

“We are committed to building a premier academic emergency medicine program in southern Florida,” said , a professor of clinical biomedical science in 91����’s College of Medicine and inaugural program director of 91����’s emergency medicine residency program. “Our program  will focus not only on producing excellent emergency medicine clinicians, but also on producing academic leaders in this field.”

In fall 2011, the 91���� College of Medicine GME Consortium was formed in partnership with 91����’s Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine, Boca Raton Regional Hospital, Bethesda Hospital East, and Tenet HealthCare system’s Delray Medical Center, St. Mary’s Medical Center and West Boca Medical Center to establish residency programs in specialties that would serve their communities.

“The addition of our newest residency programs is an important milestone for our University, our hospital partners, and especially for the patients who will benefit from these programs,” said , senior associate dean for graduate medical education and academic affairs, and designated institutional officer. “Increasing residency positions is critical to ensuring that we attract and retain physicians in Florida to address our growing and aging population needs in the state. With these new programs and other GME efforts, 91���� is going to be a key contributor to the effort of securing the availability of high quality physicians in Florida for the future.”

91����’s first University-sponsored residency in internal medicine commenced with the first class of 36 residents in July 2014, and will bring a total of 96 physicians to 91����. Additional residencies in various specialties will follow as community needs suggest.

Hospital members of the 91���� College of Medicine GME Consortium are Bethesda Hospital East (Roger Kirk, president and CEO and Albert Biehl, M.D., vice president of medical affairs); Boca Raton Regional Hospital (Jerry Fedele, president and CEO and Charles Posternack, M.D., chief medical officer); Delray Medical Center (Mark Bryan, CEO and Anthony Dardano, M.D., vice president of academic affairs); St. Mary’s Medical Center (Gabrielle Finley-Hazle, CEO and Jeffrey Davis, D.O., administrative director of graduate medical education) and West Boca Medical Center (Mitch Feldman, CEO and Jack Harari, M.D., chief medical officer).

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