The University of Central Florida College of Medicine in Orlando is teaming up with Osceola Regional Medical Center in Kissimmee, Fla., to launch a new graduate medical education training program this July.
The three-year program for emergency medicine residents is seeking applicants immediately and will eventually grow to host 21 trainees at a time. Osceola Regional's emergency department offers residents the opportunity to treat both children and adults in a diverse community. The ED hosts more than 80,000 patient visits annually, is a designated stroke and chest pain center and is provisionally designated as a Level II Trauma Center.
Through the new program, the organizations hope to train residents who will stay and work in the region.
"Residency programs are part of the promise that was made to this community and an important element in a medical school that will anchor a medical city," Deborah German, MD, UCF vice president for medical affairs and founding dean of the medical school, said in a statement. "If we have more residencies, we'll have more trained doctors in our community because many doctors practice where they complete their residency programs."
The program was accredited by the national Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education this week. The school and medical center are also jointly hosting an internal medicine residency in partnership with the Orlando VA Medical Center that also begins in July.
More articles on integration and physician issues:
New York medical schools, offshore competitors clash over clinical clerkships
Physician strike in UK reaches new levels as health secretary refuses to back down
MountainView Hospital OB-GYN residency program receives accreditation