Vice President of Graduate Medical Education, Dr. Jason Thurman recently sat down with us to talk about the organization’s efforts to increase the number of physician residency programs offered across CHS healthcare systems.
Health Education Services, or HES, the ACGME-accredited Sponsoring Institution CHS established to oversee Graduate Medical Education at its hospitals, sponsors 15 ACGME accredited residency programs, with another five in development. Of the 15 existing programs, four will matriculate their very first class of new resident physicians on July 1, 2023 bringing the number of HES-sponsored residents across CHS markets to 225. While most HES-sponsored residency programs are in Family Medicine or Internal Medicine, we also offer one program in Emergency Medicine, one in Dermatology and two in Osteopathic Neuromuscular Medicine.
In addition to the residency programs sponsored by HES, there are several other GME programs across the company that are sponsored by other entities. These include programs sponsored by major universities, medical education consortiums, teaching health centers, and other independent sponsoring institutions.
We are seeking to do our part to address the growing national physician shortage while increasing access to quality care in our communities. A residency program has the potential to create a future workforce pipeline because a portion of graduating residents often stay and practice in the community where they train. And there is great honor and prestige in the hard work of training future physicians. By investing in these programs, we have the ability to touch thousands of lives in a positive way, and we are able to make a lasting positive impact for the benefit of others long into the future.
We’re all about doing the right thing by our residents. It is our duty to provide absolute excellence in the education we provide for the next generation of physicians. That said, our vision over the next few years is to work toward significant GME expansion across the company.
Obviously, they want proper training in an environment that values patient safety, quality of care, healthcare equity, and service to others. But perhaps more so than previous generations, they also want a program that offers attention to work-life balance. With most of our residencies being internal medicine or family medicine based, we’re able to provide great foundational training that appeals to physicians seeking IM or FM careers as well as those who choose to pursue further fellowship training to subspecialize.
Like other GME programs, we focus on medical student outreach and use the residency database to direct prospective residents to our GME-specific websites. We also deliberately build quality interview schedules, which may be conducted virtually or in person. During the in-person interviews, prospective residents get to see the community and spend time with other residents. And, we make sure to pair potential residents with faculty and other members of the medical staff who can share their career experiences and enthusiasm for working in our hospitals and communities.
There are a number of advantages to being a resident in a brand new program. For starters, one has creative influence on the program’s continued development, which provides incredible opportunities to help shape resident education. One also is afforded more one-on-one time with the supervising faculty, such that every learning opportunity may be shared with a physician who is fully trained. Finally, without the presence of large numbers of senior level residents, the residents of new programs may have earlier opportunities to help care for higher acuity cases and perform a greater number of procedures than they would in larger more established programs.
It is important – and makes sense – for organizations like CHS to create smaller, less urban programs, especially when one considers that 1 in every 5 Americans lives in an area where access to healthcare services may be relatively limited. GME programs in these settings can help augment the care available to a community and because a fair portion of residents prefer to practice close to where they trained, these residents may serve these local communities long into the future. Finally, there are a significant number of physicians who enjoy teaching as a part of their practice; the creation of residency programs in smaller communities may serve to attract physicians who wish to be a part of a teaching faculty without having to practice in large urban quaternary health care settings.
On the Lighter Side:
When I’m on vacation, I like to disconnect completely. That’s why I love taking cruises. Sometimes it is nice to be unreachable in the middle of the ocean. When I can’t take a cruise, I also love a good beach trip. Basically, anywhere relaxing, warm and fun is my go-to vacation, but I also love to travel to sporting events.
I’ve been an avid Chicago Cubs fan since 1983. When my family first got cable TV, I would watch Harry Caray announce every Cubs game. I loved his style, and I’ve followed the team ever since. I also grew up a Tennessee Volunteers fan and still root for them to a pathological degree.
I would probably be a high school band director or a full time baseball or basketball coach. I played the baritone and was a member of the 1989 McDonald’s All-American High School Band. I absolutely loved performing! Over the past 10 years though, I’ve been coaching youth baseball and really enjoy mentoring young people. I still keep in touch with a lot of my former players and it’s wonderful to see them succeeding in life. Currently, I coach a 17U travel baseball team in the Midland Organization.