The Baptist Health-University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Medical Education Program on June 17 celebrated its first graduating class of residents on the campus of Baptist Health Medical Center-North Little Rock.
Speaking at the celebration were Troy Wells, president and CEO of Baptist Health; Cam Patterson, MD, chancellor of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS); and graduates of the program.
Mindful of the national shortage of primary care physicians and the expanding health care needs in Arkansas, Baptist Health and the UAMS College of Medicine partnered to create four residency programs: internal medicine, family medicine, transitional year, and psychiatry. At their full complement, the programs collectively will graduate 40 physicians into the medical community each year.
The residency programs, ranging in length between one to four years, provide quality training and are accredited by the Accrediting Council of Graduate Medical Education. Residents are part of patient care teams with experienced faculty, nursing staff, and ancillary providers.
Baptist Health Medical Center-North Little Rock was chosen as the primary site for the Baptist Health-UAMS Medical Education Program, as it serves a community-based population in excess of 250,000 people.