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HEALTHCARE EDUCATION HEALTHCARE EDUCATION HEALTHCARE EDUCATION

Memorial Healthcare System Training Doctors

to Combat Physician Shortage in Florida

Number of GME Programs, Residents to Double in 2019

The statistics in ticing in the geographic area
“Florida Health,” the where they received train-
state’s annual report on ing.
its physician workforce, It was less than three
are sobering: in 2017, years ago that Memorial
more than 60% of received the go-ahead to
Florida’s doctors were move forward a GME pro-
age 50 and older and gram and become an aca-
15% of those with active demic medical center, and
licenses planned to retire it’s been on the fast track
in the next five years. ever since. By July, it will be
Within those numbers, accredited to teach seven
the state has identified Dr. Saima Chaudhry specialties – Internal Match Day
approximately 20 spe- Medicine, Pediatrics,
cialties it expects will Physical Medicine and M.D., vice president for academic affairs featuring cross-disciplinary training,
have a shortage of practicing physicians. Rehabilitation, Podiatry, General Surgery, and chief academic officer at Memorial which involves teaching those in differ-
That’s why the third Friday in March is Neurology, and Psychiatry – and will Healthcare System. “That includes focus- ent specialties together to provide the
so important to Florida’s graduate med- have 80 residents training in its pro- ing on safety, utilizing data, being trans- most well-rounded experience possible.
ical education (GME) programs, includ- grams. An Anesthesia program will be parent, cost conscious, and empathetic Florida has more than 50 hospitals
ing the one housed within Memorial added next year, with OB/GYN and to the patient experience.” involved in graduate medical education
Healthcare System in Pembroke Pines. Emergency Medicine likely to follow. Dr. Chaudhry says she and her team at some level, with all of them seeking
“Match Day,” when the National Not coincidentally, most of those spe- are working with medical schools in the perfect match of candidates and pro-
Resident Matching Program connects cialties address areas where the State of Florida to identify those candidates grams.
doctors seeking residency opportunities Florida expects there to be a shortage of interested in staying in-state and their On March 15, the third Friday of the
with programs accredited to train them, doctors. strategic plan includes accreditation and month, Memorial Healthcare System will
is where the next generation of physi- “Most of the residents in our programs training in additional specialties. be among those taking another step
cians receive real-world, medical experi- will still be practicing in 2050, so it’s crit- As it is, Memorial GME is already one toward providing answers to Florida’s
ence. ical they not only learn the clinical of the leading community-based pro- physician workforce problems.
For South Florida, with its aging and aspects of in-demand specialties, but are grams in the state, with nearly all the
growing population, this is especially able to innovate their approach to the larger teaching facilities connected to For more information on Memorial’s
critical, since doctors often end up prac- care they provide,” said Saima Chaudhry, universities. It’s also somewhat unique in GME Program, visit www.mhs.net/gme.

28 February 2019 southfloridahospitalnews.com South Florida Hospital News