HCA Healthcare Archives | �鶹ԭ�� News

�鶹ԭ�� Addressing Need for Primary Care Physicians

Wendy Sarubbi — Thu, 11 Dec 2025 14:44:30 +0000

Florida desperately needs more primary care doctors and �鶹ԭ��’s College of Medicine, armed with a $2.6 million federal grant, is doing its part to create those physicians.

The college’s new Primary Care Scholarship Program is providing about 100 medical students with financial aid and unique clinical experiences caring for a variety of patient groups — from Special Olympians to seniors — to expose them to the broad career opportunities in internal medicine, family medicine and pediatrics. The goal, say college leaders, is to encourage students to stay in state to become community physicians.

“Being a primary care physician is about being a part of someone’s life,” says Jeff LaRochelle, associate dean for academic affairs and an internal medicine specialist by training. “We have students at �鶹ԭ�� who grew up in communities that need outstanding, engaged physicians; places like Ocala, Pensacola, Kissimmee, Tallahassee, Gainesville. We are hoping that we can encourage them to stay here and provide needed care to the communities that raised them.”

The two-year grant was one of four given this year by the Health Resources and Services Administration to help address the nation’s primary care physician shortage. Medical school leaders hope �鶹ԭ��’s program can be used as a national model and be successful enough to become sustainable after the grant ends.

Florida’s Need for Physicians Is Great

Only 73% of Florida residents report having a personal physician. And the nationwide physician shortage hits Florida harder for several reasons.

First is the state’s fast-growing population, which is projected to grow by 6 million people in just the next five years. The Florida Department of Health reports a current 12% gap between the supply and demand for physicians, which is expected to more than double to 28% by 2035.

Florida ranks 45^th nationally in health access and affordability. Florida’s high percentage of residents over age 65 — 22% and expected to reach 26% by 2035 — require more healthcare services, further exacerbating access to care.

Florida also has more uninsured residents (11.2%) than the national average (8%), according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The physician shortage is also more pronounced in rural, remote and under-resourced urban communities.

�鶹ԭ��’s College of Medicine has graduated more than 500 new physicians in the last five years and 36% of those new graduates went into primary care specialties. However, almost 70% of those new doctors left Florida for their residency training.

Through a partnership with HCA Healthcare, �鶹ԭ�� has Florida’s fastest growing residency and fellowship programs.

�鶹ԭ��’s new program is designed to inspire graduates to stay in-state while encouraging more students to become primary care physicians. Through a partnership with HCA Healthcare, �鶹ԭ�� has Florida’s fastest growing residency and fellowship programs. LaRochelle hopes the new primary care program will better link �鶹ԭ��’s undergraduate and residency training.

“Our hope is to reach out to medical students and offer them a path to do their residency in their hometown and provide needed care to their community,” he says.

In addition, doctors who provide care for communities in need are also eligible for forgiveness for their medical school loans.

�鶹ԭ��’s new program is designed to inspire graduates to stay in-state while encouraging more students to become primary care physicians. Doctors who provide care for communities in need are eligible for forgiveness for their medical school loans. (Photo by Eric Eraso)

Students Say Program Opened Their Eyes, Hearts

First-year �鶹ԭ�� medical student Sarah Khan ’24 was raised in Kissimmee. She participated in the College of Medicine’s summer Health Leaders Camp, which inspired her to pursue medicine as a career. She worked at a pharmacy before entering medical school and earned her bachelor’s degree from �鶹ԭ�� in biomedical sciences. She is part of the Primary Care Scholarship Program.

“In the pharmacy, I saw the challenges my neighbors are facing,” she says. “This is the community that helped raise me. Doctors in this community mentored me. I want to stay here and help improve the health of the people around me.”

“Doctors in this community mentored me. I want to stay here and help improve the health of the people around me.” — Sarah Khan ’24, �鶹ԭ�� College of Medicine student

In its first months, the program provided multiple extra-curricular experiences for students. They visited and went on rounds with physicians providing primary care to residents at the university-supported retirement community. They did healthcare screenings for Special Olympians participating in a golfing event and were so popular they were invited back to the Special Olympics Florida State Fall Classic.

They did simulated training with residents from the �鶹ԭ��-HCA Internal Medicine residency at HCA Florida Ocala Hospital and learned how to react to multiple emergencies – from asthma attacks in the wilderness to broken limbs.

Primary care scholarship M.D. student Christian Sachs is a self-described “sports guy” who spent his youth playing soccer and later coached the sport. The Sarasota native said he came to med school thinking he might want a more “hands-on” specialty than primary care. Then he spent time during the program working with internal medicine doctors who are sports medicine specialists at AdventHealth-affiliated Rothman Orthopaedics.

He worked on the sidelines of a high school football game where primary care doctors serve as team physicians.

“I was able to see when medicine and sports come together,” he says. “When I was playing and coaching, we never had that level of care. If someone twisted an ankle, we had to look for someone to help us know how serious it was. It was incredible to see physicians working with the trainers to provide such a strong level of care for our high school athletes. Standing on the sidelines with them was one of the best experiences I’ve had in medical school.”

Magda Pasarica, professor of medicine at the medical school, is program director and primary investigator for the primary care program. She is an M.D./Ph.D. whose specialty is family medicine. She hopes the program can expose �鶹ԭ��’s physicians-in-training to all the options for their future, whether they decide to go into primary care or not.

“There are so many options in my specialty alone — sports medicine, geriatrics, research. Family medicine allows you to take care of generations,” she says. “It’s where you can impact the health of an entire family.”

�鶹ԭ��-HCA Florida Healthcare Residents Lead Research, Projects to Enhance Patient Care

Wendy Sarubbi — Fri, 23 May 2025 16:38:35 +0000

Resident physicians, pharmacists and allied health trainees who care for Central Floridians gathered this month at the College of Medicine to share their research on making that care even better.

The event was sponsored by the �鶹ԭ��-HCA Florida Healthcare Internal Medicine residency program, which provides care to patients at the Orlando VA Medical Center and HCA Florida Osceola Hospital. The residency is the inaugural program of the �鶹ԭ��-HCA Florida Health Graduate Medical Education Consortium, which will be training more than 720 residents and fellows across the state by this summer. Quality improvement (QI) and research are key components of that training as �鶹ԭ��, HCA and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs are committed to creating physicians who are passionate about improving the quality of patient care.

“Today is both a celebration and a recommitment — not just to data and outcomes, but to curiosity, persistence, teamwork and the humility to keep asking, ‘How can we do better?’ ” says Abdo Asmar, the College of Medicine faculty member leading the residency program.

The event included poster and oral presentations and plenary remarks on leadership from Robert McDonald, former VA secretary.

QI projects included solutions to a wide range of patient care issues, including foot and wound care for diabetics, better transitions from the hospital to home for those suffering from opioid overdoses and better ways to empower pharmacists to recognize possible negative drug interactions.

“Quality improvement is a priority because it delivers better care to our patients,” says Shamol Williams, an academic physician at the Orlando VA who organized the event.

Improving Care Through Better Processes

Danielle Pesavento, a podiatrist, focused her QI project on better ways to care for diabetic foot ulcerations – the leading cause of non-traumatic foot amputations.

Her study found that as patients returned to the VA over time, they saw different physicians who were documenting their wounds in different ways. Providers seeing a patent for the first time might not have sufficient data to determine if the wound was getting worse and required a new course of treatment.

Pesavento developed standards, trained nurses and worked with VA policies to create a system where photos are taken of the patient’s foot wounds at every visit that include a ruler for scale and other details. The photos also were shared with patients, so they could see their progress and become more dedicated to following treatment protocols.

“Our largest goal is to prevent limb loss,” she says. “Getting patients to wear diabetic shoes or insoles can sometimes be a challenge. But when patients see the pictures of their wound, they become more aware of their condition and are more compliant with recommendations.”

The QI forum began with the inaugural internal medicine program and has now expanded to interdisciplinary healthcare specialists. Faddel Chouman is a resident in the �鶹ԭ��-HCA psychiatry residency that cares for patients at the VA and HCA Florida Osceola Hospital and will become chief resident of the program this summer. Chouman says he chose psychiatry because the specialty gives him the opportunity to spend time and talk to patients, to get to know them as people.

Faddel Chouman, a �鶹ԭ��-HCA psychiatry resident, studied how teaching patients diaphragmatic breathing could reduce their anxiety.

His study looked at better ways to care for patients in acute stress and anxiety. He created a system that taught patients how to do diaphragmatic breathing, also known as belly breathing, which reduces blood pressure, slows heart rate and increases relaxation. Teaching the system in person and in Zoom sessions at the psychiatric ward allowed patients to reduce their anti-anxiety medications and help themselves in stressful situations, Chouman says.

“It is so impactful to be caring for veterans,” he says. “They often feel they don’t have anyone to talk to. When they can open up to someone it is powerful.”

Speakers at the forum reminded residents that it takes courage to identify areas where clinics and hospitals can improve their care and then take action to address those needs. Timothy Cooke, medical director and CEO of the Orlando VA, urged physicians to “run toward the gunfire, walk yourself toward the problem.”

Former VA Secretary Robert McDonald spoke to heathcare providers about the importance of being leaders in medicine.

McDonald, who also served as chairman, president and CEO of Proctor & Gamble, told the young healthcare providers they have a special role to play as medical leaders.

“Leadership is not a title,” he says. “It’s a responsibility. All of us, on any given day, the opportunity to affect the left of another person.”

�鶹ԭ��-HCA Launch New Transitional Year Residency in Pensacola

Wendy Sarubbi — Fri, 24 Jan 2025 19:15:27 +0000

�鶹ԭ��-HCA Healthcare have announced a new transitional year residency program at HCA Florida West Hospital in Pensacola and are seeking applications to begin training this July.

The transitional year program is a one-year training that provides newly graduated M.D.s with comprehensive clinical skills before they go on to more specialized training in areas such as ophthalmology, dermatology and physical medicine and rehabilitation.

With the new program, the �鶹ԭ��-HCA Graduate Medical Education Consortium now has 41 residencies and fellowships across Florida, making it one of the fastest-growing programs in the state. With locations in greater Orlando, Tallahassee, Gainesville, Pensacola, Sanford, Fort Walton Beach and Ocala, the consortium is training more than 650 physicians across the state.

The program will accept 12 residents annually. Applications must be submitted through ERAS (NRMP Program Code: 1587999P3). Qualified candidates will be invited for interviews, with the program participating in the match week Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program if needed.

The new program will create a robust learning environment at HCA Florida West Pensacola, as dermatology and physical medicine and rehabilitation residents can do their preliminary year in the same hospital system where they get their specialized training.

Transitional year residents will train in the hospital’s ICU, Emergency Department, Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, Surgery and OBGYN areas and have experiences in both inpatient and outpatient settings. Additionally, the program emphasizes healthcare advocacy and the promotion of preventive healthcare services. �鶹ԭ�� and HCA Healthcare leaders say the transition program also will create a coordinated, robust learning environment at HCA West Florida Pensacola, as its dermatology and physical medicine and rehabilitation residents can do their preliminary year in the same hospital system where they will get their specialized training.

Medical school graduates cannot practice independently until they receive residency training in their specialty of choice. Residency and fellowship programs are a key to addressing Florida’s physician shortage as a majority of doctors set up their practices where they do their graduate training.

“With the rising demand for skilled physicians across Florida and the nation, it is more important than ever to provide comprehensive training that supports the evolving needs of healthcare,” says Stephen Cico, the �鶹ԭ�� College of Medicine’s associate dean for graduate medical education and the program’s designated institutional official. “The transitional year is designed to prepare residents with a solid foundation in clinical medicine, empowering them to pursue advanced training and make meaningful contributions to the health and well-being of their communities.”

Jack Ricketts will lead the program. Ricketts is board certified in obstetrics and gynecology and is a fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American College of Surgeons and the American Association of Gynecologic Laparoscopists. He has extensive experience in graduate medical education and clinical research and serves as an assistant professor at the College of Medicine. He said he is delighted to bring more doctors to Florida’s Panhandle region and provide a dynamic learning environment that offers residents outstanding mentorship and exposure to varied clinical settings.

�鶹ԭ��-HCA Florida Healthcare Create First Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship

Wendy Sarubbi — Tue, 01 Oct 2024 14:00:40 +0000

The �鶹ԭ�� College of Medicine and HCA Florida Healthcare recently announced the partnership’s first Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship. The ACGME-accredited program will be located at HCA Florida Ocala Hospital and is seeking applicants for the first cohort to begin training in July 2025.

With the new program, the �鶹ԭ��-HCA Florida Healthcare Graduate Medical Education Consortium has 40 residency programs and fellowships across the state, making it one of the fastest growing in Florida.

“The addition of the cardiology graduate medical education program at HCA expands our partnership through the �鶹ԭ�� College of Medicine-HCA Florida Healthcare Graduate Medical Education Consortium and continues to support the next generation of physicians in a range of much-needed specialties,” says Alan Keesee, chief executive officer for HCA Florida Ocala Hospital. “The cardiologists of the future will be training right here in Marion County, learning at one of the nation’s top 50 cardiovascular hospitals. Through a broad range of clinical experience and academic support services such as research and curriculum development, we hope to inspire our residents’ passion to care for and improve human life.”

The need for cardiovascular specialists is growing, both in Florida and across the nation. Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death in the U.S., and with Florida’s aging population, the demand for expert cardiologists is critical. The new �鶹ԭ��-HCA Florida Healthcare Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship aims to address this need by preparing fellows to serve their local communities after graduation.

“We are excited for this fellowship that will train doctors in the critical area of cardiovascular disease as we help address the state’s healthcare needs,” says Stephen Cico, the College of Medicine’s associate dean for graduate medical education and the program’s designated institutional official.

The Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship is a three-year program designed to train physicians in the prevention, diagnosis and management of cardiovascular disorders. The program will accept three fellows per year for a total of nine accredited positions. Applicants must have completed a residency in internal medicine prior to starting the fellowship. Applications must be submitted through ERAS (the NRMP program code is 1587141F0).

Rakesh Prashad will lead the program at HCA Florida Ocala Hospital. He is a professor at the �鶹ԭ�� College of Medicine and is board certified in cardiology, interventional cardiology, endovascular medicine, nuclear cardiology and internal medicine. Prashad is also actively engaged clinical research.

“We are committed to training the next generation of cardiologists who will lead the charge in improving cardiovascular health,” Prashad says. “Our team of board-certified faculty, state-of-the-art facilities and a [complex] patient population will ensure a comprehensive and rewarding educational experience for all fellows.”

Sanford Is Home to Inaugural �鶹ԭ��-HCA Healthcare Residency

Wendy Sarubbi — Mon, 08 Jul 2024 14:27:41 +0000

Last week, two young physicians began their internal medicine residency training at HCA Florida Lake Monroe Hospital in Sanford, Florida, — another first for the �鶹ԭ��-HCA Healthcare Graduate Medical Education (GME) Consortium, which is one of the fastest-growing in Florida.

Shaheera Nadeem and Sameh Madanieh and hospital leaders said they are inspired being part of a new �鶹ԭ�� residency that is committed to innovation, education and providing patient-centered care to the community.

“HCA Florida Lake Monroe Hospital is honored and excited to partner with the �鶹ԭ�� College of Medicine as a nationally recognized leader in medical education,” says John Gerhold, the hospital’s chief executive officer. “This program is important for our community to ensure there is pipeline of future physicians to serve the needs of our Central Florida community.”

With a new cohort of physicians who began their GME training on July 1, the �鶹ԭ��-HCA Healthcare partnership now has more than 620 residents and fellows training across Florida. The new residency at HCA Florida Lake Monroe Hospital is the second GME hospital partner in Central Florida. The other is at HCA Florida Osceola Hospital in partnership with the Orlando VA Medical Center in Lake Nona. This summer, the consortium also began its first Internal Medicine residency at HCA Florida Fort Walton-Destin Hospital in the Panhandle.

“I am proud of our continued efforts to start new GME training programs throughout Central and Northern Florida,” says Stephen Cico, �鶹ԭ��’s associate dean for graduate medical education and the consortium’s designated institutional officer. “Primary care residency programs, such as the internal medicine residency at HCA Lake Monroe, will increase access to care for residents of the region, as well as improve care.”

Physicians cannot practice medicine immediately after graduating from medical school. They must complete graduate medical education training for three to seven years depending on their specialty. Residency and fellowship programs are a key to addressing Florida’s physician shortage as the majority of doctors begin their practices where they did their GME training. The �鶹ԭ��-HCA consortium now has 39 accredited programs across the state in needed specialties including primary care, psychiatry, surgery, gastroenterology, obstetrics and gynecology, emergency medicine, rheumatology, geriatrics and endocrinology.

Joshua Shultz is program director of the new internal medicine residency in Sanford, Florida. “I am excited to train the next generation of internal medicine physicians and ushering in a new era of healthcare at HCA Florida Lake Monroe Hospital,” he says. “Our vision is to encourage as many of these trainees as possible to remain within the community after completing their residency, addressing the future healthcare needs of Seminole and West Volusia counties.”

Nadeem says she chose internal medicine as a specialty because “it’s the frontline of healthcare.”

“As primary care physicians we are the first stop, the ones who untangle the complex web of symptoms,” Nadeem says. “It’s not about grand gestures, it’s about the quiet victories — empowering patients with knowledge, guiding them through health challenges and being a partner in their well-being. It’s a chance to make a real difference, one patient, one story at a time.”

Nadeem and Madanieh say they were inspired by Lake Monroe’s team approach to patient care and the opportunity to have so much one-on-one training with attending physicians. Both are excited to help build an innovative GME program from the ground up.

Madanieh says he felt the inaugural program’s excitement from his first interview at the hospital.

“I felt that energy from those young leaders, our faculty members,” he says. “At the end of the interview day, I just felt like, ‘I want to be there!’ I ranked �鶹ԭ��/ Lake Monroe Hospital first out of 19 on my list.”

�鶹ԭ��-HCA Programs Gain More Than 200 New Residents

Wendy Sarubbi — Mon, 18 Mar 2024 15:21:04 +0000

�鶹ԭ�� medical student Hunter Hampton is passionate about helping people function better in their daily lives — especially those suffering from cancer pain. He continues to help his younger sister with physical rehabilitation after a bone cancer diagnosis several years ago forced surgeons to rebuild her shoulder.

Friday, he learned he will continue on that healing path as he matched into a physical medicine and rehabilitation residency at HCA Florida West Hospital in Pensacola, one of the newest programs in the �鶹ԭ��-HCA Healthcare Graduate Medical Education (GME) Consortium.

He says he’s excited to continue his graduate medical education with �鶹ԭ�� and at a residency program he found innovative and passionate about education and patient care.

“I was so well trained at �鶹ԭ��,” he says. “And I want that stellar education to follow me in residency.”

Hampton is one of five �鶹ԭ�� seniors who will do their residency training at �鶹ԭ��-HCA programs. With residency and fellowship programs from Pensacola to Greater Orlando, the �鶹ԭ��-HCA consortium is one of the fastest growing GME programs in the state and will be training more than 620 physicians by this summer. Those programs added more than 200 residents to their ranks Friday, which is National Match Day 2024, where thousands of medical students across the country learned where they will spend the next three to five years of their training.

Residency programs are a key to solving Florida’s physician shortage.

“One of our goals is to retain our students in our residencies, since we know physicians who do medical school and residency in-state are much more likely to stay in Florida when they complete their training,” says Stephen Cico, the �鶹ԭ�� College of Medicine’s associate dean for graduate medical education and the �鶹ԭ��-HCA Graduate Medical Education Consortium’s designated institutional official.

A team from �鶹ԭ�� Lake Nona Hospital, including the hospital’s leader, Wendy Brandon (far right) set up a tent at Match Day to welcome �鶹ԭ�� students who had matched into �鶹ԭ��-HCA residencies.

Kelsey Manko is one of a record 16 students who matched into psychiatry as their specialty of choice. She will train in the �鶹ԭ��-HCA program based at HCA Florida Osceola Hospital and will also care for patients at the Orlando VA Medical Center and Nemours Children’s Health.

The �鶹ԭ�� future psychiatrists say they are eager to reduce the stigma associated with mental illness and understand how the pandemic impacted people’s mental health. The Class of 2024 was known as the COVID Class because students began their medical education at the height of the pandemic, spending their first year taking classes on Zoom.

“I love �鶹ԭ��,” she says. “They gave me a fantastic education and I am happy to be staying with a place that’s treated me well.”

Ross Taylor, chief medical officer for HCA’s Osceola facility, is excited to have �鶹ԭ�� medical students joining the hospital as residents.

“HCA Florida Healthcare is honored to partner with �鶹ԭ�� College of Medicine in providing graduate medical education programs in several specialties, and it is rewarding to have our residents return to begin their practice as physicians with us,” he says. “At HCA Florida Osceola Hospital, we are dedicated to ensuring our resident physicians are mentored, supported and respected during their time with us. Our goal is to keep these new doctors in Florida, and we are as excited as they are when they are matched to one of our hospitals.”

�鶹ԭ��-HCA Begin General Surgery Residency in Pensacola

Wendy Sarubbi — Tue, 19 Apr 2022 15:39:48 +0000

The residency, which recently received initial ACGME accreditation, is the third �鶹ԭ��-HCA graduate medical education program at the hospital — obstetrics/gynecology and physical medicine and rehabilitation began last year. With the latest addition, the �鶹ԭ��/HCA consortium has 33 accredited residency and fellowship programs across Florida, training almost 520 doctors to meet the state’s physician shortage.

General surgery is a five-year training program for training the residents in the art and science of surgery including how to diagnose, manage and operate on wide range of diseases. Residents will be trained in a number of fields including vascular, trauma, critical care, emergency surgery, colorectal, surgical oncology, burn and pediatric surgery. Residents will be able to perform open, laparoscopic and robotic surgery, as well as endoscopy. The �鶹ԭ��/HCA program will accept three residents per year for a total of 15 accredited positions.

All applicants must be graduates of LCME- or AOA-accredited medical schools. Applicants from medical schools outside the U.S. and Canada will also be considered. All the applicants must have taken and passed USMLE Step I and II or COMLEX Step 1 and 2 by July 1, 2022 to qualify for this position. Qualified applicants will be selected for virtual interviews this year. The program also plans to participate in the NRMP and ERAS applications for 2023.

Sanda Tan, FACS, FASCRS will direct the program. Tan has over a decade of experience in graduate medical education and teaching medical students and residents. She served on the faculty of the University of Florida before joining HCA in June 2021. Tan received her M.D. and completed her general surgery residency at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta and completed her colon and rectal surgery fellowship at the Brown University in Providence, RI.

“This residency is an opportunity to train the next generation of surgeons who will want to continue providing care in the Panhandle area of Florida,” she says. “The population in this community continues to grow and our surgical residents will provide care so that the people living in this beautiful area of the country do not have to drive long distances to obtain the healthcare they need and deserve. “With our exceptional team of existing surgeons, medical teams and support staff, we are committed to providing a comprehensive and rewarding educational experience for our trainees.”

The new program also will provide an additional opportunity for medical school graduates in Florida and across the nation. General Surgery is one of the more competitive specialties with 3,071 applicants competing for 1,622 positions available nationally in 2021.

“We are delighted to partner with HCA Florida West Hospital and serve the Pensacola community,” says Deborah German, vice president for Health Affairs and the founding dean of the �鶹ԭ�� College of Medicine. “Our mission at the �鶹ԭ�� College of Medicine includes improving healthcare for all. Residency programs are an important part of that effort. Physicians often remain in the community where they had their residency training and our programs will allow Pensacola to have a supply of outstanding, compassionate young physicians, now and into the future.”

National studies show that the majority of physicians begin their practices in the location where they did residency training. �鶹ԭ��/HCA Healthcare GME is excited to train future surgeons in the Panhandle of Florida, who will also serve residents of southern Alabama and Georgia.

�鶹ԭ��-HCA Begin First Tallahassee-based Residencies in Dermatology, Psychiatry

Wendy Sarubbi — Thu, 17 Feb 2022 21:23:03 +0000

�鶹ԭ��’s College of Medicine and HCA Healthcare are starting their first residencies at Capital Regional Medical Center in Tallahassee — in dermatology and psychiatry, two specialties where the state has a tremendous need for more physicians.

Both programs, which recently received initial Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) accreditation, are seeking applicants to begin training in July 2022 and 2023.

The psychiatry residency is the first and only program of its kind in the Big Bend region in northern Florida. This is �鶹ԭ��’s first dermatology residency and its third in psychiatry. The �鶹ԭ��-HCA graduate medical education consortium began in 2014 and now has 31 residency and fellowship programs across Florida, training more than 500 physicians to meet the state and nation’s physician shortage.

Here are details on the two residencies:

Dermatology

This three-year training program is for physicians specializing in the diagnosis, treatment and management of diseases affecting the skin, hair and nails, in addition to addressing associated cosmetic issues. The �鶹ԭ��/HCA program will accept two residents per year for a total of six accredited positions.

All applicants must complete a clinical internship (PGY-1) at an approved program before beginning their training in dermatology. Applications must be submitted through ERAS (the NRMP program codes are 1587080A0 and 1587080R0). Qualified applicants will be selected for interviews. The program also plans to participate in the Match Week Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program (SOAP) in March 2022.

Stephen K. Richardson will direct the program. Richardson has over a decade of experience in graduate medical education and teaching medical students, recently serving on the faculty of Florida State University’s dermatology residency program. Richardson graduated from Harvard Medical School and completed his residency and cutaneous oncology fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania.

“This residency is an opportunity to train the next generation of dermatologists,” he says. “With our exceptional team of clinical dermatologists, surgeons, pathologists and support staff, we are committed to providing a comprehensive and rewarding educational experience for all our trainees.”

Florida’s climate and its aging population add to its need for physician skin specialists. The state ranks second nationally for the highest rate of new cases of melanoma, the most serious and deadly form of skin cancer. Many Florida counties do not have a single practicing dermatologist and the number of licensed dermatologists in the state has grown by less than the average of all specialties.

“The core purpose of this program is to provide exceptional dermatologic training and delivery of care to communities that lack sufficient physician numbers to meet their skin care needs,” Richardson says.

The new program will also provide an additional graduate medical training option for Florida medical school graduates. Dermatology is one of the most competitive specialties for residency applicants — last year 734 applicants applied for 477 positions available nationally.

�鶹ԭ��’s College of Medicine is of the nation’s top ranked schools for students matching into dermatology residencies, according to a recent report in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology,��with �鶹ԭ�� graduates going to places like Mayo Clinic,��UC Irvine and Boston University medical centers. The study showed that schools with their own dermatology residencies had higher match rates. National studies also show that the majority of physicians begin their practices in the location where they did residency training, so program leaders hope many �鶹ԭ��-HCA dermatologists will stay in Florida.

For more information on the new residency, please contact Meg Beerse, the Program Coordinator at mbeerse@datfl.com.

Psychiatry

The �鶹ԭ��/HCA program will accept 6 residents per year for a total of 24 accredited positions.

Applications for this four-year residency must be submitted through ERAS (the NRMP program code is 1587400C2). Qualified applicants will be selected for interviews. The program also plans to participate in the Match Week SOAP program in March.

Florida also has a shortage of psychiatrists. A 2014 Florida workforce report showed that by 2025, psychiatry will be the physician specialty with the highest shortage – a deficit of about 2,000 psychiatrists statewide. With society’s growing recognition of mental health, psychiatry training programs have become much more competitive and attractive for medical school graduates. Within days of its 2018 of a first �鶹ԭ��-HCA psychiatry residency in greater Orlando, the consortium received 1,700 applications for six available positions.

Jeffrey Ferraro is the program director for the new psychiatric residency. He is currently medical director of Psychiatric Services at Capital Regional Medical Center, an assistant clinical professor with the Florida State University College of Medicine and assistant professor at the �鶹ԭ�� College of Medicine. He received his medical degree at Albany Medical College and was chief psychiatry resident at the University of Florida. He also served as medical director at the Tallahassee Memorial Hospital Behavior Health Center.

“We are excited to welcome the first class of psychiatry residents to Tallahassee and look forward to the opportunity to be part of educating the next generation of medicine,” Ferraro says.

For more information on the psychiatry residency, please contact Mandy Clements, the Program Coordinator at amanda.clements@hcahealthcare.com.

�鶹ԭ��-HCA Announce new Emergency Medical Services Fellowship — Only 1 of 4 in Florida

WENDY SARUBBI — Mon, 07 Feb 2022 15:33:25 +0000

�鶹ԭ�� and HCA Healthcare are starting their first Emergency Medical Services fellowship program and are seeking applicants to begin training in July 2022. The fellowship, which recently received initial ACGME accreditation, is only the fourth accredited EMS fellowship in Florida.

A subspecialty of emergency medicine, EMS fellowships train physicians for medical oversight of pre- and out-of-hospital emergency care systems — offering them opportunities to serve as a liaison between the hospital and the community.

“One of the most exciting things about this collaboration is that not only will the fellow have amazing teaching and mentorship in prehospital medicine, but it will also cultivate clinically competent, administratively sound, and compassionate EMS physicians who will be exceptional leaders within their community,” says Ayanna Walker, who will lead the fellowship program.

In addition to her role as faculty in the �鶹ԭ�� College of Medicine and �鶹ԭ��/HCA’s Emergency Medicine Residency Program of Greater Orlando, Walker serves as EMS medical director for Osceola County, St. Cloud and the City of Kissimmee Fire Departments and was the assistant medical director of Orange County EMS.

The fellowship, based at Osceola Regional Medical Center, is the 29^th �鶹ԭ��/HCA graduate medical education training program that is training almost 600 residents and fellows a year across Florida.

The new program will accept two fellows per year. All applicants must be graduates of an ACGME accredited Emergency Medicine residency.

Interested applicants should submit a CV and letter of interest to Walker at Ayanna.baker@gmail.com

�鶹ԭ�� and HCA Programs Celebrate Graduating Residents

Christin Senior — Wed, 24 Jun 2020 20:29:46 +0000

The taskforce of healthcare workers battling COVID-19 got a much-needed boost with the addition of 137 newly trained physicians who are ready to enter practice. Residents and fellows from the �鶹ԭ��-HCA Healthcare graduate medical education (GME) partnership graduated recently and are joining hospitals across Florida and the nation, entering private practice or advancing to additional training.

The graduates included 47 internal medicine physicians, 22 who trained in emergency medicine, three in obstetrics/gynecology, and 11 in family medicine. This year also saw the first four graduates in a new general surgery program, two from a new rheumatology fellowship, one in a new psychiatry program, and two each from endocrinology and surgical critical-care fellowships.

Abdo Asmar, �鶹ԭ�� College of Medicine’s vice chair of the GME program, said that despite the pandemic, the program was still able to recognize graduates ith a ceremonies held for each region where residents were trained — Ocala, Gainesville and Orlando — and maintained social distancing guidelines with very limited guests.

The majority of residents graduated from �鶹ԭ��’s inaugural GME program – internal medicine in Orlando. That ceremony featured residents led by Asmar in a decorated with black-and-gold balloons and streamers driving around the Rosen Shingle Creek resort. All ceremonies were streamed live so families could participate.

“There were hundreds of people from all over the U.S. and other countries watching to see their loved ones graduate,” Asmar says. “So even though COVID-19 might have made us do things differently, I don’t think it was less impactful than what we have done in the past. I am still satisfied that we were able to send these graduates out with a bang.”

Doctors don’t practice straight out of medical school and must complete residencies for three to seven years depending on their specialty of choice. Following residency training, some enter fellowships to develop more specialized expertise.

Forty-three physicians-in-training graduated from �鶹ԭ��-HCA transitional or preliminary year programs that are required for specialties such as ophthalmology, dermatology and radiology before young physicians enter more specialized training.

Forty-three physicians-in-training graduated from �鶹ԭ��-HCA transitional or preliminary year programs that are required for specialties such as ophthalmology, dermatology and radiology before young physicians enter more specialized training.

Abdelrahman Attili was one of the first graduates of the general surgery residency program at the Ocala Regional Medical Center. He will go on to do a hepatobiliary (liver and pancreas) surgery fellowship at the Miami Cancer Institute.

“I had a great experience at �鶹ԭ��-HCA program,” Attili said. “The staff and faculty were really supportive and the education program was really good. We were able to do a lot of cases that augmented my operative experience here. �鶹ԭ�� was also really supportive for research and educational conferences.”

Ambreesh Chawla, one of the first graduates of the rheumatology fellowship program at the Orlando VA Medical Center will enter private practice in Tampa. Chawla said he was thrilled to have such a memorable graduation ceremony at the Rosen center in spite of the pandemic’s limitations and said more than ever he is looking forward to serving.

“This is an extremely vital time for all physicians,” he says. “We innately enter this field to serve humanity and help save and improve the quality of lives of our patients. I think it’s a privilege to have the opportunity to serve such crucial role in such unprecedented times”

�鶹ԭ�� and its partners created the residency and fellowship programs to help alleviate Florida and the nation’s physician shortage. The College of Medicine’s first residency began in 2014 in partnership with HCA North Florida Division’s Osceola Regional Medical Center and the Orlando VA Medical Center. That program led to a �鶹ԭ�� College of Medicine-HCA consortium that now has 28 accredited residency and fellowship programs, with the newest fellowship in vascular surgery based in the greater Orlando area. Of this year’s 137 graduates, 50 are staying in Florida for further training or practice. Others are heading out of state to practice or do fellowships at places such as Cedars Sinai and the Mayo Clinic.

“We are so pleased that many of our graduates will be local to Central Florida and several of them will be faculty for our own training and medical school programs,” says Diane Davey, associate dean for graduate medical education. “This is exactly the positive impact we hoped for when we launched these programs with our hospital partners.”

With the COVID-19 pandemic, Asmar noted that it is increasingly important to have graduates joining the workforce, especially in Florida where there has been a resurgence of cases.

“COVID-19 has presented us with so much uncertainty. But amidst all this uncertainty, one thing that we know for sure is the magnitude of this pandemic’s impact,” Asmar says. “And what we need to reduce this impact is having more qualified individuals that can be available to save lives. The best way to prepare for all these uncertainties is to have well-trained people there to do the job.”