New Family Medicine Residencies in Mississippi

from Mississippi Family Physician Spring 2021

Physician Becomes Community Leader During Pandemic

Mississippi’s family medicine resident programs have grown from 16 intern slots in 2012 to 54 projected in 2022, growing almost 350 percent in just 10 years.

Gulfport’s new family medicine residency program will open in July 2021. Southaven will soon see a brand-new family medicine program, and Clarksdale and Batesville are quick on its heels with a family medicine program in development.

Mississippi’s family physician community can help support these residencies. “These programs need continued local medical support from the hospitals, medical staffs and communities. There is a significant need for both core faculty and volunteer specialty faculty in many of the new programs, especially as they grow,” said Dr. John Mitchell, director of the Office of Mississippi Physician Workforce. “We, the medical community, the OMPW and the state, must focus on supporting and sustaining these programs.”

Gulfport - Memorial

After having its application accepted by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) on Feb. 8, 2021, Gulfport’s new family medicine residency at Memorial Hospital will open July 1, 2021. The program participated in the MATCH in March 2021 and will begin day one with ten new interns (see page 21-22).

“We offer a great facility, and our hospital is already a teaching hospital,” said Dr. Jimmy Dimitriades, family physician and program director. He said new residents will make an impact in clinics from their first day onward. “We want to be resident-centered,” Dimitriades said.

For now, preparation continues for the program launch. Doctors are working with support staff, getting rooms ready, and tweaking the curriculum. Dr. Dimitriades said he wants the new program to support the hospital and especially the local community. “Our number one goal is to graduate great doctors,” he said.

Southaven - Baptist

On May 5, 2021, the ACGME approved another Mississippi residency program application, paving the way for Baptist Memorial Hospital - Desoto to open a new family medicine program in Southaven training 18 total residents. The program will be able to participate in the MATCH in Spring 2022 and begin training interns on July 1, 2022.

Program director Dr. Daniel Hogue of Baptist Memorial said he was excited to begin the process of recruiting new residents beginning this fall. “Our goal is not to be in competition with other Mississippi programs but to work together in keeping them here in Mississippi,” he said.

Clarksdale & Batesville - Meharry

The Health Resources & Services Administration, an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, awarded a Residency Planning and Development Grant to Nashville, Tenn. -based Meharry Medical College to develop a Rural Training Tract in Nashville, Batesville, Miss., and Clarksdale, Miss.

The family medicine residency program that will grow out of the grant will train 9 total doctors. Each resident will train in Nashville during the intern year, then will train in Clarksdale and Batesville during the PGY2 and PGY3 years. When in Mississippi, the residents will work at Clarksdale-based Aaron E. Henry Community Health Services Center, a Federally-Qualified Health Center with 8 locations serving Tunica, Tate, Coahoma, Quitman and Panola counties. It will also be affiliated with Northwest Miss. Regional Medical Center and The Women's Clinic in Clarksdale.

The timeline for the Meharry/AE Henry residency is further in the future. The program’s official site visit is scheduled for this summer. Following the site visit, ACGME will formally consider approval. If approved in 2021, the program could likely begin training doctors July 1, 2022 in Nashville.

Mississippi’s Six Existing Family Medicine Residency Programs