Ballywho News

By Christine Hanna, Director of Medical Education

The months of June and July are very important to medical education. June 30 is the traditional end of the medical education academic year, and Jul 1 is the traditional start date. Largo Medical Center will train 108 residents and 32 third-year core medical students during the 2010-2011 academic year. We will also train an average of 35 fourth-year medical students, who will visit us for month-long clinical rotations.

On June 19, 27 new graduates of Largo Medical Center’s residency and fellowship programs were honored during the Graduate Medical Education Graduation Ceremony at Safety Harbor Resort and Spa. Frederick Lippman, RPh, EdD, Chancellor of the Health Professions Division of Nova Southeastern University, was the keynote speaker. The graduates were recognized for their successful completion of their internship, residency or fellowship, and for their dedication to learning and delivering quality patient care while assisting the medical staff and hospital staff in pursuing the perfect patient experience! We are excited for and proud of these well prepared graduates as they advance out into the world. We are also extremely appreciative of the faculty and program directors who gave their time and knowledge to prepare these graduates for a lifetime of excellence in patient care.

The new class of 63 residents began orientation on June 25 and commenced their clinical duties on July1. The new residents are graduates from 17 different Osteopathic Medical Schools and are all eager to get to know the faculty, staff, patients and volunteers. Some of our new residents trained will be hosting around 35 additional fourth-year medical students each month! Medical students are with us not only to have a rewarding clinical experience, but also to determine if they want to apply to a Largo Medical Center residency program for their future training. We are honored to provide the medical students with a rewarding patient focused clinical experience.

In addition to the graduates and incoming residents and students, we also had residents promoted to the next level of training on July 1, and other graduating students who began fellowship training on July 1. We are proud of the residents who have achieved this milestone and are increasing their knowledge while serving our patients!