As part of its plan to bring more doctors to West Central Florida, the region's top health care system today announced that it will soon launch BayCare Health System's first surgery residency program. The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) granted initial accreditation for the new 20-resident program that will welcome its first class of residents on July 1, 2024.

"Overall, BayCare will increase residency positions to more than 650 by 2029," said Dr. Sowmya Viswanathan, BayCare's chief physician executive. "As we celebrate this latest accreditation by the ACGME for our BayCare Health System Surgery program, this is just another example of how our vision is becoming a reality. We look forward to educating and mentoring the next generation of resident physicians."

Five BayCare hospitals will participate in the surgery residency: St. Joseph's Hospital, St. Joseph's Women's Hospital and St. Joseph's Children's Hospital in Tampa. St. Joseph's Hospital-North in Lutz and St. Joseph's Hospital-South in Riverview.

"I am proud to lead and support the BayCare Health System Surgery Program throughout five of our hospitals," said Dr. Subhasis Misra, program director of the General Surgery Residency. "This is a challenging and rigorous process, and we are grateful for the tireless dedication and passion of our clinical teams. Their persistence has helped us meet and exceed expectations in achieving this goal."

In addition to the Surgery Program, BayCare offers graduate medical education programs for family medicine, pediatrics, psychiatry, internal medicine, primary care sports medicine and a transitional year residency program. BayCare's Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship received initial accreditation from ACGME last month. The not-for-profit health care system also is pursuing additional residency programs in addiction medicine, emergency medicine and additional internal medicine and transitional year programs.

"We are excited to welcome resident physicians who can bring the most up-to-date scientific innovations with them, having spent years in the classroom," said BayCare President and CEO Stephanie Conners. "They also are required, as part of their training, to engage in scholarly activity, which will naturally contribute to BayCare's already robust research program."

BayCare's investment in physician education comes amid continued concerns about physician shortages in the United States. By qualifying to expand its graduate medical education offerings, BayCare will attract many more young physicians to the region each year, many of whom will likely choose to stay to practice medicine in the area after finishing their formal "residency" training with BayCare. The expansion in residency training comes with the support of the state of Florida, whose Legislature has worked to grow the physician pipeline through current and new funding, including the Live Healthy Act.