Internal Medicine residency launched at MUSC Health Florence Medical Center

Forty-one of South Carolina’s 46 counties are designated health professional shortage areas, according to the Cisero Institute, a nonpartisan public policy organization. Additionally, the American Association of Medical Colleges projects that over the next 10 years, there will be a nationwide shortage of at least 37,000 physicians and likely well over 100,000. This is noteworthy, especially for South Carolina, where 27% of the population lives in rural areas with poor access to health care.

To address the shortage and educate physicians, the MUSC Health Florence Medical Center’s Graduate Medical Education (GME) program has launched a new initiative that addresses this challenge in underserved populations and rural communities. This is the first time an Internal Medicine residency is being offered in Florence, and it filled its first class in July. 

“It really has been an exciting and rewarding experience to have them here. The hospital has welcomed them, and they're loving the hospital,” said Ribal Al Aridi, M.D., program director. “They bring an enthusiasm and perspectives that brought in new energy to our team. It's been a very vibrant energy, watching them grow every day from the first day they arrived up to now. It has been really impressive.”

 

Following this spring’s match process, eight physicians matched: five men and three women. Together, they have an impressive collective resume, including 50 scholarly activities and 13 years of clinical practice. All members are fluent in more than one language, representing 10 languages. 

Two of the residents, Sabzada Rasool, MBBS, and Chinenye Okafor, MBBS, studied medicine internationally and decided to further their educations by applying to the Internal Medicine residency program at MUSC Health Florence Medical Center. MBBS stands for Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery. It's a degree given in schools that follow the United Kingdom's higher education structure.

“As far as the residency goes, everyone is very helpful. Everyone wants to teach us, and everyone is very into it all: the hospitalists, our attendings, and specialist staff. They make us feel very included,” said Rasool. “Everyone is sort of lifting us up. That's a very special feeling, especially when you're entering the start of your career.”

After graduating from one of the top medical schools in Pakistan with an undergraduate medical degree and extensive experience in health care, Rasool said he feels like he’s fit years of learning into just a few short months. “It's been about two months now, and it feels like two years. But, in a good way,” he added with a laugh. 

Okafor shares those feelings. After studying medicine in Nigeria, she earned an undergraduate degree in medicine, then moved to the United States when she was 28. She was selected to participate in MUSC’s highly selective health administrative fellowship in Florence. 

After finishing her fellowship in Florence last year, she decided to take her education to the next level and return from studying in Connecticut to Florence for her residency – a program and administration that she said furthers her education tenfold. 

“As residents, the first year, we’re technically interns. So, as much as we are responsible for the care of a patient, there's a lot of direct supervision over us right now,” said Okafor. “It's helpful for us in the learning process.” 

She said taking in so much information and learning about various areas of medicine has allowed her to find a passion in areas she didn’t think she would. “I think for me, it was more of a shock when I did my outpatient general internal medicine primary care. That was very interesting. I didn't think I was going to like it as much as I did,” she explained.

“I enjoyed talking to the patients – taking the time to talk with them about their health in general and then looking at them as a whole person.”

Al Aridi also emphasized the importance of the patient - physician connection. She explained how important it is for residents to not only learn to care for a patient but to connect with them, too. 

“It’s not only focusing on the medical expertise but also fostering the holistic approach to patient care. That's been taught to the new residents from day one – that it's not only medical knowledge; it’s how you approach the patient in a holistic way,” said Aridi. “We emphasize a lot more hands-on learning and provide the residents with a lot of engagement with the patient and their families.”

Al Aridi said the positive feedback from staff and patients about the residents has been incredibly gratifying. She noted that they’re not only helping to improve the quality of care at MUSC Florence Medical Center but causing a shift in culture as well. 

“It's changing the culture in the hospital by changing into and becoming a teaching hospital, not a just a community hospital like we used to be,” said Aridi. 

As for Rasool and Okafor, they’re enjoying their residencies, where dedicated and experienced staff members are eager to help them through the challenges and highlights of the program. It all puts them in a position to grow both professionally and personally as they provide high-quality patient care and further develop their clinical expertise.

“Everyone is enthusiastic about teaching you. I think that's the best part of it,” said Rasool.