More providers-in-training will soon walk the halls of HCA Florida Capital Hospital in Tallahassee, where the UCF College of Medicine is launching an internal medicine residency program.
Internists specialize in adult medicine. Through the new program, trainees will work across settings and specialties — from critical care and cardiology to endocrinology, infectious disease and primary care — and participate in case-based learning, journal clubs and simulation-based education. The first class of 12 residents will start the three-year program this July.
It's the latest win for the UCF/HCA Florida Healthcare Graduate Medical Education Consortium, which oversees 47 residency and fellowship programs at HCA hospitals across Florida. Labeled as the state's fastest-growing GME program, the consortium trains more than 700 physicians across specialties.
"Internal medicine physicians are at the heart of patient care, diagnosing and managing complex diseases, promoting preventive health and coordinating care across specialties," said Stephen Cico, the UCF College of Medicine's associate dean for graduate medical education and the consortium's institutional official, in a statement. "Primary care is one of the physician shortage areas in the state. Training these physicians here in Tallahassee will improve access to primary care and strengthen the future physician workforce across North Florida and beyond." — By Brittney J. Miller