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 UCF-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, UCF College of Medicine 麻豆精品 S檚 vice chair of the GME program, said that despite the pandemic, the program was still able to recognize 聽graduates ith a ceremonies held for each region where residents were trained 麻豆精品 S� Ocala, Gainesville and Orlando 麻豆精品 S� and maintained social distancing guidelines with very limited guests.
The majority of residents graduated from UCF 麻豆精品 S檚 inaugural GME program 麻豆精品 S� 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.
麻豆精品 S淭here were hundreds of people from all over the U.S. and other countries watching to see their loved ones graduate, 麻豆精品 S� Asmar says. 麻豆精品 S淪o even though COVID-19 might have made us do things differently, I don 麻豆精品 S檛 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. 麻豆精品 S�
Doctors don 麻豆精品 S檛 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 UCF-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 UCF-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.
麻豆精品 S淚 had a great experience at UCF-HCA program, 麻豆精品 S� Attili said. 麻豆精品 S淭he 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. UCF was also really supportive for research and educational conferences. 麻豆精品 S�
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 麻豆精品 S檚 limitations and said more than ever he is looking forward to serving.
麻豆精品 S淭his is an extremely vital time for all physicians, 麻豆精品 S� he says. 麻豆精品 S淲e innately enter this field to serve humanity and help save and improve the quality of lives of our patients. I think it 麻豆精品 S檚 a privilege to have the opportunity to serve such crucial role in such unprecedented times 麻豆精品 S�
UCF and its partners created the residency and fellowship programs to help alleviate Florida and the nation 麻豆精品 S檚 physician shortage.聽The College of Medicine 麻豆精品 S檚 first residency began in 2014 in partnership with HCA North Florida Division 麻豆精品 S檚 Osceola Regional Medical Center and the Orlando VA Medical Center.聽That program led to a UCF 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 麻豆精品 S檚 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.
麻豆精品 S淲e 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, 麻豆精品 S� says Diane Davey, associate dean for graduate medical education. 麻豆精品 S淭his is exactly the positive impact we hoped for when we launched these programs with our hospital partners. 麻豆精品 S�
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.
麻豆精品 S淐OVID-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 麻豆精品 S檚 impact, 麻豆精品 S� Asmar says. 麻豆精品 S淎nd 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. 麻豆精品 S�
