NMMC internal medicine residency program in its second year of training new doctors
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
Oct. 5—TUPELO — Doctors from around the world come to Tupelo to take part in the North Mississippi Medical Center's internal medicine residency program.
The program's organizers are hoping some of them, if not most, will stay.
"We need a pipeline of physicians that can continue to serve this community," said Dr. David Pizzimenti, director of the hospital's internal medicine residency program. "And not only do we want to just have physicians, we want to have excellent physicians."
Now in its second of three years, the goal of the program is to attract doctors from across the world to Northeast Mississippi for real-world experience and, in a best-case scenario, keep them here to improve health care throughout the area.
Pizzimenti is a South Florida native who came to Mississippi in 2005 as part of the National Health Service Corps, which brings doctors to underserved areas. He spent four years working in Holly Springs and went on to start an internal medicine residency program at the Magnolia Regional Health Center in Corinth more than a decade ago.
When the opportunity arose to come to NMMC and start an internal medicine residency program in 2019, he jumped at it. The first step was applying for accreditation via the American Council of Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). Once granted initial accreditation, the program began recruiting residents.
Residents undergo a match process wherein doctors submit applications, board scores and transcripts. They are then interviewed by residency programs.
NMMC's internal medicine residency program accepts just 12 residents each year. Out of more than 2,000 applicants, only about 10 people are interviewed for each spot.
The program ranks candidates it wants the most, and candidates do the same with programs for which they've interviewed. Based on those rankings, a computer program matches candidates and programs.
Residents coming to NMMC's internal medicine program are doctors who have finished graduate school but must still complete a residency program in order to become board-eligible in the specialty they choose.
Roughly 70% of internists become specialists, focusing on cardiology, nephrology, etc. The remaining 30% continue working in internal medicine and become hospitalists, while a small percentage work in an outpatient setting, according to Pizzimenti.
The COVID-19 pandemic has shown that Mississippi needs nurses, doctors and other health care professionals.
"Our part in this is to train internal medicine doctors that can ultimately stay in internal medicine or do internal medicine subspecialties," Pizzimenti said. "And hopefully we will keep a significant portion of those either in Tupelo or the surrounding areas to help all of the patients that need docs."
Doctors have come to Tupelo from as far away as Europe and Asia to take part in the post-graduate residency.
A place worthy of better medical care
Jessi Clark, 27, is a first year internal medicine resident. The Nashville native completed medical school at VCOM-Auburn before joining the residency program in June.
Residents rotate through multiple areas during their three years in the program to gain experience in a range of specialties. So far, Clark has worked with patients in an outpatient clinic setting, along with a rotation learning hospice, palliative care and geriatrics.
Most recently, she was in the floors/wards rotation which teaches residents how to practice as a hospitalist.
"It's been an adjustment just like any transition in life would be an adjustment," Clark said. "But everyone here is so kind and supportive and understanding that we're new doctors."
She wanted to come to Tupelo because all of her family lives in the Southeast U.S. and because the region has a major health care disparity and is in constant need of doctors.
"I think this is a place that's worthy of getting better medical care," Clark said.
Trest Underwood, 27, a second-year resident from Seminary, Mississippi, worked as a respiratory therapist at NMMC for several years before attending medical school at VCOM-Auburn. After graduating, he returned to Tupelo for the residency program.
"I knew what this place had to offer as a training facility, and that's what got me back over here," Underwood said.
The size of the medical center was one of the main attractions for Underwood because he has the opportunity to experience so many facets of the medical profession in one place. He also recognizes the need for new doctors in the area.
"Mississippi as a whole is really in a shortage, and in particular this area, so just about every type of doctor is needed," Underwood said. "This residency program is bringing 12 new doctors here every year."
Along with clinical experience, residents also receive two hours of classroom instruction each day. From 12 to 1 p.m., residents typically have traditional structured classroom learning, in addition to hearing from specialty doctors stop by for lectures. From 1 to 2 p.m., residents walk through case presentations where real cases are presented to them simulating how to read images, go through labs and determine what needs to be done to care for that patient.
"It's important because they also learn how to present a case appropriately, to talk it through, to help get their thought process in place and then they kind of go through everything," Pizzimenti said. "It's really fun to watch them mature into competent doctors over time."
And ultimately, that is the goal.
"We're just hoping that this program will continue to turn out excellent doctors that can go anywhere in the world when they're done here, but that hopefully a good percentage of them will want to stay in this area," Pizzimenti said. "And that will be great for the hospital, for the community where they can continue to serve."
