GAFP Residents
Practice Opportunities at Annual Georgia Medical Fair
Mark your calendars for the Annual Georgia Medical Fair, September 17-18, 2010 at the Crowne Plaza Atlanta Perimeter at Ravinia, in Atlanta, Georgia. The medical fair is an opportunity for physicians and medical students to explore practice opportunities in rural Georgia with up to 35 communities represented. It is a place for rural Georgia communities to have the opportunity to recruit physicians interested in rural practice. The fair will offer seminars on topics ranging from Contract Negotiations to Medical Technologies.
The State Medical Education Board (SMEB) is instrumental in physician recruitment to rural and underserved Georgia communities. Scholarship funding is available at a maximum of $20,000 per year for a maximum of 4 years. In return for each year of scholarship funding, the student agrees to practice medicine in a rural Georgia county with a population of 35,000 or less according to the 2000 U.S. Census. Complete application packets are available online at http://smeb.georgia.gov under the Programs.
The deadline for registration and hotel reservations is August 25, 2010. For more information contact the State Medical Education Board of Georgia at (404) 206-5423 or www.smeb.georgia.gov.
Georgia 2010 Match Results
Georgia family medicine has continued to receive outstanding news from our state's residency programs. According to the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP), Georgia Family Medicine Residency Programs filled 93 percent (53/57) of available positions.
Preliminary information available from the NRMP indicates that the 2010 national fill rate for family medicine residency programs is 2,384 positions filled out of 2,611 positions offered (91.3 percent.) U.S. medical students made up 42.4 percent or 1,083 of the family medicine total.
View results, charts and analysis at the AAFP web site's Match section at http://www.aafp.org/online/en/home/residents/match.html
Residency program results by region and state: http://www.aafp.org/online/en/home/residents/match/fillrate.html
The Georgia Family Medicine Residency Programs are very excited to welcome the new group of residents joining the Georgia team.
Geriatrics Fellowship in Macon Growing
The geriatrics fellowship in Macon, sponsored by the Medical Center of Central Georgia (MCCG) and Mercer University School of Medicine continues to expand. Starting with a single geriatrician who is now the Director of the Geriatrics Division Dr. Richard Ackermann, the Division now has nine full-time faculty and has plans to expand to eleven.
Three geriatrics fellows are currently in training, and next year (2010-2011), the program will accept four fellows. Over 12 months, fellows rotate through experiences in ambulatory geriatrics, inpatient geriatrics, long-term care, palliative medicine, and rehabilitation, concentrating on comprehensive care of frail older adults. The program has particular strengths in nursing home medicine and end-of-life care.
The Division runs the comprehensive palliative care service at the 630-bed MCCG, where the large majority of patients who die now receive expert palliative consultation, assisting with goals of care and symptom management. The Division has a home care service, with an average of 40-60 physician home visits/month. Faculty and fellows also visit several assisted living and nursing homes to provide comprehensive medical care. At the main ambulatory site, the Division runs an inter-disciplinary Memory Clinic, where a geriatrician and geropsychologist jointly diagnose and manage patients with dementia, as well as assisting their family caregivers. As our society ages and the burdens of chronic disease increase, we will need to train more physicians to provide compassionate and evidence-based medical care to this wonderful population.
Residency-trained, board-certified family medicine or internal medicine physicians are eligible to apply for fellowship, and you may contact Dr. Ackermann directly for more information at ackermann.richard@mccg.org.
Georgia Excels in the Match
According to National Resident Matching Program (NRMP), Georgia Family Medicine
Residency Programs filled 96.4 percent (53/55) of available positions.
Preliminary information available from the NRMP indicates that the 2009 national fill rate for family medicine residency programs is 2,329 positions filled out of 2,555 positions offered (91.2 percent). U.S. medical students made up 42.4 percent or 1,083 of the family medicine total.
Link to results, charts and analysis at the AAFP web site’s Match section at http://www.aafp.org/online/en/home/residents/match.html
Residency program results by region and state: http://www.aafp.org/online/en/home/residents/match/fillrate.html
The Georgia Family Medicine Residency Programs are very excited to welcome
the new group of residents joining the Georgia team.
April 17, 2009
Pilot Program On Diabetes Education In Full Swing
The Georgia and Oklahoma national pilot program focusing on diabetes education for family medicine residents is in full swing. A successful all-day workshop on diabetes was held June 9 at St. Simons Island in conjunction with the GAFP Summer CME Meeting, and residents from all but three of the Georgia programs attended.
The second phase, where diabetes education is condensed and brought back to the individual residency programs, has begun. A compilation of all of the presentations was prepared and then reviewed and approved by the GAFP Education Committee. Through early August, the following programs have completed this education: Rome, Medical College of Georgia, Morehouse, Savannah and Emory.
After the residents complete the diabetes training, they will be encouraged to proceed with a METRIC chart pull on their diabetic patients. This will qualify them to participate in the GO! Diabetes poster presentation at the GAFP Annual Meeting Nov. 8. The winning poster presenter will be awarded a $5,000 prize, as will the resident’s program.
For more information about the GO! Diabetes residents poster competition, visit www.gafp.org and click on the GO! Diabetes hyperlink.
The Oklahoma chapter also is educating residents and doing the METRIC chart pulls and poster competition. As a pilot program, we are continuing to take feedback, survey our participants and look for innovative avenues to work with the Georgia and Oklahoma family medicine residency programs. We hope to expand the project in 2009 to additional residency programs throughout the Southeast.
This project is sponsored by a grant from sanofi-aventis.
September 4, 2008
A Match Made In Georgia
According to the National Resident Matching Program, 2,404
of 2,654 family medicine residency positions were taken in
March. 1,172 U.S. medical school graduates – 65 more
than in 2007 – chose family medicine for their careers.
Georgia filled all of its 55 residency positions, the only
state in the South Atlantic region to fill 100 percent of its
spots.
Overall, 33 more family medicine positions, 1.3 percent, were offered in 2008 than in 2007. Ninety-one more positions, 3.9 percent, were filled in 2008 compared with 2007.
Congratulations to our Georgia family medicine residencies.
May 28, 2008
Georgia and Oklahoma Chapters Will Participate in Diabetes Pilot Program
The Georgia Academy of Family Physicians is proud to announce a pilot program focusing on educating family medicine residents on diabetes in Georgia and Oklahoma.
The pilot program, which will launch in June 2008 and conclude at the end of the year, is being funded by sanofi-aventis. The Georgia and Oklahoma chapters will receive more than $130,000 for this project, which will include CME programs at the Summer Meeting, educational activities at family medicine residency programs, data abstraction and a poster competition.
The kickoff of the Georgia chapter program will be a one-day diabetes workshop held at the GAFP Summer Meeting June 9 at the Sea Palms Resort in St. Simons Island. The GAFP Education Committee is seeking nominations of one resident per program, who will receive funding to attend the meeting and will be designated as the program’s “diabetes change agent.”
Once the Georgia and Oklahoma family medicine residents have received their diabetes education training, they will be able to enroll in a diabetes education tracking system through the AAFP METRICS program. Residents from both states will input data for state-by-state comparisons. All residents who participate in the education and data collection (METRICS tracking) will be eligible to submit a diabetes research poster, with the winner and the residency program with the winning poster each receiving a $5,000 award.
May 28, 2008
As part of the Congress of Delegates Annual Meeting, all Georgia residency directors are asked to submit a progress report to the Academy. Excerpts on the exciting activities our residency programs have been engaged in during the past year follow.
Atlanta Medical Center Family Medicine Residency Program
We have entered our fifteenth year as a program, and have graduated 12 classes,
with 70% of our graduates remaining in Georgia to practice.
We had a successful match this year, filling all of our 6 positions, despite another year of decreasing numbers of interested U.S. medical school applicants. As we begin another year of recruitment the total number of applicants continues to rise with the vast majority comprised of international medical graduates. This presents our program with the challenge of integrating these residents into the American culture and the nuances of the American medical system while also being sensitive to their cultural background and belief systems.
We fully support the initiatives of the GAFP in sponsoring a new Academy task force on increasing medical student interest in Family Medicine and increasing those interested in Family Medicine to select a Georgia Family Medicine Residency Program for their training.
We are happy to announce that we have hired a new faculty member, Michael Fite’, M.D., who started with us in October, of this year. Mike is a graduate of Meharry Medical College and did his Family Medicine residency at the Medical College of Wisconsin-St Mary’s Family Medicine Residency Program where he also served as their chief resident. He is also a military physician in the U.S. Army Reserve with a rank of Major. Most recently he was the Medical Director of the Comprehensive Family Healthcare Center, Department of Family Medicine and Morehouse Medical Associates Morehouse School of Medicine with the academic appointment of Assistant Clinical Professor. We are excited to have him join our program.
Our Family Medical Center in Morrow, Georgia continues to do well and we are now seeing continuity OB patients at the Palmetto Health Clinic (FQHC) in Palmetto and at Clinica de la Mama in Forest Park.
We hope that interest in Family Medicine amongst American medical students
will begin to increase again and reverse the multi year decline we have been
experiencing. We must all continue to promote Family Medicine to all medical
students we encounter, and show them the benefit of continuity of care, and
comprehensive care, and how this will improve the health care provided to the
citizens of Georgia and the nation.
Columbus Family Medicine Program
The Family Practice Residency at The Medical Center in Columbus, Georgia respectfully
submits its 2008 Annual Report to the Congress of Delegates.
The Family Practice Residency at The Medical Center has a long and distinguished history of providing physician Graduate Medical Education and patient care to the Columbus area. The three-year Family Practice residency program was established in 1972. Prior to that date, primary care physicians were trained as general practitioners with a two-year residency after medical school. Over the past sixty years The Medical Center has been instrumental in supplying general practitioners and family physicians who served the needs of Georgia and particularly the Columbus area. The Medical Education program also sponsors a Transitional Year internship in which medical student graduates receive a traditional internship on their way to specialty training such as anesthesia or radiology. These two programs have trained over three hundred physicians who are scattered around the state of Georgia and the southeastern United States. In our immediate area, there are approximately fifty physicians who practice within a thirty-mile radius of Columbus who can claim all or part of their training at The Medical Center.
An important part of our Medical Education mission is providing quality medical care to the underserved. Under the guidance of full-time attending physicians, our Family Practice and Transitional Year residents provide care in Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, General Surgery, Pediatrics and Obstetrics and Gynecology. The teaching services enable The Medical Center to serve as a patient resource and referral center for citizens of Georgia and east Alabama. Residents provide care at the Columbus Health Department clinics and routinely assist on Columbus Regional’s outreach medical van. During the last year, our teaching program saw over 35,000 outpatient visits in the Family Practice Center, delivered hundreds of infants and cared for thousands of hospital admissions. With training in Advanced Cardiac and Trauma Life Support, residents help provide 24/7 care to patients referred to The Medical Center’s Intensive Care Units and Trauma program.
The Medical Center is continuing an innovative Hospital Medicine fellowship for Family Practice graduates for the third year. This unique training program will allow family physicians advanced hospital training with the intent of supplying these needed services in underserved areas. The Family Medicine residency received accreditation from the American Osteopathic Association for the three year Family Medicine program. The Transitional Year program is also dually certified by the AOA.
The residency program is now four years into full implementation of an Electronic Health Record with the Centricity product from General Electric. With the ability to have fifty simultaneous providers using computers in the exam rooms, it is the largest outpatient EHR implementation in the Columbus area. The Medical Center and its faculty are committed to keep our residency program at the cutting edge of providing quality and cost effective medicine. Our residency is preparing its clinic operations to transition to Medical Home designation. Our teachers hold clinical medical school appointments at the Medical College of Georgia, Mercer University School of Medicine, Emory University and Nova Southeastern University. While resident training is the primary mission of the Medical Education Department, there is extensive cooperation with Three Rivers AHEC in the training of physician assistants, nurse practitioners and other allied health providers.
An important mission of our training program is to supply physicians to meet the needs of Georgia citizens. The following physicians graduated in June, 2008 and are listed with their practice location:
Avril Campbell, M.D.
Atlanta, Georgia
Wezyann Gayle-Terrelonge M.D.
Greenville, North Carolina
Altee Johnson, M.D.
Columbus, Georgia
Pierre Leroux, M.D.
Sarasota, Florida
Deepak Nayyar, M.D.
Buffalo, New York
(Geriatrics Fellowship)
Melissa Pocta, M.D.
Pensacola, Florida
Christopher Scott Reddoch, M.D.
Warm Springs, Georgia
Boshra Rida, M.D.
Lincoln, Nebraska
Calvin Terrelonge, M.D.
Greenville, North Carolina
(Geriatrics Fellowship)
Simin Houshmand, M.D.
Columbus, Georgia
(December, 2008, Geriatrics Fellowship)
Angie Smith-Haque, D.O.
Columbus, Georgia
There are no formal recommendations for the Reference Committee. The Medical
Education Department at The Medical Center appreciates the ongoing support
of the Congress along with that of the membership of the Georgia Academy of
Family Physicians.
Emory Family Medicine Residency Program
General
The Emory Family Medicine Residency Program (EFMRP) completed its’ thirteenth
year of training residents. During the 2007-2008 academic year, 24 residents
were in training. One graduated off-cycle. We filled all eight slots in the
2008 NRMP.
We had two residents submit poster presentations to the GAFP for its’ Scientific
Convention November 2007. Dr. Tanya Pandya was selected as one of the two GAFP
Resident of the Year award winners. Dr. Leena Mane was selected as the Keith
Ellis award winner.
Faculty/ Staff Changes
Dr. Larry Lutz remains as the Chair of the Department of Family and Preventive
Medicine, Dr. Susan Schayes remains as the Division Chief of Family Medicine,
and Dr. Eddie Needham remains as the Program Director for The Emory Family
Medicine Residency Program. Ms. Sandra Price continues as our Program Coordinator.
Family Practice Centers
All 24 residents and faculty practice in the Emory Family Medicine at Dunwoody
clinic and provide inpatient care to include pediatrics at Emory Johns Creek
Hospital. The Dunwoody site offers full service family medicine care as well
as multiple procedures. We designed and implemented a web site for the clinic:
http://www.emoryhealthcare.org/departments/family_medicine/
Graduates
We currently have 95 graduates in practice. Approximately 75% are practicing
in Georgia.
Future Directions
We anticipate future expansion of our Dunwoody site as we strive to provide
care for a larger portion of our local population. We continue to dedicate
faculty resources to teaching medical students and pre-med students in an
attempt to interest students in our discipline. Emory has changed its’ medical
school curriculum and two of our faculty now meet weekly with a group of
medical students. We also anticipate brief out-of-country teaching opportunities
as faculty participate in short term medical missions trips. We expect continued
implementation of our EMR with the ability to create research opportunities.
Future Policy Recommendations to the GAFP
None
The Mercer University School of Medicine/Medical Center of Central Georgia
Family Medicine Residency Program
The Mercer University School of Medicine/ Medical Center of Central Georgia
Family Medicine Residency Program has had an eventful year.
On July 31, 2008, the residency hosted the graduation of the second class of fellows from our Geriatric Fellowship program. This program now has been expanded to 3 fellows, and will expand to include a fourth next year.
Our faculty grantsmanship has been extraordinary this year. Dr. John Boltri was awarded a 3 year $3.1 million NIH grant for Church-based Diabetes Prevention. Dr. Paul Seale received a 5 year $5.7 million Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration grant to improve Brief Intervention and Early Treatment of alcohol abuse in our local hospital EC, as part of a federal study. Dr. Richard Ackermann received an $871,000 residency training grant for development of the Geriatrics and Palliative fellowship. With several smaller grants received as well, our faculty has received nearly $10 million in grant awards this year!
We filled 8 of 8 positions in the 2008 PGY 1 class with strong candidates,
with most having strong ties to Georgia. Of our 2008 residency graduates, 4
are in practice in Georgia and two are in fellowship programs. One is in fellowship
in Emergency Medicine at the University of Tennessee and planning to return
to South Georgia to practice and the other is in our own Geriatric Fellowship
program and planning to stay in mid-Georgia. Overall, 83% of our graduates
are practicing in Georgia, with 78% of those serving in medically underserved
areas.
Medical College of Georgia Family Medicine Residency Program
Since graduating its first class of residents in 1975, a total of 218 residents
have completed their training in the Family Medicine Residency Program. Eighty-one
percent of these graduates chose to remain in the Southeast, and of these,
67 % chose practice sites in Georgia.
Resident recruitment activities continued on both the local and national levels with program representatives traveling to Columbia and Charleston, South Carolina as well as Atlanta and Augusta, Georgia. Also, national residency fairs attended were with the American Academy of Family Physicians, American and Student National Medical Association. These efforts resulted in a successful match with all eight intern positions being filled. Seven filled in the National Resident Matching Program match and one in the Osteopathic match.
Since 2000, Satilla Regional Medical Center Residency Program, rural track training program in Waycross, Georgia, has graduated a total of twelve residents and nine have remained in Georgia.
Satilla successfully filled their two intern slots in the March 2008 National Resident Matching Program match.
ACGME site visits by the RRC were conducted for the Satilla Regional Medical Center Residency Program and the Family Medicine residency at MCG in July 2008 and September 2008 respectively. Evaluation results for both are pending.
Faculty/Resident Development Sessions have been held at least monthly and involved the joint effort of faculty and residents. In the sessions, goals and objectives as well as evaluation tools were reviewed to assure that the core competencies are appropriately addressed for each rotation. Revisions of the curriculum have been completed on half of the rotations to include updating evaluation forms, rotation descriptions, suggested reading materials, and rotation quizzes.
The resident retreat for all PGY-2s and chief residents was held in August 2008, at Callaway Gardens in Pine Mountain, Georgia. Topics presented by faculty included Personal Financial Management, Negotiation and Conflict Resolution, Fatigue and Stress/Burnout, and Team Building.
Continued to train residents in primary-care procedures. These procedures included flexible sigmoidoscopy, colposcopy, flexible nasolaryngoscopy, esophagogastroduodenoscopy, and joint injections. Continued to have available online Residency Procedures Program from the American Academy of Family Physicians to allow universal access for residents to include: procedure CDs, monographs, and post tests.
As a subset of the monthly chart reviews held in the department, in Fall of 2007, a Quality Assurance Committee comprised of residents was selected under the supervision of faculty. The AAFP’s METRIC Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) module was chosen. As a group, the residents analyzed the results of the METRIC chart review and decided to implement a CAD template to see if care would be improved for CAD patients. The Committee, along with the input of the other residents, developed a template that could be used to ensure that standard of care for CAD patients would be met. The department (faculty and residents) is currently using the template and will revisit the METRIC CAD module in October 2008 to see if the template has improved CAD patient care. The Quality Assurance Committee chose the AAFP’s METRIC Diabetes module as the quality improvement project for the 2008-2009 year.
Residents published six publications this past year and one resident presented
a poster presentation at a national conference. Each PGY-3 presented at least
one scholarly activity over the year. Residents were required to provide a
written bibliography, written presentation, copies of articles, and a literature
review. PGY-2s provided a Critical Appraisal of Topic (CAT) during their community
medicine rotation. In addition, all residents with their advisor presented
at Journal Club.
Morehouse Family Medicine Residency Program
The Morehouse School of Medicine Family Medicine residency program was established
in 1981, and has since graduated 118 residents, with 88% of them practicing
in the state of Georgia. January 1st 2008 Dr Harry Strothers became our interim
chairman.
Four residents graduated from the Morehouse Family Medicine Residency program in June 2008, while 3 went straight into private practice here in Georgia, one went onto start a fellowship in geriatrics. Dr. Zenobia Day, the fifth resident who is off cycle, will complete her training October 15, 2008 and go onto fulfill her obligation with the National Health Service Corp. (NHSC).
Five new residents entered the program on July 1, 2008: they are: Drs. Anthony Flood, Howard University Medical School, Washington, DC; Lakshmi Gopireddy, Mamata Medical College, India; Nakato Kibuyaga, Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia; Bhavi Patel, American University of Antigua College of Medicine, Antigua and Barbuda and Armel Simo, Saba University Medical College, Netherlands Antilles.
Morehouse Family Medicine had four residents represent in the resident forums at the National Medical Association (NMA) 2008 Annual Convention & Scientific Assembly meeting in July. Drs. Dereje Aboye, Zenobia Day and Patricia Gilford won for best case presentation titled, Adenocarcinoma of the Lung. . Dr. ChunLiu Zhu along with two faculty members Dr. Edith Fresh (Family Medicine) and Dr. DiAnne Bradford (Psychiatry) won the Andrew Best award for Excellence in Research at NMA for their pilot study titled, Adult African-American Depression Screening in a Primary Care Setting. Drs. Joseph Taiwo (A Man with Generalized Weakness), Olusegun John and Tyra Harris (A Revelation of the Unexpected: Primary Bronchogenic Adenocarcinoma presenting as a Spontaneous Tension Pneumothorax) had abstracts that were printed in the NMA Conference booklet.
Dr. Yvonne Maduka (PGY 2) our agent of change is currently working on the
GAFP GO! Diabetes Update Research Poster with 2 other residents Dr Grant (PGY2)
and our chief resident, Dr Gilford.
Rome Family Medicine Residency Program
Recruiting
The Floyd Family Medicine Residency Program received 747 applications through
the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) for the 2008 NRMP Main
Residency Match and the Osteopathic Match. This was the first year our program
participated in the osteopathic match, offering two positions and filling both
positions. The program filled all positions offered in the NRMP Main Residency
Match. The 2008-2009 PGY1 residents are as follows:
Sean Bohannon, M.D. University of Alabama
Leia Dawson, D.O. University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey/School
of Osteopathic Medicine
Thomas Garcia, D.O. Nova Southeastern University
Kalani Hagaman, M.D. American University of the Caribbean SOM
Adrian Long, M.D. Medical University of the Americas
Charles McDonald, M.D. Medical University of the Americas
Vijai Muthukrishnan, M.D. Saba University School of Medicine
Michelle Strickland, M.D. St. Matthew’s University School of Medicine
Kanwar Warraich, M.D. Medical University of the Americas
The Floyd Family Medicine Residency program attended and exhibited at national conferences and residency fairs throughout the year: National Conference of Family Medicine Residents and Medical Students, Kansas City, MO; Mercer University School of Medicine Residency Fair, Macon, GA; Medical College of Georgia Residency Fair, Augusta, GA; University of Mississippi Medical Center Family Medicine Residency Fair, Jackson, MS; University of Alabama AMSA Residency Fair, Birmingham, AL; ACOFP 2008 Osteopathic Residency Program Fair at the ACOFP 45th Annual Convention & Exhibition, Denver, CO; Midwestern University Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine, Downers Grove, IL; Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine Hospital Day, Georgia Campus, Suwanee, GA.
Class of 2008
A graduation and recognition ceremony for the Class of 2008 was held on Saturday,
June 28, 2008 at Coosa Country Club in Rome, Georgia.
Lee Ann Howell, M.D. Rome, GA
Mark Jolly, M.D. Bradenton, FL
Jayasri Mallavarapu, M.D. Cumming, GA
Jigar Patel, M.D. Athens, GA
Louis Spencer, M.D. Rome, GA
Marcelle Tharmarajah, M.D. Rome, GA
Michael Thomas, M.D. Woodbury, TN
Family Medicine Center/Residency Activity
Established patient visits 14,869
Patient encounters with 902 new patients
Community service activities 86
Sports physicals 600
Faculty
Cheryl Reinhardt, M.D. – February 4, 2008
Saria Carter-Saccocio, M.D. – May 1, 2008
Faculty Accomplishments:
Randy Robinson, M.D. - Promoted to Clinical Associate Professor at the Medical
Residency Director College of Georgia (MCG)
Serving as Vice President of Federation (Family Medicine Directors of Georgia)
Leonard Reeves, M.D. - Nominated President Elect Georgia Academy of Family
Assistant Residency Physicians
NIPDD is complete – National Institute of Program Director Development
Completed – University of Southern California Medical
Education Leadership Fellowship (Fellow)
Gave lecture at the GAFP Annual Cruise on “Emerging Diabetic Treatments” –
February, 2008
Poster presentation, Los Angeles, California on “Preconception
Health in the Hispanic Population, Rome, Georgia.
Joseph Mazzola, D.O. - Finished term as Vice President Georgia Osteopathic
Association
Director Osteopathic
Elected President-Elect Georgia Osteopathic Association 2008 - Medical Education
2009
Appointed as AOA Program Inspector Editorial Review Board - Family Practice
Management
Received the “Faculty Recognition Award” presented by the FPC residents June,
2008.
LeBron McBride, Ph.D. - Reviewer of proposals for presentations for American
Association
Director Behavioral of Marriage and Family Therapist’s National Convention,
2008.
Medicine
Publications
McBride, LeBron. “To Err is Human.” Family Practice
Management. (In Press, to appear in December, 2008).
McBride, Lebron, “What Might Have Been” Poem about a
Patient. Family Medicine (In press).
Saria Carter-Saccocio, M.D. - Gave talk at the GAFP on June 7, 2008 on “Adult
Smoking Cessation Strategies: A Rural Healthcare CME Initiative.”
Presented “Ask and Act” to Chapter Liaisons in Washington, DC at the AAFP Tar
Wars National Conference July, 2008.
Melvin Thomas, M.D. - Remains the Team Physician for Rome High School and
Shorter College in Rome, GA.
Award of Recognition for participation as Clinical Assistant faculty for the
Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, 2008.
Program Accomplishments
Received three year continuing accreditation from the ACGME.
The Family Medicine Residency Program at Memorial Health University Medical
Center
The Family Medicine Residency Program at Memorial University Medical Center,
Savannah, Georgia has continued this past year with its growth and consolidation
as we strive to reinvigorate the program. Our director, Dr. Robert Pallay has
been at the program now for over a year and we continue to make many changes
in the program.
Perhaps the biggest change, however, on the Savannah campus, has been the opening and start of the full four-year program for the new medical students at Mercer University School of Medicine. Starting August 11, 2008, we welcomed 20 new first-year students on the Memorial campus. In addition to the first-year students, we continue to actively work with third- and fourth-year students from Mercer, as well as students from MCG.
Our graduates from last year’s class have gone on to diverse next career paths. Three joined private practices in Florida, Tennessee, and Virginia. One has remained here at Memorial and is doing a year in our newly formed hospitalist fellowship program that we are running in conjunction with the hospitalist group at Memorial. Another is presently doing his sports medicine fellowship at Jefferson in Philadelphia. The final graduate joined our program as a new faculty member.
In terms of faculty, the residency is continuing to grow with an expected turnover in faculty, as some move on to other ventures and new faculty join our program. In September Peter Rives, M.D. joined, coming to us from Kentucky. Dr. Rives was in private practice in Kentucky before deciding he wanted to rejoin academic medicine. He had previously been a program director at programs in Pennsylvania and Kentucky. In November, we will welcome our next new faculty member when Shauna Zaren, M.D. joins us. Dr. Zaren graduated from Swedish Covenent Family Medicine residency in the Chicago area a few years ago and until coming to Savannah was in private practice in Chicago’s northern suburbs and teaching on the staff of Northwestern University Medical School’s Family Medicine department. She comes to Savannah with her husband who will be running the Cancer Institute in the Candler medical system. Our third new faculty member is a graduate of the residency program, Sarf Dhanji, M.D. Sarf had been the Chief Administrative resident for Memorial and was excited to be offered and accept a position with our faculty. Finally, we are pleased that another graduating resident, Dr. Jignesh Dholaria, will spend 6 months with us on our faculty before he leaves in June to spend a year at Macon’s geriatric fellowship.
Last spring we were pleasantly surprised when we filled our entire residency
class completely through the match. It was the first time in many years that
Memorial has been able to get all of the first year residents through the match.
This year our applicant pool is again up as more American and international
medical school grads have heard about the renaissance of the Savannah Family
Medicine program.
Southwest Georgia Family Medicine Residency Program
I am writing to provide the annual report for the Southwest Georgia Family
Medicine Residency. In the past year, the following have occurred:
*Program Director, Dr. Sean Bryan, left this program to take another program director position in Florida. In his absence, I have taken the role of Interim Program Director.
*Our newly-hired Program Director, Dr. George Fredrick, will begin on October 31, 2008. Dr. Fredrick is currently the Program Director at West Virginia Family Medicine Residency Program in Morgantown, WV. He was formerly Program Director in Clarksburg, WV.
*Residency recruitment – We filled all five PGY-1 family medicine spots (3 pre-match, and 2 via the NRMP main match) and our one PGY-4 sports medicine spot (via the NRMP primary care sports medicine match).
*Faculty departures and recruitment – Dr. Jon Woo also left the program to take a family medicine faculty position in Washington. We are currently recruiting for a family medicine faculty position, as well as an Assistant Director of our Sports Medicine Program.
*Medical students activity –
- Rotations - 42 total, 25 Medical College of Georgia, 3 Mercer, 14 other medical
schools
- Another successful year for our Summer Studentship Program... 15 medical
students from GA, FL, SC, TN participate in the two-week program designed to
provide early exposure to family medicine for medical students between their
1st and 2nd years.
*Faculty scholarly activities and projects -
In addition to my duties as Interim Program Director and my new position as
Director of the Sports Medicine Program, I co-authored a Not Your Average
Fracture, A Clinical Track Case Report, and
Bladder Problems in Athletes. Current Sports Medicine Reports 2008;7(2):97-101.
Not Just Your Average Fracture, Clinical Track Case Report Co-authored by Sean
Bryan, MD; Co-authored and Presented by Nailah Coleman, MD, SEACSM 36th Annual
Meeting, February 2008
Claude Gauthier, MD,
Dr. Gauthier continues to lead our Summer Studentship Program designed to provide
early exposure to family medicine for medical students between their 1st
and 2nd years.
Poster presentation, GAFP Annual Scientific Assembly (“Changes in and
persistence of attitudes towards family medicine developed during a summer
clinical studentship
Chinwe Ukaonu, MD, was published in AAFP Home Study Monograph on Common Breast
Disorders – October 2007
Daniel Yacono, MD, earned his CPE in Healthcare Management in March 2008.
Graduations: We proudly graduated five family medicine residents in June 2008,
in addition to our sixth sports medicine fellow in July 2008.
Clay Thomas, MD – joined our hospital in Albany, GA as a hospitalist
Monica Rivera, MD – joined our hospital in Albany, GA as an outpatient family medicine physician
Charity Wilson, MD – joined a private practice in Albany, GA
Jose Fernandez, MD – pursuing Palliative Care Fellowship
Damond Blueitt, MD – pursuing Sports Medicine Fellowship
Nailah Coleman, MD (Sports Medicine Fellow) – joined Children’s’ National Medical
Center in Washington, DC – Director of Sports Medicine
Recommendations: None
January 15, 2009