Memorial Health University Medical Center has been approved for a new transitional year residency program. The new residency has been granted initial accreditation by the American College of Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). Memorial Health’s transitional year residency program will start on July 1 with 13 residents.

Transitional Year residencies are a pathway for many residents who want to pursue competitive and critically needed specialties such as neurology, dermatology, anesthesiology, radiation oncology, radiology, physical medicine and rehabilitation, and others.

“The goal of the transitional year residency is to provide opportunities for local medical students to stay in Savannah while they complete their one-year bridge program here. It should also help us to bring new specialty residencies to Savannah in the future,” said Timothy Connelly, MD, internal medicine physician and program director.

William Hannah, MD, designated institutional official for graduate medical education at Memorial Health, added, “Our aim is to keep them involved in our programs in Savannah and ultimately encourage them to stay in Georgia. We hope this new residency will help strengthen the physician workforce across the state, especially in rural communities.

Memorial Health has been training physicians for nearly 70 years. Our first residency program, internal medicine, started in 1957, followed by OB/GYN and surgery residencies in 1959. Today, our graduate medical education program has grown to 148 residents in six residency programs and three fellowships.