MetroHealth Rolls Out New Surgical Residency Program

Cleveland - The MetroHealth System is launching a new fully accredited surgical residency program and will welcome its first trainees this summer.

Surgical residents are essential to patient care and their training is important for the future surgical workforce, at MetroHealth and throughout the health care profession. This new program will expand surgery training opportunities and attract more top medical talent to Northeast Ohio. It will also enable MetroHealth to introduce these resident physicians to the challenges and opportunities of practicing in an urban, mission-driven safety net public hospital setting.

And as it continues its more than 60-year history of training surgeons and providing excellent graduate medical education, MetroHealth believes its patients will benefit from the establishment of a strong residency program.

“This program will allow MetroHealth to train the next generation of surgeon clinicians, educators and leaders to provide compassionate care with a commitment to improving the health of diverse communities through service, research and innovation,” said Bernard Boulanger, MD, Executive Vice President, Chief Clinical Officer of The MetroHealth System. 

Last summer, MetroHealth began designing the program to replace a long-standing surgical residency partnership that is coming to an end. Building on the strong foundation of MetroHealth’s highly regarded Department of Surgery and its affiliation with Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, System leaders wanted to return to the hospital’s roots of running an independent residency program that showcases its assets and public health mission.

Earlier this month, MetroHealth’s new surgical residency program earned full accreditation from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). It is now accepting applicants and expects to have a cohort of residents ready to continue their medical education on July 1. Three of those physicians will be at the start of their surgical training, the others will be transfers entering their later years of residency.

To help build the program and recruit the most qualified candidates during its first few years of operation, MetroHealth is offering a temporary system of significant financial incentives. These incentives are designed to attract top talent to a new program and provide financial assistance to residents who are often saddled with student debt.

The average medical student debt is $241,600, and that number is expected to exceed $300,000 by 2024. Underrepresented minorities tend to carry an even higher educational debt load.

Last year, The Lown Institute and Washington Monthly magazine recognized MetroHealth as one of the country’s top hospitals in large measure because of its dedication to social justice and community service. The new residency program is another way to advance those commitments and to share them with new providers.

“Our program will prepare surgeons capable of excelling in any general surgery practice setting, well poised to pursue further training and ready to take on leadership roles in the field,” said Christopher P. Brandt, MD, Richard B. Fratianne Professor of Surgery at Case Western Reserve University, Chair of the Department of Surgery and Director, Surgery Service Line at The MetroHealth System.

In addition to the new surgical program, MetroHealth offers nearly 50 other residency programs.

For more information, visit https://gme.metrohealth.org/surgery-residency.