A new Transitional Year Residency Program, based at North Florida Regional Medical Center in Gainesville, has received initial accreditation and is seeking immediate applicants.
This program is part of the UCF College of Medicine-Hospital Corporation of America North Florida Division Consortium seeking to add more than 600 residency slots to Florida by 2020. In the last three years, the consortium has added 21 graduate medical education programs that are currently training about 250 physicians in Central and North Central Florida. The addition of the Transitional Year program will increase the number of programs to 22.
The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medicine Education (ACGME) approved the Transitional Year Residency program for 13 residents per the one-year program. The program will be directed by Dr. Matthew Calestino, who is also Associate Program Director of the Internal Medicine Residency Program at North Florida Regional Medical Center.
UCF and HCA started the residency programs to help address Florida’s and the nation’s physician shortage. Dr. Calestino noted that a 2014 Florida workforce report showed that by 2025, Primary Care will be one of the physician specialties with the highest shortage – a deficit of about 2,000 physicians statewide. “The faculty, staff and residents in this new UCF/HCA Residency have the opportunity to make a major impact on healthcare in North Florida by providing more services and more practitioners in the coming years,” he said.
North Florida Regional Medical Center is a 432-bed, full service medical and surgical acute care center and one of the nation’s top performing hospitals on key quality measures as recognized by the Joint Commission. It is an accredited Chest Pain Center and a Blue Distinction Center for Knee and Hip Replacement, Spine Surgery and Bariatric Surgery.
The program will be looking to take residents by July 2018. Applications should be submitted through Veronica Stehouwer, GME Coordinator/Interim Transitional Year Program Coordinator, North Florida Regional Medical Center, at Veronica.Stehouwer@hcahealthcare.com. Qualified applicants will be selected for interviews.