This month, six new residents from around the world began their medical residency at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center (PBRMC).
In addition to six first-year residents, six residents started their second year, totaling 12 residents who chose PBRMC for their postgraduate medical school training, according to a press release from the hospital.
PBRMC’s Internal Medicine (IM) Residency Program is the only post-graduate medical education program in Southeast Missouri, with the closest program nearly 100 miles away. The Internal Medicine residency is a three-year program in which residents rotate through different departments and services in the hospital, like pulmonology, cardiology, ER, etc. The three-year Internal Medicine Residency is the hospital’s first Graduate Medical Education (GME) program in its history.
“We always thought our region would be an excellent location to train physicians due to our well-trained, energetic medical staff, our well-equipped hospital facility, and our diverse patient population,” program director Matthew J Riffle, M.D., said.
More than 900 students applied; 80 were interviewed and placed on a rank list by the GME Internal Medicine Residency Selection Committee. The National Resident Matching Program applied an algorithm to match candidate preferences with the hospital rankings. Only six are chosen. Each year, the hospital will have six new IM residents in the program.
In addition to Riffle, Drs. Muhammad Ijaz (assistant program director), Roland Njoh, Anil Nadipelli, Mohanad Alfaqih and Josh Gast are key faculty members.
Research has shown residency programs have been a great recruiting tool for hospitals as many of the trainees will stay and practice medicine in the community in which they trained.
“We have three current trainees who have expressed interest in staying in Poplar Bluff after they finish residency,” said Caitlyn Wilfong, GME program coordinator. “We are fortunate this year, as we matched with outstanding residents, including three local Missouri residents.”
“In our continued evaluation of how to better serve our combined service area, the new internal medicine residency program allows us to train and retain quality physicians,” said Rick Naegler, CEO. “The combined commitment of our dedicated physician leaders and our organization’s leadership to having a top-notch education program in a caring environment, will allow us to keep quality healthcare in communities we serve.”