RHN hospitals stepping up to train more physicians

Match Day revealed more than where MUSC’s Class of 2025 is headed for residency training. It also showed how MUSC is stepping up to address the growing shortage of physicians in South Carolina and the United States. 

Beginning in July, 32 residents will be training at the Regional Health Network hospitals, up from eight just one year ago.

In 2024, MUSC earned accreditation for the first graduate medical education (GME) program at MUSC Health Lancaster Medical Center and a second one at MUSC Health Florence Medical Center. In July, eight Internal Medicine residents will begin training in Lancaster, and eight residents will join Florence’s inaugural Family Medicine program. 

In addition, a second class of Internal Medicine residents will begin their training in Florence. 

All three programs achieved a 100% match on Match Day.

Tsveti Markova, M.D., MUSC Health's chief Academic Integration officer, has been leading the GME expansion throughout the MUSC Health Regional Health Network hospitals to address South Carolina's health care needs.

She said that increasing GME opportunities is essential for training more physicians to work in interdisciplinary teams, thereby improving access, safety and quality of care across the state. 

“Achieving a 100% match across all three of our recently accredited GME programs at Florence and Lancaster, including our two inaugural programs, is a testament to our commitment to excellence in medical education and our mission to address critical health are needs, particularly in rural and underserved communities. This milestone reflects the strength of our programs, the quality of our training and the passion of our faculty and staff in preparing the next generation of physicians to serve in areas where access to quality care is limited. We are proud to welcome these talented residents who will contribute to improving patient care outcomes in our communities.”

Aravind Raghavan, M.D., director of Lancaster’s Internal Medicine Residency Program, said the incoming residents are a “terrific and diverse class from around the world.” 

 

The program is crucial for the area, Raghavan explained. “We want to hire exemplary residents. Our goal is to graduate high-quality residents and retain them in the community, and we have a strong program in place to do so. We have strong faculty who are excellent teachers. Our residents will have the best of both worlds – training in a community hospital in a close-knit setting with access to MUSC’s extensive educational resources and an international city nearby,” he said, referring to Charlotte, North Carolina.

Edward McCutcheon M.D., chief medical officer and associate designated institutional officer for the GME program, said it will enhance Lancaster’s ability to encourage physicians to establish practices in the surrounding counties. 

“Residents have a higher likelihood of practicing in the area where they completed their residency program, and our Internal Medicine program will create a significant pipeline of recruits in this area. Once we get the first inaugural class on board, I think we're going to see tremendous momentum that's going to continue to carry us into the future, and I'm excited for what's in store for us.”

McCutcheon said the Lancaster administration and clinical staff have worked diligently to ensure that the residents will have a first-rate training experience. “Not only will they be working with our core faculty and rotating through specialties, such as Cardiology, Critical Care, Endocrinology, Emergency Medicine and Infectious Diseases, but they’ll also work with transplant specialists in the Kidney Transplant Program.” 

In Florence, Kourtney Osorio, M.D., Family Medicine Residency Program director, said she is ecstatic that all eight residency spots were filled with outstanding applicants. The incoming class comprises graduates from different places and backgrounds, something the program strives to achieve, Osorio said. 

“Florence is a great place for Family Medicine training as the area is vastly underserved and lacking resources. This sets a landscape for residents to be challenged to go above and beyond for the patients, sometimes having to think outside of the box and learning to apply medicine to real-life scenarios. Having residents here practicing primary care is also great for the city as patients will have more access to primary care with eight new residents joining the program each year.” 

Meanwhile, Ribal Al Aridi, M.D., Internal Medicine Residency Program director for MUSC Health-Florence, is gearing up to welcome the second class of Internal Medicine residents. 

Al Aridi said incoming residents are high caliber because Florence’s program is now established, and word is spreading about its quality and uniqueness. “We’re training Internal Medicine doctors to practice in any setting, rural, academic and urban.”

Al Aridi said if the high-performing first class of residents is an indication, the residency program is off to a flying start. 

“The community has welcomed our first group of residents, and our first year was very successful. Residents are already providing care at Hope Health and MUSC Health-Florence, and the more we grow, the more we will be able to provide care for our surrounding communities.” 

Residency programs boost evidence-based practice and move care in the right direction through more education in population health and value-based care, more clinical lectures and more quality improvement initiatives. 

Al Aridi said she’s proud of Florence’s success and optimistic about what it means for the Pee Dee. 

“It is very well-known in the Pee Dee, South Carolina and the whole nation that there is a shortage of internal medicine doctors,” she said. “That is why this program was designed: to tackle the shortage. You love where you learn, and it is our hope they will stay in this community.” 

Jay Hinesley, CEO of the Florence Division, said the rigorous application and approval process has helped to lay the groundwork for successful residency programs in Florence. 

“The Accrediting Council for Graduate Medical Education has very clear expectations for what is required. A medical center must show that it can offer a solid residency program with the full spectrum of care and is staffed with physicians who are experienced in academic medicine and understand what it takes to teach residents. Our amazing team has done so.”