GOODYEAR – Abrazo West Campus has launched two new graduate medical education programs – one in emergency medicine and the other a transitional year – offering medical school graduates required experience in a variety of different specialties as they transition to their chosen area of practice.

In addition to expanding clinical experience and education options for medical school graduates, the new residency programs, which began July 1, will enhance the community’s ability to attract and retain future physicians.

“We’re proud of the commitment we have made to train and educate new physicians, many of whom we expect will go on to practice within our system and help ease the shortage of physicians in our region,” said Abrazo West Campus Chief Executive Officer Christina Oh. “These new medical residency programs not only directly benefit the community in Goodyear and the greater Phoenix area, they also further our goal of offering our patients high-quality clinical care within an academic teaching environment.”

Residents in the three-year emergency medicine program will primarily gain experience in Abrazo West’s state-designated Level 1 trauma center, with additional rotations in the emergency department at Abrazo Arrowhead Campus in Glendale. They will also do rotations in cardiology at Abrazo Arizona Heart Hospital and in pediatrics at Phoenix Children’s Hospital, both in Phoenix. Six residents will be admitted every year, for a total of 18 over three years.

“We’ve hired some nationally recognized faculty to help us achieve our long-term goal of making our new emergency medicine residency program one of the top programs in the country,” said Matthew Graber, MD, PhD, emergency medicine residency program director. “In addition to allowing us to offer an intensive three-year program for medical school graduates, the knowledge and skill of our faculty will enhance the overall level of emergency care we provide to the community.”

The transitional year program is one of only two in the Phoenix area. The one-year program, which accepts 13 residents per year, provides clinical experience and education in multiple clinical disciplines to help prepare residents for the specific specialty they ultimately choose to practice in. Many specialties require one year of general medical experience in such areas as internal medicine, general surgery, outpatient medicine and emergency medicine before residents go into their chosen specialty.

“The transitional year residency program provides a diverse range of experiences for residents before they begin their desired specialty training or, if they are undecided regarding their future practice, it gives them the ability to try a wide variety of clinical specialties before they decide,” said Paden Hendrickson, MD, the transitional year residency program director. “The program benefits both the residents and our hospital by enhancing an already a robust educational environment within Abrazo.”

The addition of the emergency medicine and transitional year residency programs expands the number of graduate medical education programs offered by Abrazo Health to five. In 2019, Abrazo launched residency programs in both internal medicine and general surgery based at the Abrazo Arrowhead Campus in Glendale. Abrazo Health has offered its family medicine residency program since 1978 at Abrazo Central Campus in Phoenix.